Welcome to our second edition of BECB’s Power Rankings! We last left you with our preseason rankings just before the season started. We allowed for the week to play itself out, and now you can expect these power rankings each and every Monday going forward this season.
For this week, we received 20 ballots. Anonymous Eagle, Casual Hoya and VU Hoops joined us this week for the voting process, and 17 BECB contributors chipped in as well. Here’s how it shook out.
10. Georgetown Hoyas
(Score: 9.4; Highest Vote: 8; Lowest Vote: 10; Last Week: 6)
“Lose to Arkansas State, drop to 10th. Those are the rules, I don’t make them.” - Chris Novak
“The Hoyas followed up a gut-wrenching loss against Maryland with a... gut-wrenching loss against Arkansas State. That’s bad.” - Robert O’Neill
9. DePaul Blue Demons
(Score: 9.2; Highest Vote: 8; Lowest Vote: 10; Last Week: 10)
“Eli Cain has been repping New Jersey well. That’s enough for me.” - Chris Novak
“Normally if you lose to Rutgers in basketball, you’d be a lock for the #10 spot, but Rutgers is 4-0 this year and DePaul didn’t lose to Arkansas State.” - Robert O’Neill
8. St. John’s Red Storm
(Score: 8.31; Highest Vote: 6; Lowest Vote: 10; Last Week: 9)
“The offense looks fine. The defense... is a work-in-progress.” - Chris Novak
“Through three games, the Red Storm is significantly more fun to watch that all last season. That has to count for something.” - Robert O’Neill
7. Providence Friars
(Score: 6.5; Highest Vote: 6; Lowest Vote: 7; Last Week: 8)
“I don’t ever wanna rank them too low because I don’t want their mascot to haunt me in my sleep. Just saying.” - Chris Novak
“Providence didn’t lose to a decent Vermont team, lost to a good Ohio State team, and then didn’t lose to a horrendous Grambling State team. Good enough for me.” - Robert O’Neill
6. Marquette Golden Eagles
(Score: 6.45; Highest Vote: 5; Lowest Vote: 8; Last Week: 7)
“Even by going 0-2 in MSG, they still won’t have worse performances than the Knicks will in that building, I’ll bet.” - Chris Novak
“Good thing they beat Vandy.” - Robert O’Neill
5. Butler Bulldogs
(Score: 4.9; Highest Vote: 3; Lowest Vote: 7; Last Week: 5)
“This team is good now, sure. But wait till Blue comes back on the sidelines. Then they’ll really be feared.” - Chris Novak
“Tyler Lewis has been really good, just like he was in the nonconference portion of the schedule last year. That’s gonna need to carry over to Big East play though.” - Robert O’Neill
4. Seton Hall Pirates
(Score: 3.65; Highest Vote: 2; Lowest Vote: 5; Last Week: 4)
“So far, I think only Villanova’s better than this Seton Hall team. Seriously. This team is deep and legit.” - Chris Novak
“They have a ton of weapons on both sides of the ball. The offense almost looks better without being forced through Isaiah Whitehead” - Robert O’Neill
3. Xavier Musketeers
(Score: 3.25; Highest Vote: 2; Lowest Vote: 4; Last Week: 2)
“You can understand why Xavier’s done so well at the Wide World of Sports if you’ve ever been there. That place would put anybody in a good mood.” - Chris Novak
“Xavier should play their preseason tournament in Orlando on a yearly basis” - Robert O’Neill
2. Creighton Bluejays (1)
(Score: 2.3; First-Place Votes: 1; Lowest Vote: 4; Last Week: 3)
“The tribe known as ‘Jayskers’ are probably happy that somebody was able to run over Wisconsin instead of Wisconsin running all over them this time around.” - Chris Novak
“Creighton’s offense is bonkers. Their defense could use some work, but it’s early.” - Robert O’Neill
1. Villanova Wildcats (19)
(Score: 1.05; First-Place Votes: 19; Lowest Vote: 2; Last Week: 1)
“Villanova pulls off the Tom Emanski special +1 in preseason tournaments. Now their agenda goes for the Big 5, and then the Big East. Then, the world.” - Chris Novak
“Really, who else were we gonna put here?” - Robert O’Neill