March Madness 2023 bracket busters: 5 high seeds that will go down early

3. Potential bracket busters – Xavier Musketeers

For a while, it looked like the return of Sean Miller to his old stomping grounds was exactly what Xavier needed to return to dominance. The Musketeers looked like they were going to run and hide in the Big East in January but their season turned when forward Zach Freemantle went down with a foot injury.

Freemantle, who is Xavier’s second-leading scorer with 15.8 points per game and the team’s leading rebounder, suffered a left foot injury on Jan. 28 and will undergo season-ending surgery. The injury forced Miller to go to a smaller lineup that hasn’t worked as well for Xavier, which picked up a few questionable losses down the stretch and played tight games against the likes of DePaul and Butler, two of the league’s bottom feeders.

To make matters worse, Xavier burned all of their good will from a dominant semifinal win over Creighton by getting pushed around Madison Square Garden by Marquette in the Big East Tournament final. Much like Purdue, it appears that the Musketeers may have reached their peak too early.

A 3-seed in the Midwest region seemed a bit generous for Xavier, which draws Kennesaw State in the first round before a tricky spot in the Round of 32 against either Iowa State or whoever emerges from the First Four matchup between Mississippi State and Pittsburgh. Miller will need to get his house in order quickly in order to help the Musketeers reach the second weekend.