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The college basketball season continues to inch closer, and today we found out exactly where Marquette women’s basketball will start the season in the Associated Press top 25.
Drum roll please?
What’s that?
The ranking’s in the headline, so there’s no point in building up drama here?
Oh.
Yeah, Marquette’s ranked #19 in the preseason AP poll. That’s pretty neat.
The Golden Eagles earned 231 points in the inaugural poll of the year, falling just barely behind #18 Syracuse and their 238 points, but pretty well clear of Texas A&M and their 149 points. Scott Nulph of the Laramie Boomerang is VERY high... on the Golden Eagles this season, starting them out at #8 (!) (!!!) on his ballot, and ESPN’s Rebecca Lobo, something of an honorary Golden Eagle by way of marriage, has MU at #9. All of MU’s other votes are scatted in the mid-teens to low-20s, with Percy Allen of the Seattle Times having the low end for Marquette at #22. Well, the low end for people who put Marquette in the top 25, as the Golden Eagles did not appear on four ballots. I could figure out who those people are, but we’ll allow them to live peacefully and quietly for now.
There are three Marquette opponents starting the season in the top 25. Most notably, reigning national champion Notre Dame starts off the year as the unanimous choice as the #1 team in the country with all 31 first place votes. The Irish will be coming to the McGuire Center on Saturday, December 22nd, so get your tickets now. Mississippi State will host Marquette on December 6th, which is weirdly appropriate, as the Bulldogs start the year ranked #6. The only other Big East team in the top 25 poll is DePaul, which is ranked #15. MU and DePaul are officially co-favorites to win the league this season, although the AP voters see a tiny bit more of a distinction than the Big East coaches do.
There’s a possibility, actually let’s call it likely that Marquette will play #25 Miami as part of the Preseason WNIT, as they’re the two best teams in the field and they’re weirdly on the same side of the bracket. Not cool, WNIT organizers. Michigan will also be coming to the McGuire Center this season, and they start the year receiving nine points worth of votes. Green Bay will also visit Milwaukee this year, and the Phoenix picked up one 25th place vote in the poll.
#19 Marquette kicks off the season on Tuesday, November 6, when they host South Dakota State. It will be a mid-day tip-off, as the Golden Eagles will also be hosting local schoolkids for a field trip day.