Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Seton Hall, Villanova leap ahead

Tiers are starting to emerge in Big East basketball with Seton Hall and Villanova jumping out to an early edge in the conference standings.

Big East basketball season is one-third complete and tiers of the league are starting to emerge. At the top, though, it is clear that Seton Hall and Villanova are the main contenders to win the conference. The Pirates are the lone undefeated team left in Big East play at 7-0 while the Wildcats are slotted in just behind them at 5-1. The two squads are yet to compete against one another. Butler, on the other hand, has already lost to both of them while starting just 3-3.

Those three teams were expected to be the main contenders for the Big East title this season and that still appears to remain the case through the first few weeks of the schedule. It is important to mention, though, that three squads have started at 4-3 and could make a push for the title with strong play in the coming weeks: Creighton, Marquette, and Providence.

The Friars, most notably, have launched out to this start despite the fact that they have played one of the toughest intra-conference schedules so far. Considering their poor performances during the non-conference portion of the season, though, Providence still has a rough road ahead to compete for an NCAA Tournament bid.

As the Big Dance approaches in fewer than seven weeks, the top five teams (BU, VU, SH, CU, MU) have put themselves into great positions to hear their names called on Selection Sunday. The other five teams, though, all have work to do in the coming weeks.

With that said, let’s dive into the next update of my Big East Basketball Power Rankings.