I wonder if the voters looked at UConn’s 25 turnovers when making the decisions.
When you’re ranked #9 in the country and you lose at home to the team ranked #25 in the country, you’re going to drop in the next Associated Press poll. The question for Marquette heading into the new top 25 on Monday was “how much of a drop?”
The answer? Not that much.
Last week, Marquette had 1,068 points to be ranked #9. This week, 875 points….. but only down two spots to #11.
Fair enough, voters.
This is the 45th consecutive week that Marquette has been in the AP top 25 after appearing in all 21 polls a year ago. We have not seen a run like this in the Associated Press poll since the 1970s, and hooooooooboy, we’re in for a treat if Shaka Smart gets to this mark. This is the longest AP run since MU appeared in every ranking from December 29, 1969 through December 3, 1979. Nearly 10 full years! 166 consecutive polls! Al McGuire was good at his job.
875 points this week puts Marquette in between #10 Texas A&M with 976 points and #12 St. John’s with 808 points. That means MU is ever so slightly closer to being #12 than they were to holding onto a spot in the top 10 for an 11th consecutive week. Could have been worse, I suppose.
Marquette is not a unanimous top 25 team this week. They have at least four votes at every spot between #7 and #14, and two votes at both #15 and #16. Things get a little skippy after that, with one vote each at #18, #20, #21, and #22. The lone voter to leave the Golden Eagles unranked this week? Noted television talking head Seth Davis. In what passes for a defense of Davis, he hasn’t had UConn in his top 25 since they lost to Villanova back on January 8th, and yes, that includes this week after beating the team he had ranked #16 last week.
Purdue has jumped up three spots to #7 this week to become the new best ranked team on Marquette’s schedule. Their win over Indiana helped move them up as other teams lost, including Iowa State falling from #3 to #8 after losing to both Arizona and Kansas State since the last time the voters sent in a ballot.
As mentioned a second ago, St. John’s comes in at #12, and that’s their best ranking since they were #9 on the last poll of the 1999-2000 season. Maryland zooms into the poll at #18 after being not far outside the rankings last week thanks to a mid-week win over Wisconsin. UConn turns up at #19, a rise of six spots thanks to their win over Marquette, while the Badgers fall four spots to #21. Hey, guess who the Badgers’ biggest fan is this week? Yep, Seth Davis, who has them at #13.
Creighton is the top Marquette foe in the Receiving Votes area, landing 50 points this week to be the unofficial #29 team in the country. The only other team in there that MU played this season? George Mason, earning one vote each at #24 and #25 for three points this week. The Patriots have won seven in a row, which is fun. They’re up to #70 in the NET, and as long as they stay above 75, that’s a Quadrant 2 win for Marquette.
The Golden Eagles return to action on Tuesday night when they visit #12 St. John’s for one of the bigger games of the week in the country. Tipoff is set for 5:30pm Central at Madison Square Garden and FS1 will have the broadcast.
You can check out the entire top 25 here, and you can see how everyone voted for Marquette here.
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