Big East Coast Bias Power Rankings: Xavier remains a unanimous No. 1

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What a win for Butler on Saturday against vaunted Purdue. Against one of the top defense in the country, the Bulldogs lit them up on the board and looked comfortable against a highly touted in-state adversary. The sky’s really the limit for this Bulldogs team, which should only progress as time goes on. - Christopher Novak

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The Wildcats fall to #3 for the first time this season. They went 0-1 this week with the loss being to Virginia in Charlottesville. Villanova looked better in that game than they did in the loss to Oklahoma, and there is no shame in losing at Virginia, but the Wildcats really could have benefitted in the long term had they won one of those two. The Wildcats are still going to be a dangerous team in conference play and the postseason, but unless they fix a couple of their issues, teams have a blueprint on how to beat them - Robert O'Neill

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For the second straight week, Providence struggled to put away a mid-major opponent, defeating Rider 73-65. Kris Dunn was once again absent for the Friars, and the key remains getting him on the court before Big East play starts. This week, the Friars travel to UMass for their final non-conference match-up. Without Dunn in the lineup, the Friars could be in danger of losing their second game of the season, and dropping significantly in the national polls. All things considered, however, the Friars are right where they wanted to be: relatively healthy, well over the .500 mark, and in possession of a few quality wins heading into Big East play.

- Joey Ciccarello

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The Pirates had one big test this week and they were able to comeback to pick up one of their biggest non-conference wins in a long time over Wichita State. Dunking sensation Desi Rodriguez had 18 points and has had an amazing start to his season, but The Hall's success this week was fueled by the play of Angel Delgado and Ishmael Sanogo on both ends of the floor. This win will certainly help come postseason time and should give this talented team confidence heading into Big East play. - Sean Saint-Jacques

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Tough to say… they didn’t play at all this week. [Shrug]- Christopher Novak

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Woof. What a bad week for the Hoyas. First the loss to Monmouth, which wasn’t the WORST thing in the world since the Hawks of the MAAC are a pretty dang good team. But things are further compounded later on Saturday with a loss to UNC Asheville. At 6-5, the Hoyas are talented no doubt, but their margin for error is now paper thin. - Christopher Novak

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Though Creighton lost in a close affair to a top-tier team in Oklahoma, the general consensus among fans and media is that Creighton has turned a corner and is on the upswing. I'm normally optimistic about the Jays but their inability to close out in tight games so far this season has me worried that they're on track for a repeat of last year. - Alex Sindelar

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Saturday's loss to Northwestern was extremely frustrating, with DePaul letting a comfortable lead at the final media timeout slip away to their city rivals. Execution was the word of the day for Dave Leitao. The Blue Demons couldn't execute in the final five minutes of regulation and in overtime the way they had been earlier on. Now the Blue Demons take a three-game losing streak into a meeting with a very good George Washington team, the final non-conference preparation before the real fun begins. - Pierce Roberson

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Feels like forever ago when the Johnnies roughed up Syracuse. That was last Sunday, and since St. John's has fallen to relative newcomers in Division 1 basketball in Incarnate Word and NJIT. Both L's have to be a real bummer for Chris Mullin's crew, but an upset in Connecticut over undefeated South Carolina could cure their ailments. - Pierce Roberson