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

In my opinion, there is a huge gap right now between Xavier and Providence in these rankings. While the Musketeers have struggled in the early going to land the No. 7 spot, Providence could easily be higher in these rankings based on who you talk to. As per usual, head coach Ed Cooley has put together a really solid roster that should compete for an NCAA Tournament bid at the very least. And while the team has not played perfect basketball so far this year, they sit at 7-2 with a strong road win over Boston College to lead their resume. Their two losses came to Wichita State and Michigan in neutral-site games.

Heading into this season, many expected that Alpha Diallo would be the go-to offensive option for the team and he has delivered so far. The 6-foot-7 junior is averaging 16.8 points and 8.8 rebounds through nine contests as the steadying force of the team. Additionally, though, freshman A.J. Reeves has been tremendous. As the secondary scorer on the roster and primary 3-point shooter, he is averaging 14.9 points per game on 46.9% shooting from distance. He is the early frontrunner to win Freshman of the Year in the conference, in my opinion.

So, having said all this, I think that I might be a bit low on Providence at No. 6 in these rankings. Within just the new few days, they could be all the way near the top because that is just how close a lot of these teams are right now. Considering differing records and strength of schedule ratings, it is very difficult to pick out the differences between many of these teams.