Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Providence, SJU trending oppositely

ANAHEIM, CA - DECEMBER 01: Head coach Ed Cooley of the Providence Friars looks on in the second half of the game against the Pepperdine Waves during the Wooden Legacy at the Anaheim Convention Center at on December 1, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – DECEMBER 30: Gage of DePaul shoots. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /

DePaul has only played two conference games so far this season but dropped them both. While a two-game slide is usually far from something to get too worked up about, both losses came at home and that is troubling moving forward. The Blue Demons have hopes for reaching the NCAA Tournament and they have now dug a big hole in conference play. They likely need to reach .500 in the league to make the Big Dance and that is a tough task with all nine road games left on the schedule. They also still have to face Butler and Villanova at home.

Through the early portion of conference play, DePaul has struggled a bit on both ends of the floor. This is, though, a bit confusing considering the Blue Demons tested themselves a fair amount in non-conference play. This just doesn’t really look like the same team that knocked off Iowa, Minnesota, and Texas Tech. DePaul has been fumbling down the stretch of games and that is not something that can happen while competing on the bubble for the remainder of the season.

DePaul’s upcoming two-game road trip to St. John’s and Villanova now has huge implications for the team. The Blue Demons will more-than-likely be underdogs in both contests and it is absolutely mandatory that they steal at least one of those games. Starting the Big East season at 0-4 would essentially end all hope for dancing in March.

Most notably, the Blue Demons will need to take care of the ball against SJU and limit offensive rebounds against Villanova – those have been two of the team’s biggest weaknesses as well.

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