Marquette’s return to ranked glory lasted exactly seven days.
Following an old fashioned asskicking at Indiana and 27 dreadful minutes against Presbyterian, the Associated Press voters elected en masse to not include the Golden Eagles in Monday’s brand new top 25. There is one true believer remaining as Theo Lawson of the Spokane Spokesman-Review still has MU at #19 in his ballot, giving them seven points this week. However, Mr. Lawson is the only one who still has Marquette ranked.
Marquette will get a chance to earn a lot of votes right back in their very next game. The team is already on their way to Brooklyn for the Preseason NIT Tip-Off, where they will face #2 Kansas on Wednesday night. It’s possible that MU could see #5 Tennessee in Friday’s NIT game, but that would require both teams to either win or lose, and that seems to be unlikely.
There are three more teams on Marquette’s non-conference schedule in the top 25, and all three will be coming to Fiserv Forum. #12 Kansas State will be in town on December 2nd, followed by #25 Wisconsin on December 8th. MU will face #22 Buffalo in their last game before Christmas, so hopefully the Golden Eagles can deliver an early batch of coal to the Bulls.
As you may have guessed/realized by now, there are no Big East teams ranked this week. That’s a first since The Reformation, and actually a first since — this is not a joke — 1982. After losses to Michigan and Furman, Villanova dropped from #8 to out of the poll completely, although they still snagged 53 points. Butler grabbed up 18 points, and St. John’s earned 13 points. There was one non-conference Marquette foe in the Receiving Votes area, as Indiana stayed stationary at the unofficial #27 spot thanks to a narrow loss at Arkansas on Sunday.
You can check out the whole top 25 poll right here.