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

By Lukas Harkins

VILLANOVA, PA - DECEMBER 05: The Villanova Wildcats student section attempts to distract Shizz Alston Jr. #10 of the Temple Owls (not pictured) during a foul shot in the first half at Finneran Pavilion on December 5, 2018 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
VILLANOVA, PA - DECEMBER 05: The Villanova Wildcats student section attempts to distract Shizz Alston Jr. #10 of the Temple Owls (not pictured) during a foul shot in the first half at Finneran Pavilion on December 5, 2018 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – NOVEMBER 16: Jorgensen #5 of the Butler Bulldogs reacts. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – NOVEMBER 16: Jorgensen #5 of the Butler Bulldogs reacts. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

One of the most consistent programs in the nation, Butler basketball has shown early on this year that they should once again compete for an NCAA Tournament bid this season. At 6-2, it has not been a perfect start to the new campaign but they have played fairly well for the most part. Their two losses, which came at the hands of Dayton (N) and Saint Louis (A), are not resume-killers and they have a couple of nice wins over SEC opponents in Ole Miss and Florida.

The Dawgs, on the whole, do not have an extremely challenging non-conference slate but they do not play many “cupcake” opponents. Just about every matchup is against a top-150 team nationally. They also have a couple of big (and winnable) matchups left on the schedule prior to Big East play against Indiana (N) and Florida (A). Butler is a defensively-oriented team this season and they can take down anyone if shots are falling.

In a bit of a surprising development, Butler is currently being led in scoring by Paul Jorgensen through eight games. The fifth-year senior guard has been superb so far this season and is averaging 17.4 points per game while splashing 42.1% of his 3-point attempts. This does not mean, though, that star guard Kamar Baldwin has not been a top scorer. Despite struggling tremendously from the field (.413/.237/.844), he is still second on the team at 17.0 points per game.

If these two are able to maintain high scoring numbers, then Butler will be in great shape because they are getting consistent contributions from their depth. The top scorers still need to show up each night but the Dawgs can seemingly always count on at least one “role player” to have a strong game every time out.

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