Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Butler, Villanova assert their spots

Providence secured its first KenPom Top 140 win during this past week by defending its home-court against Texas by a whopping 22 points. Yet, one win over an overrated Longhorns’ team does not sway my opinion much of this team. I still think that they can be a spoiler in the Big East because they are more talented than their resume/record suggests, but the Friars simply won’t be an NCAA Tournament team this season.

They sit at just 7-6 on the season with four of those losses coming to teams ranked outside of the KenPom Top 100.

Regardless, let’s put the team’s current record aside and look at the positives moving forward. For starters, Providence still boasts a relatively effective defensive unit. They create a ton of turnovers, are effective in limiting shots both inside and out, and feature enough versatility to shut down most opponents. The Friars currently rank at 47th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency and they will pride themselves on that end of the floor moving forward.

On the offensive end, Providence pretty much only does one thing well: offensively rebound. The Friars are excellent on the glass while exhibiting the 41st-best offensive rebounding rate in the nation and that helps them make up for ranking just 265th in eFG%.

A complete lack of consistency has been the issue for the Friars throughout this season and that is evident just by looking at their results this season. Providence, even with its win over Texas, has still lost five of its last eight games and that includes double-digit defeats at the hands of Rhode Island and Florida. The Friars are just 1-5 away-from-home.