1969–70 Marquette Warriors men's basketball team

The 1969–70 Marquette Warriors men's basketball team represented Marquette University during the 1969–70 men's college basketball season. The Warriors finished the regular season with a record of 26–3. The season is particularly notable as coach Al McGuire turned down a bid to the 1970 NCAA Tournament after the committee placed the tenth-ranked Warriors in the Midwest region instead of the geographically closer Mideast, the first team to ever take this action. McGuire opted to play in the 1970 National Invitation Tournament instead,^[1] where they defeated Massachusetts, Utah and LSU to advance to the NIT championship where they defeated St. John's to become NIT champions. As a direct result of this action, the NCAA forbid its members from declining NCAA tournament bids when offered moving forward.

1969–70 Marquette Warriors men's basketball
NIT Champions
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 8
Record	26–3
Head coach	Al McGuire (6th season)
Assistant coach	Hank Raymonds (9th season)
Home arena	Milwaukee Arena
Seasons ← 1968–69 1970–71 →

1969–70 NCAA University Division men's basketball independents standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 4 Jacksonville		–			–			27	–	2		.931
No. 5 New Mexico State		–			–			27	–	3		.900
No. 8 Marquette		–			–			26	–	3		.897
No. 3 St. Bonaventure		–			–			25	–	3		.893
No. 11 Florida State		–			–			23	–	3		.885
No. 12 Houston		–			–			25	–	5		.833
Army		–			–			22	–	6		.786
No. 17 Niagara		–			–			22	–	7		.759
No. 16 Utah State		–			–			22	–	7		.759
Villanova		–			–			22	–	7		.759
No. 9 Notre Dame		–			–			21	–	8		.724
St. John's		–			–			21	–	8		.724
Georgetown		–			–			18	–	7		.720
Duquesne		–			–			17	–	7		.708
Dayton		–			–			19	–	8		.704
Manhattan		–			–			18	–	8		.692
Hardin–Simmons		–			–			17	–	9		.654
Holy Cross		–			–			16	–	9		.640
Long Island		–			–			16	–	9		.640
Georgia Tech		–			–			17	–	10		.630
Creighton		–			–			15	–	10		.600
Seattle		–			–			15	–	10		.600
Boston University		–			–			14	–	10		.583
Butler		–			–			15	–	11		.577
Oklahoma City		–			–			17	–	13		.567
Fairleigh Dickinson		–			–			13	–	10		.565
Southern Illinois		–			–			13	–	10		.565
Colgate		–			–			14	–	11		.560
Providence		–			–			14	–	11		.560
Denver		–			–			13	–	11		.542
Loyola (IL)		–			–			13	–	11		.542
Penn State		–			–			13	–	11		.542
Rutgers		–			–			13	–	11		.542
Saint Peter's		–			–			13	–	11		.542
Northern Illinois		–			–			13	–	12		.520
Air Force		–			–			12	–	12		.500
Fairfield		–			–			12	–	12		.500
Iona		–			–			12	–	12		.500
NYU		–			–			12	–	12		.500
Pittsburgh		–			–			12	–	12		.500
Saint Francis (PA)		–			–			12	–	12		.500
Syracuse		–			–			12	–	12		.500
DePaul		–			–			12	–	13		.480
West Texas State		–			–			12	–	13		.480
Loyola (LA)		–			–			12	–	14		.462
Boston College		–			–			11	–	13		.458
Virginia Tech		–			–			10	–	12		.455
St. Francis (NY)		–			–			9	–	12		.429
West Virginia		–			–			11	–	15		.423
Canisius		–			–			9	–	13		.409
Fordham		–			–			10	–	15		.400
Seton Hall		–			–			10	–	15		.400
Marshall		–			–			9	–	14		.391
Miami (FL)		–			–			9	–	17		.346
Centenary		–			–			8	–	16		.333
Pan American		–			–			8	–	16		.333
Detroit		–			–			7	–	18		.280
Tulane		–			–			5	–	18		.217
Xavier		–			–			5	–	20		.200
Navy		–			–			4	–	19		.174
Portland		–			–			4	–	22		.154
Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

1969–70 Marquette Warriors men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F 31 Gary Brell 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Milwaukee, Wisconsin F 30 Guy Lam 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Arlington Heights, Illinois G 14 Dean Meminger 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr New York F 21 Tom Sonnenberg 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Milwaukee, Wisconsin F 50 Joe Thomas 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Canton, Georgia	Head coach Al McGuire Assistant coach(es) Hank Raymonds Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
December 2		Northern Michigan	W 98–60	1–0	Milwaukee Arena  Milwaukee, WI
December 6		UW Milwaukee	W 86–58	2–0	Milwaukee Arena  Milwaukee, WI
December 8		at Michigan	L 78–86	2–1	Crisler Arena  Ann Arbor, Michigan
December 11		Drake	W 72–70	3–1	Milwaukee Arena  Milwaukee, WI
December 13		North Texas	W 83–60	4–1	Milwaukee Arena  Milwaukee, WI
December 20		Bowling Green	W 64–55	5–1	Milwaukee Arena  Milwaukee, WI
December 22		Minnesota	W 67–51	6–1	Milwaukee Arena  Milwaukee, WI
December 26		Delaware	W 99–71	7–1	Milwaukee Arena  Milwaukee, WI
December 27		Wisconsin	W 64–43	8–1	Milwaukee Arena  Milwaukee, WI
January 3		Detroit	W 81–61	9–1	Milwaukee Arena  Milwaukee, WI
January 6		Loyola (IL)	W 85–72	10–1	Milwaukee Arena  Milwaukee, WI
January 10		at DePaul	W 72–60	11–1	Alumni Hall  Chicago, Illinois
January 17		Southern Illinois	W 67–57	12–1	Milwaukee Arena  Milwaukee, WI
January 24		Xavier	W 82–73	13–1	Milwaukee Arena  Milwaukee, WI
January 27		Wisconsin	W 60–51	14–1	Milwaukee Arena  Milwaukee, WI
January 31		at Loyola (IL)	L 72–76	14–2	Alumni Gym
February 7		at Notre Dame	L 95–96	14–3	Joyce Center  South Bend, Indiana
February 9		Air Force	W 79–74	15–3	Milwaukee Arena  Milwaukee, WI
February 12		at St. Louis	W 66–54	16–3	The Arena
February 14		DePaul	W 79–60	17–3	Milwaukee Arena  Milwaukee, WI
February 21		at Detroit	W 80–60	18–3	Calihan Hall
February 23		at Xavier	W 81–73	19–3	Cincinnati Gardens  Cincinnati, Ohio
February 28		Creighton	W 76–66	20–3	Milwaukee Arena  Milwaukee, WI
March 3		at Southern Illinois	W 75–68	21–3	The SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
March 5		at Tulane	W 79–76	22–3	Avron B. Fogelman Arena  New Orleans, Louisiana
March 14		vs. Massachusetts NIT Tournament • First Round	W 62–55	23–3	Madison Square Garden  New York
March 17		vs. Utah NIT Tournament • Quarterfinals	W 83–63	24–3	Madison Square Garden  New York
March 19		vs. LSU NIT Tournament • Semifinals	W 101–79	25–3	Madison Square Garden  New York
March 21		vs. St. John's (NY) NIT Tournament • Finals	W 65–53	26–3	Madison Square Garden  New York
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

^[2][3]

References

1. "Marquette takes NIT over NCAA bid". Great Falls Tribune. February 25, 1970. p. 11. Retrieved January 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
2. "1969–70 Marquette Warriors Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
3. 2008-09 Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball media guide. 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2013-Oct-21.