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Marquette Basketball: Breakdown of the Golden Eagles’ 2018-19 non-conference schedule

By Brian Foley

GREENVILLE, SC - MARCH 17: Head coach Steve Wojciechowski of the Marquette Golden Eagles reacts in the first half against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 17, 2017 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
GREENVILLE, SC - MARCH 17: Head coach Steve Wojciechowski of the Marquette Golden Eagles reacts in the first half against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 17, 2017 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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GREENVILLE, SC – MARCH 17: Head coach Steve Wojciechowski of the Marquette Golden Eagles reacts in the first half against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 17, 2017 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
GREENVILLE, SC – MARCH 17: Head coach Steve Wojciechowski of the Marquette Golden Eagles reacts in the first half against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 17, 2017 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

The Golden Eagles’ non-conference schedule is just another indication of the high expectations around Marquette Basketball this season.

After many of the 2018-19 opponents were reported throughout the spring and summer, Marquette officially released the toughest non-conference slate in the Steve Wojciechowski era.

Here is the complete schedule:

"Nov. 6 vs. UMBC Nov. 10 vs. Bethune-Cookman (NIT Tip-Off campus game) Nov. 14 at Indiana (Gavitt Games) Nov. 17 vs. Presbyterian Nov. 21 vs. Kansas (NIT Tip-Off at Barclays Center) Nov. 23 vs. Tennessee/Louisville (NIT Tip-Off at Barclays Center) Nov. 27 vs. Charleston Southern Dec. 1 vs. Kansas State Dec. 4 vs. UTEP Dec. 8 vs. Wisconsin Dec. 18 vs. North Dakota Dec. 21 vs. Buffalo Dec. 28 vs. Southern"

Marquette has put together non-conference schedules of varying difficulty in Wojo’s tenure. Here’s how the non-con slates ranked each year, according to ESPN: 175 (2014), 330 (2015), 217 (2016), and 160 (2017).

Wojciechowski has slowly built tougher schedules as he gains more trust in his team. Last year’s non-conference schedule was perfectly acceptable; the only issue was Marquette failed to win any of its headliner games. But this season, with a talented, more experienced roster in tow and the Big East taking a slight step backwards, Wojo has further beefed up the first half of the schedule to finally tally some legitimate ‘Quadrant 1’ wins. Marquette was just 3-8 against Q1 opponents in 2017-18.

Here is Marquette’s entire non-conference schedule, with an in-depth preview of each game.

All 2018-19 team projections are from Barttorvik.com.

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