NCAA Tournament Bracket Scouting Daily: Michigan, Marquette, Maryland & More
Four ranked teams are in action Sunday, highlighted by a top-25 matchup in the Big Ten between Michigan and Maryland. There's also a Big East clash
Four ranked teams are in action Sunday, highlighted by a top-25 matchup in the Big Ten between Michigan and Maryland. There’s also a Big East clash between first-place Marquette and Creighton that should be a high-scoring affair. The last time these two teams met, they combined to score 210 points.
Here’s a look at the biggest games on Sunday and how the outcomes could affect the NCAA Tournament resumes of the teams involved.
The projected NCAA Tournament seeds listed below are from Stadium’s latest projections from Friday, March 1.
Creighton at No. 10 Marquette, 3 p.m. ET
Marquette (23-5) | No. 19 NET | 9-4 Quadrant 1, 5-1 Quadrant 2, 2-0 Quadrant 3, 7-0 Quadrant 4
Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projection: No. 4 seed
All three of Marquette’s remaining regular season games fall under Quadrant 1 or Quadrant 2, so the Golden Eagles’ already impressive resume can continue to improve before the Big East Tournament. A home game against Creighton is a Quadrant 2 matchup for Marquette.
The Golden Eagles are 5-1 in Quadrant 2 with their only defeat being a one-point loss at home to St. John’s.
The last time Creighton and Marquette met, the Golden Eagles won 106-104 in overtime on the road behind Markus Howard’s 53 points. Sam Hauser made a controversial 3-pointer at the end of regulation to force overtime. Marquette has a one-game lead over Villanova in the Big East standings and the Wildcats only have one game left.
[RELATED: Stadium’s Latest NCAA Tournament Projections]
No. 9 Michigan at No. 17 Maryland, 3:45 p.m. ET
Michigan (25-4) | No. 9 NET | 7-4 Quadrant 1, 9-0 Quadrant 2, 2-0 Quadrant 3, 7-0 Quadrant 4
Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projection: No. 2 seed
Maryland (21-8) | No. 27 NET | 6-6 Quadrant 1, 6-2 Quadrant 2, 4-0 Quadrant 3, 5-0 Quadrant 4
Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projection: No. 5 seed
Michigan and Maryland met just two weekends ago in Ann Arbor, where the Wolverines won 65-52 behind a strong defensive performance that limited the Terrapins to 0.81 points per possession, 6-of-22 shooting from behind the arc and 16 turnovers.
Sunday marks Maryland’s last chance in the regular season for a Quadrant 1 win. The Terps are 14-2 at home this season and they were competitive in both losses – 76-71 against Virginia and 78-74 against Seton Hall – so this should be a close game. Michigan is projected to win 65-64, according to kenpom.com.
Michigan’s final two regular season games fall under Quadrant 1 so the Wolverines can still make a push for a No. 1 seed if they’re able to beat Maryland and Michigan State on the road.
No. 25 Washington at Stanford, 4 p.m. ET
Washington (22-6) | No. 32 NET | 2-4 Quadrant 1, 5-1 Quadrant 2, 8-0 Quadrant 3, 7-1 Quadrant 4
Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projection: No. 7 seed
Washington is the only Pac-12 team that’s safely in Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projections. Arizona State, the only other team from the conference that made the projected field of 68, was the last team in.
A road game at Stanford is one of two remaining regular season Quadrant 2 games for the Huskies. If they win both, they’ll have a 7-1 record in that quadrant, which is strong, especially considering they’re 2-4 in Quadrant 1.
Depending on how the Pac-12 Tournament plays out, Washington could have 25-plus wins but its seeding will be impacted by its lack of Quadrant 1 wins and the general down year in the Pac-12.
St. John’s at DePaul, 12 p.m. ET
St. John’s (20-9) | No. 58 NET | 6-4 Quadrant 1, 4-3 Quadrant 2, 2-2 Quadrant 3, 8-0 Quadrant 4
Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projection: No. 10 seed
The Johnnies are in a weird place where they have a winning record in Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 2 yet that not that far off the bubble, given that they were a No. 10 seed in Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projections.
A season sweep of Marquette and a win over Villanova will weigh especially favorably in the selection committee’s eyes. St. John’s might be safely in the field regardless of how it finishes the season, but it would be wise to not test just how much goodwill those wins are worth by themselves.
A road game at DePaul falls under Quadrant 2 and St. John’s finishes the season at Xavier – a Quadrant 1 matchup – and a win in either game could seal the Red Storm’s fate as an at-large selection.
Tulane at Temple, 2 p.m. ET
Temple (20-8) | No. 55 NET | 1-6 Quadrant 1, 5-1 Quadrant 2, 7-1 Quadrant 3, 7-0 Quadrant 4
Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projection: No. 11 seed
Temple was included in the latest projected NCAA Tournament field, according to Stadium bracketologist Tim Krueger, but the Owls don’t have much breathing room. They were a projected No. 11 seed, as of Friday.
Temple absolutely must win at home against Tulane Sunday to receive an at-large bid. Tulane represents a Quadrant 4 opponent and it would be Temple’s worst loss of the season.
If the Owls can take care of business Sunday and beat UCF at home next weekend – a potential Quadrant 1 win – then they’ll be in a good position to make the tournament
Arizona State at Oregon State, 8 p.m. ET
Arizona State (19-9) | No. 69 NET | 3-3 Quadrant 1, 6-2 Quadrant 2, 3-2 Quadrant 3, 7-2 Quadrant 4
Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projection: No. 12 seed
As mentioned earlier, Arizona State was the last team to make Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projections, so you could argue the Sun Devils are only one loss away from dropping on the wrong side of the bubble.
A road game at Oregon State falls under Quadrant 2, as does Arizona State’s regular season finale at Arizona. The Sun Devils can improve their resume even if they don’t have another Quadrant 1 game in the regular season with strong performances in both remaining contests.
