Busting Brackets
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Big East Basketball: Vital questions facing the conference for 2018-19

By Lukas Harkins

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 09: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats directs his players in the first half against the Butler Bulldogs during semifinals of the Big East Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 9, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 09: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats directs his players in the first half against the Butler Bulldogs during semifinals of the Big East Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 9, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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MILWAUKEE, WI – JANUARY 28: Cain #23 and Hauser #10 of the Marquette Golden Eagles work for a loose ball. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WI – JANUARY 28: Cain #23 and Hauser #10 of the Marquette Golden Eagles work for a loose ball. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

5. Will Marquette improve defensively?

This just might be the most important question facing any team in the conference heading into this season. With Markus Howard and Sam Hauser (among others) returning for this upcoming campaign, the expectation is that Marquette will be one of the best offensive teams in the country. However, even if this occurs, the Golden Eagles have struggled to consistently win games in the past due to an overall lack of defense.

With a few key additions heading into this season in Joseph Chartouny and Ed Morrow, there are reasons to believe that Marquette will be improved on the defensive end of the floor. Despite this, it is important that the entire team puts more emphasis on defense because two players cannot completely fix a struggling defense. Marquette ranked in the bottom half of the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency last season at 182nd. Not a single at-large NCAA Tournament bid was awarded to a team at or below that rating last season.

For reference, here are the rankings of the worst defensive teams that received bids to the Big Dance last season (Marquette’s offense ranked 12th):

  • No.  11 seed Arizona State – 123rd (18th in offense)
  • No. 4 seed Wichita State – 111th (4th in offense)
  • No. 9 seed NC State – 109th (21st in offense)
  • No. 7 seed Nevada – 108th (7th in offense)
  • No. 7 seed Arkansas – 106th (20th in offense)

So, even if Marquette’s offense is just as good or better compared to last season, they will need to take a significant step forward defensively in order to win more games and, in turn, go dancing. In addition, it is important to mention that just one of these teams mentioned above (Nevada) won an NCAA Tournament game as all of the rest lost in their first matchup.

Next. Preseason Big East rankings. dark

As the offseason continues to drag on, there are still plenty of questions facing teams in the Big East. It may seem as though the conference is heading into a down year on paper but you never know until they take the court in November. No matter what, it should be an extremely fun year for the league thanks to how many teams might compete for NCAA Tournament bids.

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