2023-24 Big East Basketball power rankings ahead of conference play

2. Marquette Golden Eagles

The reigning Big East Tournament Champions can now begin their title defense after a very long wait. The Golden Eagles sit at No. 7 in the AP Poll, and they have absolutely earned that spot.

Marquette very much took care of business in their non-conference schedule, picking up wins in paradise against Kansas and UCLA, and almost taking down Purdue in their final MTE game. They also have blowout wins over Kansas and Notre Dame, as well as a tough win over Illinois.

The back half of their non-conference was interesting though, with a loss to rival Wisconsin being penned down as just one of those rivalry games you cannot always win. But their recent game against St. Thomas had Big East fans scratching their heads. The Golden Eagles had to fight to win that game, but they ended up with the win 84-79.

Wins are wins at the end of the day, but when that is your most recent game, it leaves a lot to be desired, especially as they have to play a Providence team looking to prove themselves to the rest of the nation. This team should be just fine, especially the talent of Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro.

Also, watch out for Kam Jones to continue his great season, he leads the squad in scoring with 15.6 points per game in just 26.5 minutes each night. This is a deep team with a lot of talent, so if you want to beat Marquette, you need enough talent to play a full 40 minutes of high-level basketball. But the Big East has that from top to bottom, so Marquette has their work cut out for them.