With college basketball beginning in three weeks from today, it is breaking that the Marquette Golden Eagles are ranked 5th in the AP Poll heading into the 2023-2024 college basketball season. This is the highest Marquette has been ranked in quite some time.
Marquette is one of four Big East Conference teams that are ranked in the AP Poll to begin the season. The other three teams from that conference that are ranked are the UCONN Huskies at number six, the Creighton Blue Jays at number eight, and the Villanova Wildcats at number 22.
🚨 FIRST AP POLL OF THE 2023-2024 SEASON!
1. Kansas
2. Duke
3. Purdue
4. Michigan State
5. Marquette
6. UConn
7. Houston
8. Creighton
9. Tennessee
10. FAU— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) October 16, 2023
Marquette Golden Eagles Ranked As One of the Elite Teams in College Basketball, but They Will Need to Prove It All Season Long
The Marquette Golden Eagles will need to prove their high ranking all season long. The four teams that are ahead of them are the Michigan State Spartans, the Purdue Boilermakers, the Duke Blue Devils, and the Kansas Jayhawks.
Marquette was bounced from the NCAA Tournament in the second round by Michigan State a season ago. The Golden Eagles finished with a 17-3 record Big East Record and were the top seed in the Big East Tournament and also won that conference tournament as well. They finished with a 29-7 overall record, and the Golden Eagles hope to have the same success in 2023-2024 as they did last season.
One of the main reasons why the Marquette Golden Eagles are ranked so high is because of point guard Tyler Kolek, who is the reigning Big East Player of the Year. The Marquette Golden Eagles know that rankings mean nothing, and they have to earn it. They were projected to finish ninth in the Big East a season ago, and the rest is history.
Head coach Shaka Smart will need to keep his players in check this season. The last time they made a Final Four appearance was in 2003. That was when Dwayne Wade was still in college. They haven’t won a National Title since 1977 against the North Carolina Tar Heels.
The Big East Conference will be tough as nails this season with UCONN, Creighton, and Villanova. A few of the other teams to watch out for are the Georgetown Hoyas, the Xavier Musketeers, and the St. John’s Red Storm.
The Marquette Golden Eagles can be a very high seed once again come March Madness. The end game is the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona, and cutting down the nets, and the journey for that begins for them on Monday, November 6, when they take on the Northern Illinois Huskies.
