Big East Basketball: Ranking the current status of every old Big East team
By Brian Foley
We are now five years removed from the split of the old Big East conference. Here’s a look at the current status of each program since the reformation.
When my editor messaged me about working on this article, I was initially very excited. I follow the new Big East religiously, and watching old Big East basketball played a part in where I actually attended college (sad to say, but it’s true).
But once I began to dive into the rankings, I realized how loaded this topic really is. Do I look at past success or the future of each program? How much weight should I give to the postseason? Does the rise of smaller program move it past a struggling brand name?
Ultimately, because I am a foolish person, I decided to try to work all of the above issues into this piece.
Here is the rubric I used to create these rankings, with a rough (read: random) percentage showing how much I weighed each variable:
- Success since Big East realignment (50 percent)
- Program brand (15 percent)
- Head coach (10 percent)
- Current conference (10 percent)
- Outlook for the next few seasons (8 percent)
- Mood around the program (7 percent)
So that’s how much weight I generally gave to each question, though I still reserved the right to completely ignore my own rubric. Without further ado, let’s dive in!