Marquette Gets Hosed By The IWLCA/ILWomen Top 25 Voters

Last week, Marquette women’s lacrosse earned their first top 25 votes in program history. The Golden Eagles rode their 12-1 record to somewhere less than #25 Johns Hopkins’ 35 points and to the spot as the unofficial #29 team in the country. This past Saturday, Marquette hosted #24 Connecticut, and picked up a 12-9 victory, which was just the second win over a ranked team in program history, and moved to 13-1 on the season.

You would think, in a normal and just universe, UConn would drop out of the top 25 as a result of the loss, and thus, a spot would open for Marquette to move in.

Yeah, no.

Marquette’s the unofficial #26 team in the country this week, coming in somewhere ahead of Rutgers, and I have to say “somewhere” because the IWLCA doesn’t publish point totals for teams that are only receiving votes. To add insult to injury, UConn is still in the top 25, coming in at exactly #25 with 39 points. That’s a slide of just five points from last week’s 44 for the Huskies.

What are we doing here? I demand to know who voted for UConn this week and not Marquette. You want to put them both in your top 25, I’m not going to stop you. But you can not vote for the Huskies and not vote for Marquette after Saturday’s game. This is a travesty. This is a sham. This is a mockery. This is a travishamockery. By the way? Johns Hopkins is now #22 in the country with their very good record of six wins and seven losses. Generally speaking, I think you should be eligible for the NCAA tournament and holding a winning record after 13 games in order to be in the top 25. Same goes for #24 Princeton with their record of 6-6, and oh, that’s right, UConn’s 8-5 mark after losing to Marquette isn’t exactly knocking them dead.

Get it together, voters.

Northwestern is still the best ranked team on Marquette’s schedule this season, as the only team to beat the Golden Eagles in 2023 is currently #2 in the country. Denver, the favorite in the Big East, is one spot and just 28 poll points behind the Wildcats. #24 UConn is the only other team in the top 25 or earning votes that’s on MU’s schedule this season. Yes, I realize “strength of schedule” is working against Marquette here, but at some point, you have to recognize a team that’s 13-1 and gave the #2 team in the country a pretty solid fight.

The Golden Eagles return to action on Wednesday afternoon when they make their way down to Indiana for a matinee against Butler. First draw is set for Noon Central, and FloSports will have the streaming broadcast for the game against the 5-7 Bulldogs. If I know anything about coaching and finding excuses to play with a chip on your shoulder, Butler might be in a lot of trouble.

You can check out the entire and extremely biased top 25 right here.