NCAA Basketball: Tennessee, Baylor, Illinois rise in latest top 25 power rankings

8. Marquette (19-6)

Nobody can question the talent, experience, or success that Marquette has had both last season and to this point this season. Shaka Smart has done a marvelous job not just making the Golden Eagles great again, but also a national contender. They’ve done excellent work in the Big East, riding a pretty long win streak into this week, though they happened to run into the league’s bona fide buzz saw.

First and foremost, the Golden Eagles continued that streak on Tuesday with a nice effort in a 78-72 win at Butler. Tyler Kolek had his latest brilliant effort with 27 points and 7 rebounds while Oso Ighodaro added 17 points and 10 rebounds. Saturday then saw their 8-game winning streak abruptly end as the Golden Eagles fell 81-53 at Connecticut. Marquette was blitzed by the nation’s best team, getting 15 points from Kam Jones and a rough effort from Kolek and others.

Let’s not let one bad weekend overshadow what Marquette has accomplished this season. The Golden Eagles had a handful of nice wins during that winning streak and are still in great position for the postseason at 10-4 in the Big East. They’d clearly like a redo against the Huskies (and they’ll get their chance in early March), but for now the focus turns to three straight games at home, beginning Wednesday with DePaul.