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Marquette Basketball: Is high BPI ranking warranted for 2018-19?

By Holden Walter-Warner

LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 20: The Marquette Golden Eagles huddle up on the court late in the second half of the game against the VCU Rams at Lahaina Civic Center on November 20, 2017 in Lahaina, Hawaii.
LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 20: The Marquette Golden Eagles huddle up on the court late in the second half of the game against the VCU Rams at Lahaina Civic Center on November 20, 2017 in Lahaina, Hawaii. /
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ESPN released their preseason BPI rankings on Sunday, with Marquette Basketball checking in at a stunning fourth.

The college basketball season is still over three months away, but the hype for Marquette’s 2018-19 campaign is already in overdrive.

This week, ESPN unmasked a new set of BPI rankings, using their predictive model to suss out who the best teams in college basketball will be next year. It’s not much more than numbers on a spreadsheet, but we’ll take our basketball rankings wherever we can get them this summer.

Regardless, the first three teams are not entirely surprising: Kansas, Gonzaga, Tennessee.

The No. 4 team? The Marquette Golden Eagles.

You know, the same team that lost in the NIT quarterfinals and lost elite scorer Andrew Rowsey to graduation?

There’s enough reason to think the Golden Eagles can improve upon last season’s showing, even without Rowsey. Markus Howard, for starters, is ready to step into the void. He’s one of the best shooters in college basketball, averaging 45.4% of his 3-point shots over his first two collegiate seasons.

Howard won’t be alone in the scoring realm. Sam Hauser averaged 14.1 points per game last year, making nearly half of his 3-point attempts. Yet he may not be the best Hauser on the roster for long, with the arrival of his brother Joey Hauser.

According to most recruiting services, the younger Hauser is one of the top 15 incoming power forward recruits in college basketball. As a high school junior, the 6-foot-8 big man averaged 23.6 points, 11.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, before an ankle injury marred his senior season.

Marquette also adds transfers Ed Morrow and Joseph Chartouny, who should be quick contributors for the Golden Eagles.

Steve Wojciechowski has his program trending in the right direction. Marquette should be a Top 25 team this season and a contender towards the top of the Big East.

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But one of the top four teams in the entire country? Absolutely not. Not yet, anyway.

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