Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Butler on top, Providence hits bottom

Easily among the most disappointing teams in the entire country this season, Providence struggled tremendously out of the gates and it has not gotten any better in recent games. Despite entering the season with high expectations due to a strong crop of returning talent, the Friars have flopped to a 5-5 record that does not include a single win over a KenPom top-100 team.

Additionally, all of their losses have come to teams ranked outside of the top-75. As a result, the Friars have plummeted from a preseason KenPom ranking of No. 30 all the way down to No. 69.

To put it simply, Providence has been the worst-performing team in the Big East to this point. Many of the team’s losses have been ugly and their lack of any signature wins is dragging the conference down a bit compared to preseason expectations. The rise of DePaul and Butler from projected bottom-feeders to NCAAT teams has helped to offset this for the league but Providence’s struggles are downright mystifying.

The Friars seemingly do not boast any offensive cohesion as their adjusted efficiency on that end sits at just 116th in the country.

Providence definitely still has talent but the team’s NCAA Tournament hopes are already dwindling. The Friars’ resume is absolutely abysmal at this point and they have some serious work to do.  Their upcoming schedule, though, does provide some opportunities with a neutral-site battle against Florida and a home matchup with Texas still to come (in addition to a not-to-be-overlooked home game against Stony Brook).