The Big East season starts in earnest this week and The Post’s Zach Braziller takes a look at the storylines to watch as league play begins.
Key injuries weaken conference
Creighton has already lost key guard Pop Isaacs to season-ending hip surgery.
On Monday, Xavier announced that forward Zach Freemantle will be out indefinitely due to a knee injury. It already lost its projected starting center, Long Beach State transfer Lassina Traore, in the summer to a season-ending knee injury.
And Providence has only had the services of star forward Bryce Hopkins, coming off a torn ACL, for three of its 12 games.
All three teams had their struggles during the non-conference, particularly Providence, which is 0-3 against the Atlantic 10.
Of the three, Creighton is the best bet to reach the NCAA Tournament, particularly if highly-regarded European sharpshooter Fedor Žugić gets cleared. The Bluejays are still waiting to hear about his status.
Who is the team to beat?
Despite Saturday’s loss at Dayton, Marquette should be favored to win the regular season. It has the Big East’s best player in senior point guard Kam Jones and by far the most continuity with six of its top eight leading scorers back from a year ago.
The Golden Eagles own wins over Wisconsin, Purdue, Georgia and Maryland and have a shot at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. While Connecticut bounced back after the nightmarish 0-3 trip to Hawaii with wins over Baylor, Texas and Gonzaga, I’m not sold that the Huskies repeat as regular season champions. There are still defensive issues – UConn is 69th in defensive efficiency – and questions at point guard.
St. John’s is capable of challenging these two if Kadary Richmond can find his game and the recent version of Zuby Ejiofor is here to stay. A third-place finish for Rick Pitino’s squad, however, is more likely.
Improvements at the bottom
A year ago, Georgetown and DePaul were two of the worst power-conference teams in the country. They went a combined 2-38 in league play. Both appear improved, with just three non-conference losses between them.
New coach Chris Holtmann has brought accountability and organization to DePaul.
Georgetown’s Ed Cooley added quality transfers Micah Peavy (TCU) and Malik Mack (Harvard) and top-50 freshman forward Thomas Sorber in the offseason to raise the talent level while retaining high-scoring guard Jayden Epps.
While I would be surprised to see either team finish in the top half of the Big East, Georgetown and DePaul won’t be pushovers. Just look at this past Saturday, when Georgetown won at former Big East rival Syracuse and DePaul crushed Wichita State at home.
CHECK OUT THE LATEST BIG EAST STANDINGS AND ST. JOHN’S STATS
Don’t sleep on Villanova
Yes, the Wildcats have some ugly losses: At home to Columbia and at a neutral site against Virginia top the list. Making the NCAA Tournament will be difficult.
But I believe Villanova can be this year’s Seton Hall, a team that struggled mightily in November and finished in the top half of the conference. Eric Dixon is an All-American and the Wildcats have won four straight games by an average of 18.7 points. That includes a home victory over No. 19 Cincinnati.
Transfers Wooga Poplar (Miami) and Jhamir Brickus (La Salle) have come on of late, taking some of the pressure off the 6-foot-8 Dixon.
Will the down non-conference season hurt the league?
Without question. Right now, I think the Big East gets four bids to the NCAA Tournament: Marquette, Connecticut, St. John’s and Creighton.
The injuries to Isaacs and Freemantle clearly don’t help matters. The one thing working in the league’s favor is the ACC and Mountain West are down as well – the Big East is still rated better than both of those leagues by KenPom.com. The selection committee has to find 68 teams somewhere. I wouldn’t dismiss a fifth team if someone — like Villanova or Xavier — has a strong league season.
But right now, there are only two teams – Marquette (9) and Connecticut (11) – that will count as a Quad 1 game for the opposition on its home court based on the NET rankings. St. John’s (37) is close to being a third. So there won’t be many opportunities for breakthrough wins. That’s why November and early December are so important when it comes to March.
Power rankings
- Marquette
- Connecticut
- St. John’s
- Creighton
- Villanova
- Xavier
- Butler
- Georgetown
- Providence
- DePaul
- Seton Hall
