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) /

9 of 11

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – MARCH 03: Marcus Zegarowski #11 of the Creighton Bluejays is defended by Sacar Anim #2 and Ed Morrow #30 of the Marquette Golden Eagles during the second half of a game at Fiserv Forum on March 03, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

3. Creighton Bluejays

Last season: 20-15, 9-9 (two seed NIT, quarterfinals)
Key departures: G Kaleb Joseph (4.3 ppg), G Connor Cashaw (2.1 ppg)
Key additions: G Denzel Mahoney
Recruiting Class (8th): G Shereef Mitchell
2019-20 National Projection: 32nd
Joker Says: “Let’s put a smile on that face.“

Creighton acquitted itself well in its one-year transition period in 2018-19, hanging on the bubble and landing in the NIT while a bevy of young players found their footing in new roles. Now as we look towards 2019-20, those youngsters have full seasons of experience, essentially the whole gang is back in Omaha, and the Bluejays seem poised to push the top-two teams in the conference.

The Jays, who can shoot the daylight out of the basketball, featured one of the most balanced attacks in the nation last season, with five players averaging between 9.7 and 15.7 points per game. Marcus Zegarowski was remarkably efficient piloting this potent offense as a freshman, Mitch Ballock is seemingly only surpassed by Powell and Howard in heat-check treys, and Davion Mintz fills the gaps for this equal-opportunity group. Bookending the starting lineup is star guard Ty-Shon Alexander and center Martin Krampelj, who is a capable scorer inside and out.

Creighton’s defense remains a serious question mark, though it did improve throughout the season. The Bluejays’ dug themselves too deep of a hole in early January, when they allowed at least 1.19 points per possession in four straight losses to Butler, Marquette, Villanova, and St. John’s. (CU fans might say the team’s bubble officially popped with a separate four-game skid in February that featured an OT loss at Villanova, a five-point loss at Seton Hall, an OT loss at Xavier, and a six-point loss vs. Seton Hall again).

The Bluejays could follow the Marquette model as an offensive-minded NIT two-seed looking to make the jump to a comfortable single-digit NCAA tournament seed. MU made vast defensive improvements from 2017-18 to 2018-19 despite lacking a true defensive stopper. Creighton doesn’t have as much quality size as the Golden Eagles, but its plethora of backcourt stars do profile as effective defenders. A defensive leap and some late-game luck should set the Jays up well for March.

Home/Big East