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Last week, we found out that Marquette women’s basketball would start the 2017-18 season ranked in the coaches poll. We got more good news in that department on Thursday, when the Associated Press released their preseason top 25.
The combination of 32 voters decided to slot YOUR Golden Eagles at #17 in the country. It’s the first time since 2011 that Marquette has appeared in the AP poll.
Marquette picked up 264 points, trailing #16 Missouri at 315 points and came in ahead of #18 Florida State with 234 points. MU appeared on 31 of the 32 ballots, with Rick Cantu of the Austin American-Statesman as the lone holdout. CBS Sports’ Deb Antonelli is the highest on the Golden Eagles, slotting them in at #13 on her ballot. Noted Golden Eagle by marriage Rebecca Lobo had the next best slot for MU, placing them at #14 on her ballot.
Four teams on Marquette’s schedule are all earning votes in the preseason poll, and all are in the top 25. The group is led by Notre Dame, which comes in at #6. Marquette will visit the Irish on December 20th. MU’s first major test of the season comes in the third game of the season, where they will play preseason #14 Tennessee in the Cancun Challenge on November 23rd. Michigan is the third and final ranked team in the non-conference schedule, coming in at #24, and the Golden Eagles will be in Crisler Arena on December 7th.
DePaul is the only other Big East team earning votes in the preseason poll. The Blue Demons came in right at #25, nearly 50 points behind Michigan and more than 20 points ahead of Kentucky, the first team outside the top 25. This sets up two massive regular season meetings between Marquette and DePaul in a rematch of last season’s Big East tournament title game. Both games will take place in January, with MU hosting on the 4th and heading to Chicago on the 29th.
Connecticut Huskies is the unanimous #1 team in the country to start the campaign. You can check out the full top 25 right here.
Marquette opens the season on Monday, November 13th, on the road against New Mexico. The home opener will be on Sunday, November 19th against Loyola-Maryland.