# 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, 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.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| 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 | | vs. Wisconsin Milwaukee Classic | 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 | No. 7 | Wisconsin | W 60–51 | 14–1 | Marquette Gymnasium 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 | Tulane Gym New Orleans, Louisiana |
| NIT Tournament ||||||
| March 14 | | vs. Massachusetts NIT First Round | W 62–55 | 23–3 | Madison Square Garden New York |
| March 17 | | vs. Utah NIT Quarterfinals | W 83–63 | 24–3 | Madison Square Garden New York |
| March 19 | No. 8 | vs. LSU NIT Semifinals | W 101–79 | 25–3 | Madison Square Garden New York |
| March 21 | No. 8 | vs. St. John's (NY) NIT Finals | W 65–53 | 26–3 | Madison Square Garden New York |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||