Big East Basketball Rankings: Villanova, Marquette creating distance

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 27: Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree #21 of the Villanova Wildcats reacts after dunking the ball against the Seton Hall Pirates in the second half at the Wells Fargo Center on January 27, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Villanova defeated Seton Hall 80-52. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – JANUARY 27: Powell of the Pirates dribbles. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

4. Seton Hall Pirates

Record: 13-8 (4-5 Big East)

Seton Hall desperately needed a win in their last outing, a home matchup with Providence, and that is exactly what happened. The Pirates had dropped their previous four games before that victory and now they remain right on the NCAA Tournament cutline. Unlike some of the other Big East bubble teams, Seton Hall can boast two top-notch victories over Kentucky and Maryland. These two wins carry the otherwise weak resume that includes three losses to teams outside of the KenPom top-100.

Despite the recent struggles of Big East bubble teams, I am still of the belief that the conference will send 3-4 teams to the Big Dance and the Pirates are right on the verge right now. With three of their next five games at home, Seton Hall is entering a teetering point of their season. Will they prove worthy of dancing or will they be NIT bound?

3. St. John’s Red Storm

Record: 16-5 (4-5 Big East)

Nobody knows what is going on in the Big East and there might not be a better example of that than St. John’s Clearly one of the most talented teams in the league, the Red Storm have struggled with consistency throughout conference play and find themselves right on the NCAA Tournament bubble. St. John’s, thankfully, is holding onto an elite victory over Marquette at home but otherwise, their resume is fairly bland.

Many Red Storm fans might be extremely negative right now given their back-to-back losses to Butler and Georgetown but they responded in a big way recently with a road win over Creighton. St. John’s should be an NCAA Tournament team if they play to their potential but that has not happened often. Head coach Chris Mullin‘s team is entering a huge stretch: at Duke, at Marquette, vs. Providence, vs. Butler, vs. Villanova, at Providence.

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