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Big East Basketball Rankings: SJU remains undefeated, DePaul surprising

By Lukas Harkins

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 21: Marquette Golden Eagles head coach Steve Wojciechowski directs his players during the first half of the game against Kansas Jayhawks during the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament at Barclays Center on November 21, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 21: Marquette Golden Eagles head coach Steve Wojciechowski directs his players during the first half of the game against Kansas Jayhawks during the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament at Barclays Center on November 21, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /
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CINCINNATI, OH – DECEMBER 08: Goodin #3 and Scruggs #1 of the Xavier Musketeers look. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH – DECEMBER 08: Goodin #3 and Scruggs #1 of the Xavier Musketeers look. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Speaking of teams who have disappointed so far this season, Xavier basketball has taken an even bigger step back than many expected. Now at 7-5, it seems like most people, myself included, underestimated just how much the program lost this offseason. Chris Mack, Trevon Bluiett, and J.P. Macura are not walking back into the arena this season and it seems like it would be a longshot for the Musketeers to return to the Big Dance for the sixth consecutive season.

Should this downward trend continue throughout the year, this would be the first time that Xavier has missed the NCAA Tournament as a member of the Big East. Xavier is now only one loss away from matching their entire total of defeats last season (6) and it is only Dec. 20. That is a serious step back from a year ago. New head coach Travis Steele still needs to grow and there is an obvious learning curve associated with his new role within the program. Additionally, there is no true leader on the roster this year for the Musketeers on either end of the court.

Statistically, Xavier has scored its fair share of points this season but they cannot seem to slow down opposing offenses. The Musketeers currently own the worst defense in the Big East (per KenPom) at 126th in the nation. And considering every team in the conference currently sports a top-100 offensive ranking (five in the top-40), this could get ugly in a couple of weeks. Xavier has a long way to go to this season and they will hopefully turn on the jets soon.

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