Like Michael Jordan in 1995, America’s resident sports fanatic is unexpectedly back with another March Madness preview. I’m here to give you the lowdown on all of the Catholic teams ready to dust off their dancing shoes heading into the best few weeks of the year: The N.C.A.A. Men’s Basketball tournament. Between now and the championship game at the Alamodome on April 7, hoops fanatics will have all the college ball we can want…and maybe one or two of us might wager on the outcome.
You can go anywhere for a full tournament preview, but what about the chances of the Catholic schools in the tourney? The overall strength of Catholic teams may not be as pronounced as in last year’s March Madness (which saw Catholic schools earn a #2 seed, a #3 seed and a pair of #5 seeds), but there’s plenty of reasons to keep your eye on schools with Romish affiliations this March. And let’s remember that the Catholic schools usually punch above their weight in men’s basketball.
There are seven Catholic schools represented in this year’s tournament (after Saint Francis University lost in the First Four play-in round earlier this week). From St. John’s having its best season in decades to Creighton’s ever-present dark-horse threat, the Catholic schools in this year’s installment of March Madness will look to make their campuses and their church proud.
Who looks good? And who could find themselves making an early exit? Let’s dive in.
St. John’s University, N.Y. (seeded #2); religious sponsor: Vincentians; regular season record: 30-4.
Queens officially has full-blown Johnnies fever, as the Red Storm finished with its first 30-win season since the 1985-86 campaign. Having head coach Rick Pitino at the helm has been a revelation, as the two-time National Championship winner led St. John’s to its first Big East tournament win since 2000, officially reasserting themselves among the upper echelon of collegiate basketball programs.
After the Red Storm just missed out on the tournament last season, look out for this team to come back with a vengeance, going into March with one of the longest current winning streaks in the country: They’ve won their last nine games in a row. Could this be the first year a Catholic school has won it all since Villanova did so in 2018?
Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis. (seeded #7); religious sponsor: Jesuits; regular season record: 23-10.
There’s a bit of a drop-off in the quality of Catholic teams between St. John’s and the rest of the field, but you can always count on Jesuit teams to make some noise come March. Despite a strong start to their season, the Golden Eagles faltered a bit down the stretch, going 5-5 in their last 10 games heading into the tournament. While their aforementioned rival St. John’s has emerged as the dominant force among both Catholic and Big East teams, Marquette can still boast one of the nation’s most dynamic players in Kam Jones, who nearly averaged 20 points, five rebounds and six assists per game this season.
Head coach Shaka Smart has done a wonderful job rejuvenating the program since his 2021 hire, but can he finally guide Marquette to a Sweet 16 appearance or beyond for the first time since 2013?
Saint Mary's College, Moraga, Calif. (seeded #7); religious sponsor: De La Salle Christian Brothers; regular season record: 28-5.
The Gaels have finally done it: For the first time ever, St. Mary’s enters March Madness as a higher seed than longtime West Coast Conference rival and fellow Catholic foe Gonzaga. St. Mary’s may be ranked lower than they were last year, but the Gaels still have plenty of talent, particularly their star player Augustas Marciulionis, who recently earned back-to-back WCC Player of the Year honors. Head coach Randy Bennett has quietly amassed a highly respectable winning percentage of over 70 percent since taking the Gaels job at the turn of the century, but like Marquette, St. Mary’s has yet to progress past the Sweet 16 in over a decade. Can the men from Moraga finally change their luck this time around?
Gonzaga University, Spokane, Wash. (seeded #8); religious sponsor: Jesuits; regular season record: 25-8.
They may enter the tourney ranked lower than usual—and for the first time in a long time, they are not the highest-ranked squad from the West Coast Conference—but I think the Zags will end up having the last laugh this March. While conference rival St. Mary’s has a tough first-round matchup against S.E.C.-tested Vanderbilt, I’m predicting Gonzaga will take down Georgia in the Battle of the Bulldogs and go on to upset Midwest region #1 seed Houston in the Round of 32.
Like the Johnnies, the Zags are also entering March Madness on a strong note, having won four straight games to close out the season en route to capturing the W.C.C. Tournament title over the Gaels for an impressive 17th time in program history. Head coach Mark Few has proven himself as a premier basketball mind March after March, and he can cement himself among legendary coaches like Mike Krzyzewski and Bill Self if Gonzaga can join Duke and Kansas as the only programs to make ten consecutive Sweet 16 appearances; I think they do it this year.
Creighton University, Omaha, Neb. (seeded #9); religious sponsor: Jesuits; regular season record: 24-10.
You heard it here first: The Creighton Bluejays will be the Catholic team who advances farthest into March Madness, dancing all the way to an Elite Eight matchup before being eliminated by Michigan State. Following up on their run to the Regional finals in 2021, the Bluejays make it back to that stage behind the efforts of Ryan Kalkbrenner, who will have a generationally great tournament for Creighton. Kalkbrenner, who was featured on the midseason Wooden Award top 25 list, is projected to be a second round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, and will certainly want to end his Creighton career on a high note.
Creighton is set to play the first official game of the tournament against #8 seed Louisville today at 12:15 p.m., and will subsequently pick up the first win of the tourney to get their journey started off on the right foot.
Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio (seeded #11); religious sponsor: Jesuits; regular season record: 22-11.
If you dig the long ball, the Musketeers are the team for you. The last of the Jesuit schools to qualify for the tourney, Xavier officially punched its ticket to March with a thrilling 86-80 First Four victory over Texas on Wednesday night, largely behind its stellar three-point shooting. The Musketeers shot lights out from beyond the arc, knocking down 48 percent of their attempts; they converted their treys at a nearly 40 percent clip throughout the entire season.
They had their hands full with a Big East schedule all year, but if the Musketeers play solid defense throughout the tournament, Xavier could have a d'Artagnan-esque adventure ahead of them this March.
Mount St. Mary's University, Emmitsburg, Md. (seeded #16); religious sponsor: Sulpicians; regular season record: 23-12.
So…you’re telling me there’s a chance? The Mountaineers of Mount St. Mary’s will have a David vs. Goliath battle against the Duke Blue Devils, but the Sulpician squad can have some hope in knowing that a 16 seed has indeed beaten a 1 seed before on two separate occasions. The U.M.B.C. Retrievers finally knocked off #1 Virginia in 2018 before 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson did it again by beating Purdue in 2023. Duke may have a loaded team that includes the best player in the country, freshman phenom Cooper Flag, but we’ve seen the Blue Devils lose in shocking fashion before. Anyone backing the Mountaineers to pull off a miracle?
Who wins it all? To my own dismay, I have zero Catholic schools in my Final Four. I’m going with Florida, Duke, Michigan State and Clemson, and picking the Florida Gators to cut down the nets in San Antonio.
As much as I’d like to put the St. John’s squad going deep in the tournament, we have to expect a #1 or #2 seed to lose early, and the Red Storm may have trouble with the winner of an epic first-round clash between Kansas and Arkansas. Meanwhile, nearly half of the National Champions of the last 20 years have been #1 seeds, and Florida has proven to be a freight train, dominating the S.E.C., college basketball’s best conference, all season long. While I think Creighton has a great dark-horse run in them, I’m sad to report that the black smoke is still out on whether a Catholic school will finally capture the March Madness crown this year.
