Marquette University in Sweet Sixteen Bracket

The latest of the 2011 NCAA tournament results reveal that Marquette University has earned a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. Marquette was able to defeat Big East rival Syracuse in a thrilling third round game on Sunday.

According to ESPN.com, the hero of today's game was Darius Johnson-Odom for Marquette.  He hit a 3-point shot with just 27 seconds left to break the deadlocked score with Syracuse.   Johnson-Odom finished the game with 17 points to lead Marquette, but none were bigger than those three.  For Syracuse, it was Dion Waiters with 18 points in the losing effort.

The win puts the Marquette Golden Eagles into the Sweet Sixteen bracket for the first time since 2003.  Back then, they went to the Final Four.  Next up on the tournament schedule for Marquette will be the #2 seed North Carolina.

The good and bad news for the Big East here is that Marquette won but Syracuse lost.  If Notre Dame happens to lose to Florida State based on the current score, it leaves UCONN and Marquette as the only two remaining Big East conference teams in the 2011 NCAA Tournament bracket.  The Big East started the tournament with 11 teams, the most of any conference. However, there have been several big upsets including VCU defeating Georgetown and Butler upsetting the #1 seeded Pittsburgh Panthers.

This could mean that the Big East was overrated, or that there's just that much parity in college basketball this year.  Then again, as is demonstrated in sports over time, any team has a shot at winning, and that's been evident in the 2011 NCAA tournament results.