Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Top tier emerging, Xavier plummeting

Butler dropped only its second game of the season during this past week as it fell to Seton Hall. On the whole, the Dawgs did not play poorly in that contest but foul trouble for Aaron Thompson led to a second-half demise in Hinkle Fieldhouse. As a result of the loss, and the fact that my power rankings put a bit more emphasis on recent events, Butler falls to No. 2 in my Big East Power Rankings despite having the best “body-of-work” resume for the NCAA Tournament in the conference.

Butler still belongs among the Top 10-15 teams in the country and I’m not sure that changes at any point in the season. The Dawgs are very consistent night in and night out and their only two losses on the season have come against highly-regarded opponents (Hall and Baylor). They have also already proven they can win on the road in conference play with victories over Providence and St. John’s.

Considering three of Butler’s next four games will come on the road, this is a crucial stretch in determining where the team belongs in national rankings. The Dawgs have to be hoping to take 2-3 total games during this stretch to remain among the favorites to win the Big East moving forward. That should also be the expectation based on how well the team has played to this point in the year.

The key for Butler over the next two months will be keeping Thompson and Kamar Baldwin on the floor. Those two make up an elite backcourt when sharing the court but Baldwin missed half of BU’s narrow win over St. John’s due to an injury and Thompson missed half of BU’s loss to The Hall due to foul trouble. If one or both players is out of the game, the Dawgs effectiveness on both ends really drops.

Other note: Jordan Tucker is worth monitoring. Blossoming star.