When Marquette women’s basketball picked up a #5 seed in last season’s NCAA tournament, an inevitability was suddenly launched into the atmosphere, quietly, and largely unnoticed at the time.
A #5 seed meant MU was regarded by the selection committee as one of the 20 best teams in the country last season. With all but one major contributor returning for 2017-18, it seemed almost obvious that Marquette would start the season ranked in the top 25.
That was confirmed on Thursday, when USA Today released the preseason edition of their coaches poll, where Marquette came in at #19.