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Marquette Basketball: 2020-21 season preview for the Golden Eagles

By Brian Foley

VILLANOVA, PA - FEBRUARY 12: Theo John #4 of the Marquette Golden Eagles dunks the ball during a college basketball game against the Villanova Wildcats at the Finneran Pavilion on February 12, 2020 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
VILLANOVA, PA - FEBRUARY 12: Theo John #4 of the Marquette Golden Eagles dunks the ball during a college basketball game against the Villanova Wildcats at the Finneran Pavilion on February 12, 2020 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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Marquette
Marquette Basketball Nate Reuvers Theo John (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

Schedule

Nailing down a 2020-21 schedule is undoubtedly a bit tricky, but here is the Marquette basketball calendar thus far:

  • Nov. 25: vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff
  • Nov. 27: vs. Eastern Illinois
  • Dec. 1: vs. Oklahoma State
  • Dec. 4: vs. Wisconsin (no. 7 in the AP Poll)
  • Dec. 8: vs. Green Bay
  • Dec. 11: at UCLA (no. 22)
  • Dec. 14: at Creighton (no. 11)
  • Dec. 17: vs. Seton Hall
  • Dec. 20: at Xavier
  • Dec. 23: vs. Villanova (no. 3)

Certainly not an easy slate, made even more difficult for a team that is returning less than half its minutes while battling a pandemic-affected offseason.

Getting through the current December slate with fewer than four losses will be an accomplishment. KenPom projects MU to go 6-4 in the first 10 games, with losses to Wisconsin, UCLA, Creighton, and Villanova. T-Rank projects 5-5, tacking on another L via the road contest with Xavier.

Even some of the games Marquette is currently favored in will be no picnic. Oklahoma State features the no. 1 recruit in the country, Cade Cunningham, who is also the potential no. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Seton Hall was picked to finish several spots higher than Marquette in the preseason Big East poll. Both those games will be played in Milwaukee, but what does homecourt advantage mean when fans will not be in attendance at the Fiserv Forum?

An inexperienced Marquette group will be thrust into the deep end through the first 10 games. But hey, I think all Marquette fans would agree – a tough 10-game start is still better than no college basketball at all (/knock on wood/).

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