14. Marquette Golden Eagles
Record: 10-2 (0-0 Big East)
Last Week: No. 20
When should we start discussing Marquette’s potential as a darkhorse national title contender this year? Maybe not this early but the time to start talking about it is coming soon. For what seems like the first time under head coach Steve Wojciechowski, this team has shown the ability to play high-level defense. Additionally, their offense is still one of the best in the nation thanks to the scoring prowess of Markus Howard and the Hauser Brothers.
The Golden Eagles are currently riding a seven-game winning streak that includes wins over Louisville, Kansas State, Wisconsin, and Buffalo. It is hard to argue with how well Marquette is playing at this point in time and it is reasonable to assume that they will continue to shoot up the rankings with each 3-pointer that finds the bottom of the net. Now the clear-cut favorite to win the Big East this season, expectations have changed from simply making the NCAA Tournament to reaching the second weekend.
Thanks to this recent hot streak, Marquette’s predictive metrics (KenPom, Sagarin, etc.) are starting to finally rise as the team is now regarded as easily one of the top three teams in the league. As long as they can limit their turnovers come conference play, this is a team that should receive a high seed in the Big Dance.