The Big East power rankings are here for Week 13 of the season
It was a wild week in the Big East. Marquette stormed back from a 15-point deficit to defeat the formerly No. 1-ranked Villanova Wildcats —literally— and then lost at home to Providence. Georgetown scored impressive victories over Creighton and Butler, and moved into dark horse contention for an NCAA bid in a season that was (and could be again) lost. Creighton got off the post-Watson schneid with a victory over DePaul, but it’s tough to say things are all right. Another season-ending injury to a top Big East point guard in Edmond Sumner has sent Xavier’s already mildly disappointing season further off the rails.
The middle got a lot squishier, with a morass of pretty good teams with pretty good wins that may (or may not) convert those resumes into NCAA tournament bids. Things have certainly gotten more interesting, but it’s tough to say they’ve gotten better. Let’s sort it all out in the 4th edition of these Big East power rankings.
Well, it was a fun couple weeks. The Blue Demons rode the strength of their single Big East victory over Providence to the ‘not-last’ spot in these standings over a Georgetown team that also held a single Big East victory. Alas, the Hoyas won two this past week, leaving the bottom for DePaul.
Recent injuries have only piled onto the Demons’ woes. A team that already plays a thin rotation – per KenPom, they’re 286th in percentage of bench minutes – was both Darrick Wood and RJ Curington in Saturday’s loss to Creighton. While neither is heavily used, this is a team that needs the depth it can get. They’ll get one of their best remaining chances to log a second Big East win with Tuesday’s home contest against previously flailing Georgetown.
Sorry Seton, you’re getting the short end of the stick this week. Despite last week’s head-to-head victory over St. John’s – a spot ahead of them in these rankings – the Pirates have fallen to 9th in this week’s power rankings. Victims of Georgetown’s sudden run of competency and an ugly 61-54 loss to Butler this week, it’s getting to do-or-die time for Seton Hall.
After a 10-2 start to the season, Kevin Willard’s squad has managed to win just three of their last eight. While the NCAA was always a bit of a long shot for this squad, they certainly haven’t done much to help themselves in Big East play after a strong start. A tough remaining schedule – they’re favored in just four of their remaining 10 – seems to point toward this team finishing well below .500 in league play. We’ll see if they can pick it up against Xavier and Georgetown in the coming week.