With everyone coming out with their ‘way too early’ top 25 polls, it’s fair to think about what the teams in-state might do next season. Marquette and Wisconsin both missed the tournament last year, and it’s the first time since the mid 90s that the state of Wisconsin did not have a representative in the tournament. Both are hoping it’s a one-year hiatus from the dance. Neither are featured in some of these early top 25 polls, so, what’s the outlook for these teams next season?

For Marquette, they return everyone except for Andrew Rowsey. That’s a big loss for this team. It’s going to take some time to replace him. Rowsey became the floor general and added a swagger to this team. They do have Markus Howard, Sam Hauser, Sacar Anim and Matt Heldt all back for another year though. Add Sam’s younger brother Joey to the lineup, and you have a pretty deep starters group. Joey will benefit from being on campus for the last six months. Marquette is on the hunt for a grad transfer point guard. Even with Howard’s size, he’s a better off-ball player and could benefit from a top passer.

As for Wisconsin, they’ll try to rebound after their worst year in some time. Kobe King and D’Mitrik Trice will be back from injury. Ethan Happ will be playing his seventh year of college. Brad Davison will be one year stronger with two working shoulders. They’re also adding Taylor Currie, Joe Hedestrom and Tai Strickland to their team for the 2018 recruiting. Strickland’s dad is the NBA’s Rod Strickland, so, more good bloodlines for the Badgers. Wisconsin should be much improved next season. They’ll have a deeper roster with more experience. The senior class besides Happ will be lacking but the young guns from this year should be ready to roll.

Wisconsin and Marquette will meet at the new Wisconsin ESC Arena this season in December. It will be the first time that it’s not played in the Bradley Center, and the hype around it should be pretty absurd.

Charlie.