Big East Basketball: Way-too-early 2019-20 preseason Power Rankings

By Brian Foley | Apr 9, 2019

VILLANOVA, PA - FEBRUARY 27: Collin Gillespie #2 of the Villanova Wildcats drives to the basket against Markus Howard #0 of the Marquette Golden Eagles in the first half at Finneran Pavilion on February 27, 2019 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 16: The Villanova Wildcats celebrate the 74-72 win over the Seton Hall Pirates during the Big East Championship Game to claim the Big East title at Madison Square Garden on March 16, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Big East Basketball sent all 10 teams to the postseason this spring, positioning the conference as one of college basketball’s premier leagues in 2019-20.

“Madness, as you know, is like gravity – all it takes is a little push.”

Heath Ledger’s immortal Joker screeched those words on screen whilst hanging upside down off the side of a skyscraper in the closing scenes of “The Dark Knight,” yet they still hold true in the Big East, when one missed call, missed shot, or missed opportunity can send a team tumbling down the standings or push a fan base over the edge into… well, madness.

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After averaging six NCAA tournament bids over the previous four seasons, the Big East took an expected step back in 2018-19, fielding just four tourney squads. Only two teams finished above .500 in conference play, with the bottom eight teams tightly packed between seven and nine Big East wins.

But in 2019-20, the league should return with a vengeance. T-Rank’s preseason projection system currently slots 7 Big East teams into its top 50, behind only the significantly larger Big Ten (9 teams).

Only 2 of the 13 players named to the all-Big East teams in 2017-18 returned to school this past season, but 7 such players on the 2018-19 edition are expected to do so this fall.

Of perhaps even greater significance is the wave of young depth that will be surrounding next year’s stars. The 6 players named to 2018-19 All-Freshman team were much better than their 2017-18 counterparts (the freshmen honorees averaged 2.7 PRPG! this past season compared to just 1.7 the year before), and as they rise to their sophomore status, they are being replaced by a cohort of freshmen that includes 13 four- or five-star prospects.

Even though it remains to be seen if a true national championship contender is pacing the conference, expectations are understandably high for the conference next season. Seven Big East teams can reasonably expect to compete for single-digit NCAA seeds, with at least two of the remaining programs capable of making noise throughout the season.

Here are the Way-Too-Early 2019-20 Big East Power Rankings, complete with key departures, additions, recruits, projections, and an always necessary Joker quotable for each team.

“And here we go.”

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