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The new AVCA top 25 poll came out on Monday afternoon as is tradition, and the good news is that Marquette is still a top 10 team.
The bad news is that they’re just barely a top 10 team. Marquette is exactly #10 in the country this week, dropping two spots form last week when they were #8. The Golden Eagles won all three of their matches since that poll, so we have to presume that other teams getting big wins is the primary reason for the drop.
Marquette snagged 1,048 points in the poll this week. BYU — yes, the same BYU team that Marquette beat in Provo already this year — is at #9 in the country with two first place votes and 1,126 points. They beat #18 Utah and #2 Stanford, both on the road since last week’s poll. Still, I’d love to see the full ballots of the voters who put BYU in first, just to see where they have Marquette and Texas, who beat BYU on a neutral floor just 10 days ago. Coming in at #11 is Hawaii, who moves up two spots this week, and picked up 901 points in the poll.
Baylor tightened their grip on the title of best ranked Marquette opponent this week, moving up from #5 last week to #2 in the country this week. Stanford going from #2 to #1 while losing to then-#12 BYU at home is actually more offensive than whatever’s going on with the BYU and Marquette votes. BYU is at #9 as mentioned a moment ago, while Wisconsin falls out of the top 10 to #13 this week. Creighton continues to ascend, going from #15 to #14 this week. Illinois lost another spot in the poll, falling to #20.
That’s it for teams on Marquette’s schedule listed this week, either in the top 25 or merely earning votes. 10 teams appear on just one ballot, but the AVCA does not list those teams. Seems a little silly, given that someone could have one 22nd place vote and still have more points than Stephen F. Austin has (3) while appearing on multiple ballots. Oh well, I’m not in charge.
Marquette has three more matches this week as Big East play gets started. All three will be at home. First it’s Butler on Wednesday morning for a Kids Day event at the McGuire Center, followed by Seton Hall and St. John’s on Friday and Saturday.
You can check out the full top 25 right here.