So, there it is. Thirty-three games, 24 wins and what seemed like a lifetime's worth of highs and lows led to the men's basketball team earning a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Judging by the roar that went up in the restaurant at the Union Sports Annex when the seeding was announced Sunday, I'd venture most of you out there are pretty happy with that.

And why shouldn't you be? Marquette will play No. 11 seed Utah State in the first round and, with a win, would likely face guard-oriented No. 3 seed Missouri in the second.

If that seems like a sweetheart draw for a team that lost five of its last six games, that's because it is.

But here's the funny thing about that season-closing losing slide — I think it actually helped Marquette. In fact, I like the Golden Eagles more now than I did in early November.

That's saying something, since I picked Marquette to advance to the Sweet Sixteen in the Tribune's basketball preview section. Sure I looked smart from the start, as the Golden Eagles raced out to a 20-2 record. Heck, I was even looking good when they beat Georgetown to improve to 23-4.

Still, that was in the before time. As in, before Dominic James broke the fifth metatarsal in his left foot and ended his career with the Golden Eagles. Before Marquette went from relying on a senior guard who had played in a school-record 128 games to Maurice Acker, a junior reserve with one career start.

James' absence led to a loss to Connecticut, and a 62-58 loss to Louisville. Then came a crowd-teasing 90-75 loss to Pittsburgh and an 86-79 overtime debacle against Syracuse.

So many people jumped off the Golden Eagles' bandwagon in that four-game span that the folks at Student Health Services nearly changed their go-to diagnosis from "mono" to "broken ankle."

The Golden Eagles were exposed. They were too backcourt-reliant, too streaky and too shallow.

But that losing streak was just what Marquette needed. It dropped the Golden Eagles to fifth in the Big East standings (behind Villanova) and took away their two-game bye in the conference tournament.

That meant Marquette got an extra 40 minutes of action against bottom-dwelling St. John's (sorry Johnnies, a win over Georgetown isn't what it used to be) and, more importantly, Acker got 27 additional minutes manning the point.

He performed well in Marquette's 74-45 win over the Red Storm, and played even better in a loss to Villanova in the next round.

In fact, in the second half of Marquette's loss to the Wildcats, he was absolutely perfect, going 4-of-4 from the field (including three huge 3-pointers) and dishing out two assists against zero turnovers.

Sure, the Golden Eagles miss James. And yes, the fact that they go about six deep on a good day is cause for concern. But Acker has proven to be an adequate — if different — replacement. He won't give you the dribble penetration James did, but he will hit the open 3-pointer with some regularity.

Sunday's bracket announcements proved just how tough the end of Marquette's schedule really was. Even without James, Marquette held its own against three eventual No. 1 seeds. Syracuse earned a No. 3 seed, and we now know that the Orange are virtually unbeatable in overtime.

Suddenly, that four-game losing streak doesn't seem all that bad.

And neither does picking Marquette to end up in the Sweet Sixteen.