Big East Basketball Rankings: Marquette holds strong, middle muddles

4. Seton Hall Pirates

Seton Hall is another Big East team that is currently firmly on the bubble. With a 7-7 record in conference play, the Pirates definitely deserve to be as high as they are on this list but they are also by no means safe when it comes to making the NCAA Tournament. Unlike some other bubble teams, Seton Hall has suffered two fairly disastrous home losses at the hands of Saint Louis and DePaul already. Thankfully, their top-end wins over teams such as Maryland and Kentucky are making up for that for the time being.

And while Myles Powell and Co. have put together a fairly solid season to date, they have arguably the toughest closing schedule in the conference. Over the coming weeks, the Pirates will take on St. John’s and Creighton on the road before returning home to take on the conference leaders in Marquette and Villanova. This team is clearly talented but it will not be easy to hang onto an NCAA Tournament bid.

3. St. John’s Red Storm

St. John’s is possibly the most erratic team in the Big East and that is saying something. Seemingly every time that the Red Storm put themselves firmly in the projected NCAA Tournament field after a great win, they turn around and record a puzzling loss. During this past week, that happened once again when the Red Storm dropped a road meeting with Providence. On the whole, head coach Chris Mullin‘s team should still be safely in the field but it is never easy to pick a team to dance deep into March when they have not won three games in a row in conference play.

I am still a firm believer that this is one of the more talented teams in the country, though. Their record might not scream “elite” but you would be hard-pressed to find many starting-fives more talented. If this team starts to click and find some consistency down the stretch, they will be a very very dangerous No. 7-10 seed in the Big Dance.