The Bracketology Report: Marquette

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Editor's note: Each week Bracketology Insider will take an in-depth look at teams headed for the NCAA Tournament ... or not.

Week in review
Marquette (No. 96 RPI, No. 260 SOS through Jan. 5) has yet to play in 2004. Its most recent games were victories over the hardly imposing duo of Sacred Heart (No. 203 RPI, No. 259 SOS) on Dec. 29 and Florida A&M (No. 319 RPI, No. 282 SOS) a week before that.

The Golden Eagles used Travis Diener's 22 points to down Sacred Heart, but, troublingly, had difficulty landing the knockout punch. Against the Rattlers, though, Marquette coasted, riding Steve Novak's 19 points for the easy win.

Coming up
Tom Crean's crew will look to shake off the rust when they take the floor for the first time in the new year while also beginning play in Conference USA. The Golden Eagles launch their defense of the 2003 title by tipping it off at Houston (No. 122 RPI, No. 179 SOS) on Wednesday, then welcome Saint Louis (No. 113 RPI, No. 165 SOS) to Milwaukee on Saturday.

The Cougars don't figure to give Marquette too much difficulty, while the Billikens are projected as a middle-of-the-pack C-USA squad. A match-up with Cincinnati (No. 20 RPI, No. 152 SOS) lurks next week, though, so the Golden Eagles must take care not to look ahead.

"Planting Seeds"
The Golden Eagles are No. 37 this week on The Bracketology Report national seeding chart. That makes Marquette a No. 10 seed, as well as the fifth Conference USA team in the projected NCAA field.

Marquette's disappointingly soft non-conference slate won't win much support among Selection Committee members. To cite just one example, how can a defending Final Four team schedule a Division II opponent (Northern Michigan) and then win by just 12 points? Several such punching bags litter Marquette's early season lineup, and the Golden Eagles have had way too much trouble with a few of them.

Wins against C-USA's best -- think Cincinnati and Louisville (No. 3 RPI, No. 12 SOS) -- will go a long way toward convincing folks that the Golden Eagles are again for real.

Season breakdown (9-2, 0-0)
All RPI data through Monday, Jan. 5

Date     Opponent         Result        Opp.RPI     Opp.SOS
11/13    @St. John's      52-45           121          27
11/21    Savannah State   79-41           295          127
11/22    Valparaiso       75-70           197          91
11/24    North. Michigan  70-58 (D-II)    N/A          N/A
12/1     Notre Dame       71-58           167          278
12/5     Grambling        71-55           271          22
12/13    @Arizona         75-85 (L)       4            17
12/15    Canisius         68-65           165          77
12/20    @Wisconsin       59-63 (L)       15           33
12/22    Florida A&M      83-63           319          282
12/29    Sacred Heart     77-72           203          159
1/7      @Houston                         122          179
1/10     Saint Louis                      113          165
1/14     Cincinnati                       20           152
1/16     Southern Miss                    95           81
1/20     @Charlotte                       50           145
1/24     DePaul                           87           103
1/31     @Louisville                      3            12
2/3      TCU                              166          65
2/7      @DePaul                          87           103
2/14     Memphis                          31           99
2/18     @Saint Louis                     113          165
2/21     Tulane                           170          234
2/26     @South Florida                   123          148
2/28     @UAB                             33           5
3/3      East Carolina                    158          305
3/6      Louisville                       3            12

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