Getty NBA Hall of Famer and former Georgetown Hoyas player Patrick Ewing is introduced as the Georgetown Hoyas' new head basketball coach.
Former Georgetown great Patrick Ewing took over for his old head coach’s son in John Thompson III in 2018. After a 15-15 season, the storied program didn’t seem to be finding any better footing. Quietly, the Hoyas have found a bit of a stride in 2019.
After Saturday’s road upset at No. 16 Marquette, Ewing’s Hoyas improved to 19-12 and 9-9 in the Big East. Coupled with an earlier upset over a ranked Villanova squad, he has Georgetown sniffing its first NCAA Tournament since 2015.
Final: Georgetown 86, No 16 Marquette 84
Hoyas (19-12, 9-9) clinch a top 6 spot for the first time since 2015.
Ewing picks up his second win over a ranked opponent as Akinjo and McClung combined for 48 points.
Hoyas pick up 3rd conf road win at Marquette, first since 2015
19 wins and a .500 record in a power conference should be enough, right? Let’s take a look at the latest at Georgetown’s bracketology outlook, along with its resume and a few key wins and losses that stand out.
Georgetown NCAA Tournament Resume
The Hoyas didn’t exactly challenge themselves in the non-conference. The best wins came over Illinois and Liberty, the No. 101 and No. 63 teams in the NET rankings respectively. Otherwise, it was gobbling up wins against overmatched foes such as Maryland-Eastern Shore and Central Connecticut State.
A 1-point loss at Syracuse was a missed opportunity. It would have made up for “bad” losses to Loyola-Marymount and SMU.
The benefit of the soft non-conference was building confidence and momentum for Big East play. This led to scalps from fellow bubble teams like Butler, St. John’s and Seton Hall. The real boosts come from the upsets over the Wildcats and Golden Eagles, though.
While none of those programs figure to be anything above a 6-seed in the tournament, the aggregate of victories points towards at least a First Four bid in Dayton.
Georgetown Bracketology Breakdown
Heading into the weekend, ESPN’s John Gasaway laid out the path to a bid.
It’s not going to be easy for the Hoyas. Sitting at 18-12 overall and 8-9 in the Big East might look bubbly enough, as do the three Quad 1 wins. But after a notably lopsided 101-69 loss at DePaul, Georgetown is just 8-6 this season against Quads 2 and 3. Moreover, the team’s NET ranking going into that game was in the 70s (which might, if the new metric turns out to be used a bit like the old one was, turn out to be prohibitively low). It won’t be easy, but Bubble Watch can at least envision a path to making this an interesting question, one that starts with winning at Marquette and ends with beating either the Golden Eagles or Villanova in the Big East tournament semifinals. Go to it, Hoyas.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi leaves Georgetown off of in his latest Bracketology. This has yet to update, but he didn’t even include the Hoyas on his “Next Four Out,” or top-8 teams on the wrong side of the bubble.
Jerry Palm of CBS Sports presents a similar scenario, citing the Hoyas’ 101-69 drubbing at the hands of Depaul. He did mention in his own Bubble Watch that topping Marquette would change his perception.
The Hoyas were a no-show at DePaul and have made it more difficult to see a path to the tournament for them. They do have a road game left at Marquette, however the Golden Eagles will be looking to take out the frustrations of a three-game losing streak on someone.
Bracket Matrix aggregates several prognostications from across the internet. Georgetown appears on just one, which fits the Hoyas in the First Four.
The path to a bid likely runs through Marquette again, but not without some other work. The Hoyas will face Seton Hall in their opening game of the Big East Tournament. A win there is over a fellow bubble team.
This scenario leads to the Golden Eagles, assuming they take care of business against either St. John’s or DePaul. If Georgetown appears in the tournament final, expect a long look from the committee on Selection Sunday.
To be safe, Ewing and company should follow the advice of Tom Berenger in Major League.