Big East Basketball Rankings: Is Villanova still at the top after shaky start?

Before anyone gets too angry about this selection, I do not think that Seton Hall will be the worst team in the Big East this year. But, through the first weeks of the season, they are tied for the worst record in the conference (5-3) and their quality of wins do not necessarily boost the team higher on the list. To this point in the year, the Pirates best result is a neutral-site victory over Miami to win the Wooden Legacy Tournament. And while this victory was seemingly quite impressive at the time, the Hurricanes have dropped three straight (Rutgers, Yale, Penn) since then to fall to 5-4 on the year. It is just not a great win anymore.

In the losses column, Seton Hall has no glaringly bad losses. Suffering defeats at the hands of Nebraska (A), Saint Louis (H), and Louisville (H) is nothing to be ashamed of but it would have been nice to see the Pirates come away on top in one of those battles. So, because of those two factors, Seton Hall has tumbled down to the bottom of the rankings at this early point in the year. Thankfully, though, opportunities await for the Pirates not only to move out of the cellar but to move up the rankings in a hurry.

Head coach Kevin Willard really did an excellent job creating a rigorous non-conference schedule. And while it has hurt the team record so far, there are a couple more big opportunities for resume-defining wins before conference play. Most notably, a neutral-site battle with Kentucky comes next and two more Big Ten foes (Rutgers at home, Maryland on the road) are also still on the schedule.

As expected, junior guard Myles Powell has been leading the way for the Pirates so far. He is averaging 22.4 points per game. Michael Nzei (11.3 points) is the only other player averaging in double-figures.