Big East Basketball: Buy or sell Butler, St. John’s and other bubble teams

Seton Hall Pirates – Buy

The Pirates deserve props for sticking around this long despite losing significantly more than any other Big East team after last season. Four departing starters forced Seton Hall to find a way to compensate for nearly two-thirds of its scoring and rebounding. And to credit Kevin Willard, the Pirates have done so significantly better than I thought they would and are a realistic bubble team with only a few regular season games remaining.

Myles Powell has done everything Seton Hall fans could have hoped for with his first opportunity to carry the team. Noticeable improvements from Myles Cale and Michael Nzei have helped the Pirates accumulate seven Big East wins and 16 total victories to this point as well.

By no means is Seton Hall a lock to make the NCAA Tournament. But, with a respectable 60 NET and key wins over Kentucky, Maryland, and St. John’s in their back pocket, the Pirates should make the field of 68 if they do everything they are expected to from here on out.

Specifically, I’d say Willard’s group needs to win two of its next three games against Xavier, the Red Storm, and Georgetown. Defeating Marquette or Villanova to finish the regular season would diminish any withstanding doubt. However, I don’t believe doing so is required if Seton Hall can satisfy its first instruction.

Assuming the Pirates can pick up a win in the Big East Tournament, 19 victories should be enough to get Seton Hall in considering it has a solid resume. That is a risky assumption, but I’ll stand by it given Seton Hall easily could begin the conference tournament having already reached that win total.

I’m buying the Pirates, meaning there should be four Big East teams accepting invites to the NCAA Tournament: Villanova, Marquette, St. Johns, and Seton Hall.