There are six Jesuit basketball teams that qualified for this year’s Division I women’s and men’s NCAA basketball tournaments. On the women’s side, we’re represented by the Creighton University Bluejays and the Fairfield University Stags. On the men’s side, the Marquette University Golden Eagles, the Gonzaga University Bulldogs, the Xavier Musketeers and Creighton will take the floor. Here are five fun facts about these universities.
1. Congratulations to Creighton, the only Jesuit school in both tournaments.
RT if your MBB & WBB teams are BOTH going DANCIN’ 🕺💃#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/gTCJ7kTr8a
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 17, 2025
The president of Creighton, Fr. Daniel Hendrickson, SJ, appeared on our AMDG podcast to talk about Jesuit higher ed and a little hoops. Fr. Hendrickson loves his Jesuit brothers. He also loves his Jesuit brother — Fr. D. Scott Hendrickson, SJ, his identical twin and a professor of Spanish and associate provost at Loyola University Chicago. Unfortunately, the LUC Ramblers didn’t make the tournament this year, so we’ll have to wait until next year for another shot at the Jesuit Brothers Championship Game.
2. Gonzaga is in Spokane, Washington; Fairfield is in Fairfield, Connecticut; Creighton is in Omaha, Nebraska; Xavier is in Cincinnati; and Marquette is in Milwaukee.
Despite the fact Gonzaga coach Mark Few has led the Bulldogs to the tournament like 25 times, coastal media elites like to joke every year that they don’t know where the university is. It’s in Spokane, Washington, where it’s been since 1887.
Here we go again 🙄 https://t.co/vcnkCR2ETW
— Gonzaga University (@GonzagaU) March 16, 2023
3. Marquette is named for a Jesuit missionary. Xavier and Gonzaga – for Jesuit saints. Creighton – for a pioneer anti-slavery businessman. Fairfield – for its hometown.
Father Jacques Marquette (1637-1675) was a French Jesuit missionary who was one of the first Europeans to explore the northern half of the Mississippi River Valley.
Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552) was the first great Jesuit missionary to Asia; he cofounded the Jesuits with his friend Ignatius Loyola and five other “friends in the Lord.” Saint Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-1591) gave up inherited wealth and power to join the Jesuits as a 17-year-old. He died just six years later from an illness he had contracted caring for epidemic victims in Rome. St. Aloysius is the patron saint of AIDS patients and Christian youth.
Edward Creighton (1820-1874) made his name and his fortune building telegraph lines across the West. He was also an important supporter of the Union cause during the Civil War.
4. When I ranked the 27 American Jesuit college mascots five years ago…
This year’s mascots ranked as follows:
6. Xavier Musketeers
12. Fairfield Stags
18. Creighton Bluejays
19. Gonzaga Bulldogs
25. Marquette Golden Eagles
Marquette fans were NOT happy with me. Let me make it up to them: Milwaukee is a great city; Marquette’s gold/dark blue/baby blue color scheme is beautiful; your head coach Shaka Smart rules.
See my full rankings and rationale here.
What I’d really love to see is a mascot that’s a combination of the five in the tournaments this year. Maybe a bluejay head, musketeer mustache, stag antlers, golden eagle wings and bulldog body. I asked our graphic designer, Marcus Bleech, to make this. I think he nailed it.
5. Fairfield star Meghan Andersen inherited her Jesuit hoops dominance.
Meghan’s mom, Denise, led the Fordham University Rams (no. 13 on the mascot list) to two Patriot League titles and is in the Fordham Athletics Hall of Fame. Not to be outdone, Meghan has led Fairfield to a 45-1 conference record over the past two seasons and poured in 27 points in the Stags’ conference championship game earlier this month.
Meg on 🔥
📺 @ESPNPlus
🎥 https://t.co/czj6ckeB9U
📊 https://t.co/c6ThTOSdwI pic.twitter.com/cVKd5m5pFf— Fairfield Women’s Basketball (@StagsWBball) February 28, 2025
Now go get some buckets, all you daughters and sons of Ignatius!
