It was another good year for Marquette Basketball, winning 23 games and making the NCAA Tournament. They won their first eight games, including notable victories over Maryland, Purdue, and Georgia, as well as a triumph over then-No. 11 Wisconsin.
Once again, the Golden Eagles are poised for a strong non-conference campaign, featuring a few early projected postseason teams for next year. Here’s a ranking of the six most notable teams for them to face before the start of Big East play.
6. Dayton Flyers (H)
Dayton lost most of its key players from last year, including Enoch Cheeks and Nate Santos.
Point guard Javon Bennett is back to be the focal point, along with forward Amael L’Etang, back as a potential sophomore breakout candidate. The Flyers also took a couple of swings in the portal, including De’Shayne Montgomery (Georgia) and Malcolm Thomas (Villanova).
5. Oklahoma Sooners (N)
The Sooners are without top-10 NBA Draft pick Jeremiah Fears and key forward Jalon Moore. But they’ve done a good job in the portal at adding legit talent, including an All-A10 guard Xxayvier Brown (St. Joe’s) and Tae Davis, a double-digit scoring forward from Notre Dame. If Miami transfer Nijel Pack has a bounce-back campaign, Oklahoma’s offense will be one of the better ones in the SEC.
4. Maryland Terrapins (H)
After Coach Kevin Willard left for Villanova, Maryland replaced him with Buzz Williams from Texas A&M. His frontcourt will be physical and aggressive again, led by Solomon Washington and Pharrel Payne, who joined him from the Aggies. Indiana transfer Myles Rice and former Kansas guard David Coit will be the key guards to watch on the new-look Terps squad.
3. Wisconsin Badgers (A)
Star guard and leading scorer John Tonje is off to the NBA, but besides bringing back starting guard John Blackwell, the Badgers also brought in key transfers, including Nick Boyd (San Diego State) and Andrew Rohde (Virginia). Wisconsin will hope that Portland transfer Austin Rapp can make a good frontcourt duo alongside returning big man Nolan Winter.
2. Indiana Hoosiers (N)
New Coach Darian DeVries brought in some huge names from the transfer portal, including his own son, Tucker DeVries. Lamar Wilkerson is a 20 ppg scorer from Sam Houston, while Reed Bailey was a star offensive weapon at Davidson last season. Tayton Conwerway was the Defensive Player of the Year in the Sun Belt at Troy and likely will be their starting PG too.
1. Purdue Boilermakers (A)
It’s easy to say who the top team is on this schedule, with Purdue likely getting preseason No. 1 votes for next year. Big Ten Player of the Year and All-American PG Braden Smith is back, along with 20 ppg scoring forward, Trey-Kaufman Renn. They added Oscar Cluff over from South Dakota State, coming off averaging a double-double. It’ll be a major test for the Golden Eagles' new backcourt next season.