Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Creighton, Georgetown emerging

DePaul certainly didn’t look great in its close road win over Cleveland State during this past week as the team struggled mightily with turning the ball over. Nonetheless, a win is a win and the Blue Demons now sit at 11-1 on the year. That record alone warrants a relatively high spot in the Big East rankings this week and it is important to mention the team’s strong collection of wins as well.

Most notably, DePaul’s victories over Iowa and Texas Tech are starting to look better and better by the day. Even the win over Minnesota is garnering a little more return.

Through the opening month and a half of the year, DePaul has put itself in a relatively strong position to compete for an NCAA Tournament bid. Their average rankings across BPI, KenPom, and Sagarin of 66.7 nationally is still not all that great but those should improve as the Blue Demons continue to exceed the baked-in preseason expectations for them.

This is a top-50 team in the country right now, in my opinion, and that will hopefully continue over the next few months. It would be a great step for DePaul to hear its name called on Selection Sunday.

With regard to standout performers for this team, Paul Reed and Romeo Weems continue to impress in the frontcourt. Reed, most notably, is leading the team in scoring (15.8), rebounding (10.8), and blocks (3.4) as a dominant force in the paint. He is easily one of the best bigs in the entire Big East and an All-Conference level performer. Weems, on the other hand, might not make a huge box score impact but his defensive versatility is obvious in each game. He is a major reason for DePaul’s defensive play this season with his multi-positional coverage skills.