4 ranked college basketball teams on upset alert this week, 1/15-21

No. 17 Marquette (At St. John's 1/20)

This season has been a strange one for Marquette, which entered the year as the preseason favorite to win the Big East only to get quickly surpassed by UCONN in the conference's hierarchy. The weight of expectations appears to have gotten to the Golden Eagles, who are just 2-3 over their first five conference games, including a home loss to Butler that ranked as very disappointing.

The talent is still there for Marquette to turn things around but they will have to start playing much better basketball to get the job done in Big East play. Saturday's trip to Madison Square Garden to take on St. John's is the type of game that Marquette needs to win if they hope to finish in the top half of the Big East standings but the Red Storm are no longer a pushover.

Rick Pitino has done a good job revitalizing the St. John's program and the Red Storm have gone 4-2 over their first six league games. Their only Big East losses have come on the road, with the Red Storm losing by 4 at UCONN and by a point to Creighton when the referees missed a critical foul call in the final seconds that should have sent St. John's to the free throw line with a chance to win the game.

The Red Storm are a tough defensive team that likes to press a lot, which could make life difficult for Marquette in front of a rowdy Saturday afternoon crowd at MSG. It feels like St. John's is due for a signature win to announce to the country that they're back and Marquette could be the team to give it to them if they aren't careful.