Where Do Marquette Soccer’s Opponents Show Up In The Preseason Top 25?

We continue to inch closer and closer to the start of the college soccer season. FUN FACT: Marquette women’s soccer has an exhibition game on TUESDAY as they prepare for the 2023 campaign! The men’s team has to wait until Friday to get their first exhibition action of the season on the board.

In any case, one of the reliable guideposts on the way to the season is the release of the preseason rankings. United Soccer Coaches took care of that for us back on August 1st, so we’d better get caught up and let you know what Marquette’s two soccer teams can expect to see as the season goes along this year.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Frank Pelaez’s team is getting things started in the most interesting manner possible. Their first regular season match of the year is at home against Northwestern on August 17th, and the Wildcats are #18 in the country to start the year.

That’s Marquette’s only expected non-conference game against a ranked foe this season. Georgetown gets the nod as USC’s favorite in the Big East, as they’re sitting at #16 in the top 25 right now. Xavier might not be that far off the beaten path to the top of the standings in the league, as the Musketeers did get votes, just not enough to get ranked. With just nine points, Xavier is the unofficial #27 team in the country to start the season.

Aaaaaand that’s it for the preseason rankings on Marquette’s schedule. Things can always change as the season goes along, of course, perhaps someone gets off to a hot streak and bounds their way into the top 25 by the time that the Golden Eagles square off with them.

MEN’S SOCCER

Louis Bennett’s team is going to have an even quieter non-conference slate than Frank Pelaez’s team will. As it stands, Marquette men’s soccer won’t face a preseason top 25 team at all this season.

That string comes to an end pretty quickly when Big East play starts, as Marquette’s first league match is against a preseason top 25 team. In fact, it’s a preseason top 10 team, as USC has Creighton as the Big East favorite at #8 in the country to start things off. As Big East action goes along, Marquette will see two more preseason top 25 teams, as Georgetown is ranked #17 and brand new Big East affiliate member Akron sits at #22. Providence is receiving votes in the preseason poll, but because of the new divisional format thanks to the addition of Akron, Marquette won’t be playing Providence this season.