Way-Too-Early roundup of Marquette rankings

The season is officially over, let the build up to 2025 begin.

And as is the norm, every basketball outlet races to put out a top-25 list the second the confetti flies. And while that endeavor is particularly fruitless in the transfer era when every team will see significant changes in the next few weeks, I was surprised at how cogent these rankings ended up being.

For example, of The Athletics’ top-20 teams on April 4th, 2023, 17 ended up making the NCAA Tournament. Sure, the order wasn’t correct on a lot of them (Marquette was 1st, UConn 13th and Houston 15th). More impressively, 13 of those 20 ended up being top-4 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

So what this tells us, while it’s pointless to argue about the actual placement at this juncture, being included in the conversation does have some value. It’s not something I’d bet money on, but there it has more correlation to success than I would have guessed.

With all that said, I was expecting to not think about these rankings with Oso Ighodaro and Tyler Kolek leaving (or at least assumed to be). Not that I don’t think Marquette can be pretty good next season, simply that’s a lot to lose in one offseason.

And boy was I wrong. Here’s where MU has ended up on various rankings the day after the 2024 season has closed.

Yahoo: 7th

“Sure, both Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro are almost certainly done. But Shaka Smart is coming off of two great seasons with the Golden Eagles — and he’s got several key players like Kam Jones and David Joplin coming back.”

FOX Sports: 10th

“It’s time for the Kam Jones Show to take center stage. Tyler Kolek was as good as any point guard in college basketball throughout the last two seasons, but as a result, it felt like Jones didn’t get the attention he always deserved. Averaging over 17 points per game this past season, the rising senior will lead Shaka Smart’s program, which has won a combined 56 games over the last two years.” 

ESPN: 11th

“Shaka Smart brings back three other starters in star guard Kam Jones, David Joplin and Stevie Mitchell — plus key rotation pieces in Chase Ross, Ben Gold and a potentially healthy Sean Jones. This is a team that has won a combined 58 games over two seasons and earned a 2-seed in each of the past two NCAA tournaments — the Golden Eagles shouldn’t fade away quickly.”

247 Sports: 13th

“We got a taste of what Kam Jones could do when Kolek was sidelined with an injury in the Big East Tournament. Jones could be special next season as the go-to piece.”

The Athletic: 14th

“That still leaves Marquette with the backbone of an awesome team led by Jones, who projects as a preseason All-American after averaging 17.2 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3. Look for him to take on more of an on-ball role following Kolek’s departure, something that might unlock an even more dynamic part of his game.”

Field of 68: 14th

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Sports Illustrated: 16th

“Shaka Smart’s team will look very different without Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro, but this shouldn’t be a rebuilding year. Leading scorer Kam Jones should be back, and role players like David Joplin and Chase Ross should continue to develop.”

USA Today: 18th

“Shaka Smart will have a good nucleus in place if Cam Jones and David Joplin come back, but adding size up front will be a priority.”

Rothstein: 25th

Sporting News: Not Ranked