8. Marquette
Shaka Smart has turned out to be an awesome hire at Marquette, leading the Golden Eagles to the Big East regular season title and a 29-win season in year two. Marquette’s offense played at an elite level and they were impressive in a conference that produced several national contenders. The hype for the Golden Eagles continues.
Getting reigning Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek back for another season is already a major win, but the Golden Eagles actually get back four of their five starters from last year. Leading scorer Kameron Jones also returns, with Marquette needing only replace Olivier-Maxence Prosper in the lineup.
There are no major additions to Marquette’s rotation this season; they are leaning on the returning lineup that led them to Big East supremacy. They’ll have to replace the production they lost but returning their top two scorers and a lot of their bench sets them up in great shape for this upcoming season. There’ll be no questions about how the Golden Eagles meld together; they just won a Big East regular season and tournament title together.