Marquette is the coaches' choice to win 1st season of revamped Big East
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Marquette, co-champions of the Big East's last season with 15 schools, is the coaches' pick to win it in the first season as a basketball-only conference.
The Golden Eagles have two starters among nine returning players from last season's team that fell a game shy of the Final Four. They received five of the 10 first-place votes and 74 points on Wednesday.
Georgetown, which finished tied with Marquette and national champion Louisville last season, had two first-place votes and 70 points and was followed by Creighton, Villanova, St. John's, Providence, Xavier, Seton Hall, Butler and DePaul.
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Creighton, Xavier and Butler are league newcomers.
Creighton forward Doug McDermott, a two-time All-America, is the unanimous choice for preseason player of the year. He averaged 23.2 points and 7.7 rebounds last season while shooting 49 percent from 3-point range.