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Marquette men’s basketball has spent the last couple of weeks ping-ponging in and out of the minds of the Associated Press top 25 voters. On the first Monday of January, it seemed they were nearing inclusion in the top 25, and then they got no votes the next week. Then just one vote, and then back to no votes.
WELL, APPARENTLY BEATING XAVIER AND DEPAUL IS VERY GOOD FOR YOU.
This week, in the brand new AP poll, Marquette picked up votes from 13 voters, giving them 31 points. That leaves them well short of the 85 points earned by #25 Houston, but it does put the Golden Eagles as the unofficial #27 team in the country behind Texas Tech and their 66 points. That’s not nothing, y’know.
Seth Davis of The Athletic and Steve Hewitt of the Boston Herald are Marquette’s two biggest supporters this week. They both have the Golden Eagles as the #22 team in the country on their ballot. Four voters had MU at #23, while four voters each had Marquette at #23 and #24. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Marquette beat reporter Ben Steele is one of the folks with the 24th place vote. Three more voters had Marquette at #25 in their list.
Maryland leads the way for ranked teams on Marquette’s schedule this season. The Terrapins are up six spots in the rankings this week and are now at #9 in the country. Villanova dropped two spots to #10 after losing at home to Creighton on Saturday. Seton Hall also fell two spots, down to #12, after getting shelled by Xavier on Saturday. Butler lost three spots in the new poll, as they’re now #19 in the country after getting popped in the face at home by Providence on Saturday. Creighton jumps into the top 25 this week at #21 after their big road win.
It’s somewhat surprising, but there are no MU foes only receiving votes this week.
Marquette has just one game between now and the next AP poll, but it is kind of a big one. The Golden Eagles will host #19 Butler on Sunday at Fiserv Forum, so not only is that a revenge game for what transpired down at Hinkle Fieldhouse in the first meeting this season, but it is effectively a “win and get ranked” game for MU.
You can check out the entire top 25 right here and see all of MU’s votes right here.