I don’t know if you noticed this, but Marquette men’s basketball finished up the 2022-23 season with a single digit ranking in the Associated Press top 25 poll.

With that in mind, Marquette’s going to show up on a lot of Way Too Early preseason top 25 as the 2023 national championship game wraps up. We’re here to track as many as possible, because it’s neat to see national voices noticing your basketball team. I’ve already seen three as of 7pm on Monday night before tipoff of the national championship game, so we may as well publish now and update the list as more become available.

We’ll also point out the ranked teams that are either on Marquette’s schedule next season as we know it already, or at least could possibly be on the schedule. That’s effectively going to be either A) teams in the Big East or B) teams in the 2023 Maui Invitational. We know MU will play Wisconsin and Notre Dame, but I don’t think anyone’s going to be including them in a WTE top 25.

Here we go!

MARCH 27

Mike DeCourcy, The Sporting News: #5

Quote:

The combination of point guard Tyler Kolek, shooting guard Kam Jones and big man Oso Ighodaro ranks with the most dynamite offensive trios, not in terms of flat production but more so in how challenging it is to defend all three of them at once. It would be unreasonable to exclude from praise do-everything forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper – known within the sport simply as “O-Max” – who might be as effective a glue guy as there is in Division I men’s basketball.

UConn is at #1, UCLA is #2, Purdue is #4, Creighton is #8, Gonzaga is #10, Kansas is #13, Tennessee is #18, Xavier is #25

APRIL 3

Kevin Flaherty, 247 Sports: #2

Quote:

Marquette was awfully strong this past season, but the Golden Eagles still had flaws. Perhaps some of that gets ironed out in natural offseason development.

UConn is at #3, Creighton is #4, Purdue is #6, UCLA is #11, Kansas is #13, Gonzaga is #14, and Tennessee is #18. Providence, Villanova, and Xavier all landed in the “15 More To Watch” list.

Jeff Goodman, Stadium: #1

Yep, you read that right, Marquette is Goodman’s pick as the best team in the country to start the 2023-24 season. No quote here, just a quick blurb noting all five starters are presumably returning next season.

Purdue starts off the potential opponents list at #5, Creighton is #6, UConn is #7, Kansas is #9, UCLA is #12, Gonzaga is #24, and — I can’t believe I have to type this out — St. John’s is #25. Tennessee came in the Just Missed The Cut group of five.

APRIL 4

Patrick Stevens, The Washington Post: #1

Quote:

Let’s call the Golden Eagles what they are: The team with the highest floor, at least for now.

Purdue tops the possible opponents list one spot behind Marquette at #2. UConn is #3, Creighton is #5, Kansas is #9, UCLA is #10, Gonzaga is #14, Tennessee is #21, and — my god, this again — St. John’s is #25. Villanova, Wisconsin, and Xavier all made “15 More To Think About.”

Seth Davis, The Athletic: #1

Quote:

Kolek will be a candidate for preseason national player of the year, and the extra year of development will make his running mates even more effective.

Once again, Purdue starts us off, once again right behind Marquette at #2. Creighton is #3, UCLA is #7, UConn is #12, Kansas is #13, and Tennessee is #19.

House of College Hoops: #4

No quote here, but this is a compilation of votes from five different people. UConn tops the possible opponents list here at #3 and earning three first place votes. Kansas is #5, Creighton is #6, UCLA is #7, Purdue is #8, Tennessee is #15, and Gonzaga is #18. Xavier, St. John’s, and Providence all earned votes in this poll.

Gary Parrish, CBS Sports: #3

Quote:

Tyler Kolek and Kam Jones should provide Shaka Smart with a core capable of competing for a national championship.

The two teams in front of Marquette will be familiar faces: #1 goes to UConn and #2 goes to Purdue. Creighton is #6, UCLA is #9, Kansas is #10, Tennessee is #16, Gonzaga is #20, and Xavier is #24.

Jeff Borzello, ESPN: #2

Quote:

…given that the Golden Eagles won the Big East regular season and conference tournament titles after being picked ninth in the preseason, there should be plenty of optimism in Milwaukee.

UConn holds the top spot here, not just amongst MU’s possible opponents, but overall at #1. Kansas is #7, Creighton is #10, Purdue is #15, Gonzaga is #21, Tennessee is #23, and UCLA is #25. Wisconsin gets a spot as “Next In Line.”

APRIL 5

Kevin Sweeney, Sports Illustrated: #1

Quote:

This was already one of the best offenses in the country in 2022–23 thanks to its skill level and ball movement. Assuming everyone returns, another year together for this group could make the Golden Eagles impossible to guard.

While Marquette gets the top overall spot, UConn is the top ranked opponent at #3. Purdue is #4, Kansas is #6, Creighton is #9, Gonzaga is #14, UCLA is #17, and Tennessee is #25.

Mike Miller, Field of 68: #2

Just quick blurbs for every team, as it’s part of Fo68’s newsletter the morning after the national championship game, and there’s nothing particularly interesting or new about MU here.

UConn gets the top spot in the top 25, and Purdue is one spot behind Marquette at #3. Creighton is #9, Kansas is #11, UCLA is #15, and Gonzaga is #19.

Heat Check: #2

Quote:

As it stands, Marquette is the safest bet to be a top-5 team entering the 2023-24 season.

UConn gets the top spot here, and it’s worth noting that I’m putting this up on April 5th, but they published it on March 31st aka before the Huskies won the championship. Purdue is #5, Creighton is #6, Kansas is #7, UCLA is #11, Gonzaga is #15, Tennessee is #18. Wisconsin and Xavier received votes in their balloting.

John Fanta, Fox Sports: #2

Quote, which I wildly disagree with:

The defending Big East regular-season and tournament champions are here to stay, and a national championship is the expectation.

Winning a national championship is hard. I’m not going to ruin my enjoyment of the 2023-24 season by expecting Marquette to do that.

Duke has the #1 spot in front of the Golden Eagles, while Purdue takes the top spot amongst teams that Marquette could see next season at #3. UConn is #4, Kansas is #5, Creighton is #7, UCLA is #13, Gonzaga is #19, and Xavier is #25.

USA Today: #4

Quote:

Don’t forget it was the Golden Eagles, not Connecticut, that swept the Big East regular season and tournament titles.

UConn does get the top spot in the rankings as well as the top spot on Marquette’s possible schedule for next season. Purdue is #3, Creighton is #5, Kansas is #10, Gonzaga is #13, and UCLA is #17.

Jon Rothstein: #4

No commentary, just a listing of projected starters and bench and newcomers, etc., you get the idea.

UConn is at #1 and Purdue is at #2 to start things off. Creighton is #5, UCLA is #6, Kansas is #13, Tennessee is #19, Xavier is #25. Jon goes all the way out to #45, so we will too: Gonzaga is #26, Wisconsin is #34, Providence is #37, Villanova is #42.

More to come?