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Big East Basketball: 2019-20 preseason power rankings

By Lukas Harkins

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)
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) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 14: Gillespie #2 of the Wildcats reacts. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 14: Gillespie #2 of the Wildcats reacts. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images) /

1. Villanova Wildcats

Villanova will be the preseason No. 1 team in the Big East until there is a logical reason to knock them off their pedestal. After winning both the Big East regular-season and tournament titles a season ago, the Wildcats once again asserted their dominance over the rest of the league. Even though Villanova only landed a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, they proved themselves as the best team in the Big East once again.

Looking ahead to this coming season, Villanova is clearly the most talented team in the conference. Despite losing seniors Phil Booth and Eric Paschall to graduation, head coach Jay Wright reloaded with an insane recruiting class that consists of multiple immediate-impact players. Most notably, wing Bryan Antoine (No. 17) and forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (No. 16) will likely see major minutes this season as two of the stars for the team.

Related Story. Keys to success for Villanova. light

The main concern regarding Villanova this season will be their youth. There will not be a single senior in the main rotation for the squad and there will be a heavy reliance on underclassmen. With that said, Coach Wright will need to lean on his three juniors to carry the torch as leaders. Most notably, Collin Gillespie is fresh off averaging 10.9 points per game last season and should be the vocal leader of the team. Jermaine Samuels and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree are the other upperclassmen and bring physicality down low.

Saddiq Bey is also returning for his sophomore season after emerging as a strong contributor a year ago. Bey could easily take the next step into stardom for the team this season.

Villanova might not be the most experienced team in the Big East but they have the best coach and the most talent on paper. The Wildcats should once again be regarded as the favorites to win the league and perhaps unanimously so. Villanova will likely be a preseason top-10 team in the country.

Next. Way-too-early 2020 bracketology. dark

That concludes this early look at my projected Big East rankings for this coming season. Do you agree? Of course, there are bound to be shifts over the coming months as teams surprise, both positively and negatively. I can’t wait for this season to start any longer.

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