NCAA Basketball: Purdue, Duke, fall in latest top 25 power ranking

5. Marquette (6-2)

Shaka Smart has certainly found a home at Marquette back in his home state of Wisconsin and last year’s success proved that. Much of that talent is back this year and was on full display in Hawaii, with the Golden Eagles toppling an elite Kansas squad before falling to Purdue in a classic in the title game. This team has already played an extremely challenging schedule and the challenges certainly aren’t passed.

Tuesday’s return to home was not one of those challenges, as Marquette won 93-56 over Southern, getting 16 points from Tyler Kolek in a balanced team win. Things were quite tougher over the weekend as the Golden Eagles took the short journey to Madison. In a double-digit hole at the half, Marquette would lose 75-64 to Wisconsin despite Kam Jones’ 19-point performance.

While that outing in Madison was their worst of the early season it was also Marquette’s fift game already away from home against a legitimate opponent. They’ve been tested early and often and do already have key wins over Illinois, UCLA, and Kansas on the resume. Another potential opportunity lurks next week as Texas comes to town, matching Smart against his former university.