Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Providence, SJU trending oppositely

Villanova split its two-game road trip to Creighton and Marquette during this past week and it’s hard to be mad at that. The Wildcats are clearly a much improved defensive team and they have asserted themselves as a Top 3 team in the league moving forward. Their developments defensively are substantial as that has been the biggest reason for its 2-1 BE record. Villanova once again appears to be a legitimate contender to win the Big East even if it might not be the clear-cut favorite at the moment.

As I have said in the past, Villanova is the most talented team in the conference and also features the best coach. That makes the Wildcats very dangerous. Even while the team has struggled offensively as of late, it has displayed the ability to win with its defense. That was not something that the ‘Cats showed much of during the opening month of the season and it is clear that the squad is evolving. That shouldn’t come as a surprise with head coach Jay Wright roaming the sidelines but is worth noting as the season progresses.

Villanova is now heading into a four-game homestand and this is the time to make a big run to the top of the conference standings. The Wildcats will be challenged by Georgetown, DePaul, UConn (non-conference matchup), and Butler during this stretch and it is not unreasonable to think that they will win 3-4 of those games. If they are able to do that, the Wildcats will likely return to the AP Top 10.

Villanova is talented, well-coached, and seemingly improving with each game. The Big East appears to have three dark-horse title contenders with ‘Nova, Seton Hall, and Butler, in my opinion.