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Big East Basketball 2016: Preview and predictions

By Chris Stone

Mar 26, 2016; Louisville, KY, USA; Villanova Wildcats head coach Jay Wright celebrates after beating the Kansas Jayhawks in the south regional final of the NCAA Tournament at KFC YUM!. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 26, 2016; Louisville, KY, USA; Villanova Wildcats head coach Jay Wright celebrates after beating the Kansas Jayhawks in the south regional final of the NCAA Tournament at KFC YUM!. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
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A detailed look at what to expect from the Big East conference this coming college basketball season

The Big East is a conference that is well known for its love of basketball. For several years, it was home to some of the best basketball in the nation, renowned for its toughness and physicality, and treasured for the connections between the sport and the student body. Conference realignment ushered a sea of change, though, sending many of the league’s premier programs to the Atlantic Coast Conference as a new Big East was born.

Despite the changing of the guard, expectations in the league haven’t changed and last season shows was a helpful reminder of why. Half of the Big East’s ten teams made the NCAA Tournament in 2015-16 and the conference compiled the second-best winning percentage of any league in March. The Big East is also home to college basketball’s defending national champion, the Villanova Wildcats.

Villanova will be pushed at the top of the conference by Xavier, a two-seed in the 2016 NCAA Tournament and league runner-up last season. Behind the top tier, Butler, Creighton, Georgetown and Seton Hall will all have a chance to make their case to be included in the field of 68 come March. With a conference once again full of talent and depth, things are shaping up to be just like they once were in the old Big East.

The Favorite: Villanova Wildcats

If you’re bringing back three starters from a team that is just a few months removed from winning a national title, then it’s likely that you’ll enter the season as the favorite to win your league’s regular season title. Such is the case with the Villanova Wildcats.

Fresh off of his heroics at the Final Four, Kris Jenkins will be back in a Villanova uniform for his senior year. As a 6-foot-6, big bodied forward, Jenkins gives the Wildcats a ton of versatility in the frontcourt. Most notably, his ability to step out beyond the three-point arc creates driving lanes for all of Villanova’s talented guards. Jenkins knocked down 38.6 percent of his team-leading 259 three-point attempts last season.

Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart will also be back to join Jenkins in the starting lineup, but the key to Villanova maintaining a sustained level of success may lie in the hands of sophomore wing Mikal Bridges. Bridges flashed enough talent off the bench last season to get himself on NBA Draft radars. At 6-foot-7, he has excellent length on the wing, and with some added weight, he should be a versatile defender for the Wildcats. Bridges is also an excellent slasher on offense, able to get to the rim by reading defenses and making himself available. In order to take Villanova to the next level, he’ll need to knock down outside shots with more consistency in his second season. If he does, Villanova could be poised for another Final Four run.