Big East Coast Bias Power Rankings: Bedlam atop the Big East

1

(17-3, 7-1)

The Wildcats stayed number one in the power rankings this week despite a one-point win and an overtime loss. It's been a weird year throughout college basketball with a lot of good teams. There is no shame in losing in overtime to an NCAA Tournament-bound Providence team with two of the best players in the country in Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil. The Wildcats will face St. John's next Sunday in their lone game of the week. - Robert O'Neill

2

Surprisingly, X fell to Georgetown. Unsurprisingly, they took down visiting Seton Hall. Xavier will have their work cut out for them Tuesday when they go to Friartown, but perhaps the Friars' woes in their home venue will rear their ugly heads again. It's away away, home home, away away for Xavier in their next six games. Big stretch, to say the very least. - Chris Novak

3

Last week marked the beginning of a brutal four-game stretch for Providence, but it could not have gone much better for the Friars. After three straight games with less-than-desirable offensive outputs, a second half surge pushed them to a 71-68 victory over Butler on Tuesday night, led by Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil's late heroics. Sunday's tilt against Villanova was not supposed to be close; after all, Providence's past two games in Philadelphia had ended in 30 and 28 point losses, respectively. However, the Friars regained their three-point stroke and ratcheted up their defensive pressure en route to an 82-76 overtime victory over the Wildcats. This week, the Friars get Xavier at home and Georgetown on the road, and look to continue the success that last week brought them. - Joey Ciccarello

4

(14-6, 5-2)

5

(13-6, 2-5)

The Bulldogs are one of the weirdest teams in the country. If you look at their resume, you'd say they're a good team. Cincy and Purdue are two of the best out of conference wins in the country and their strength of schedule is 56th in the nation per KenPom. They also played a front-loaded Big East schedule, already facing Providence (2X), Xavier, and Villanova. The issue for the Bulldogs? They went 0-4 in those games. A loss to Creighton joined a loss to Providence this week, putting the Bulldogs in a bit of a bind going forth, though the schedule vastly improves - Robert O'Neill

6

(12-8, 5-2)

Oh Hoyas. First you beat Xavier on the road and then you drop a game you had against UConn. Tough team to figure out and it's only going to get more grueling from here on out with their razor thin margin for error that we love talking about so much. - Chris Novak

7

(13-6, 3-4)

Tough week for the Pirates who went down to the two top teams in the conference in Villanova and Xavier. They fell by the skin of their teeth to ‘Nova and then, unsurprisingly, got bounced by Xavier in Cincy. Their margin for error isn't so thin, as they have quite a solid resume, but they'll certainly need to nab some wins going forward in the competitive BIG EAST - Chris Novak

8

The Golden Eagles struggled to a 0-2 record this week while facing the two highest ranked conference teams in the AP poll. Understanding that facing Villanova and Xavier may be their two toughest matchups in the BIG EAST, Marquette fans who believed they would come away from this week unscathed are simply delusional and idealistic. In reality, their two losses in the last seven days should prove that the Golden Eagles are talented, but lack the elite guard play that the best teams require. Entering a stretch where they play DePaul and St. John's, Marquette needs to gain two victories if they want to supplement their NCAA resume. - Adam Hillman

9

Fire off the confetti, ladies and gentlemen: DEPAUL WON! Dave Leitao earned his first career Big East victory last Wednesday after a conventional three-point play by Billy Garrett with 1.1 seconds on the clock lifted the Demons to a one-point win at Marquette. The road doesn't get any easier, with a trip to Butler and home tilts with Xavier and Providence on the horizon, but this team finally has the win they've been waiting on to build something special in Lincoln Park. - Pierce Roberson

10

Another week, another conference loss for St. John's. Their latest, a snow delayed home loss to Marquette, pushes their chances for a winless conference record up to 22%, per KenPom. At the very least, St. John's is competing, and there are few better cores (on paper) in the Big East next season than Federico Mussini/Marcus LoVett/Shamorie Ponds/Bashir Ahmed/Kassoum Yakwe/Yankuba Sima. This year is tough, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel - Robert O'Neill