Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Providence, Xavier surging

This Big East Basketball season has been nuts. Seton Hall remains at the top with its strong play but Xavier and Providence are creeping up on the Top 5.

This Big East Basketball season just continues to surprise us. At the beginning of conference play, many were discussing the possibility of both DePaul and St. John’s landing at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. After all, each squad put together a strong non-conference resume with at least two wins over high-quality opponents. The other topic of discussion was the complete confusion surrounding Providence, who struggled mightily out of the gates despite high preseason expectations.

Now over a month into the Big East season, though, those four teams have completely changed the perceptions surrounding them. The Blue Demons and Red Storm, most notably, have completely blown their hot starts to the season by combining to be just 1-15 against the other eight teams in the league so far. Providence, on the other hand, is currently slotted in a tie for third place with a 6-4 record in conference play. The Friars are now on the NCAA Tournament bubble all-of-a-sudden after back-to-back huge wins over Butler and Creighton.

Seton Hall, Villanova, Butler, and Creighton all suffered losses during this past week as the prior Top 4 teams in my Big East Basketball Power Rankings. While these teams still can make claims to stay put in their respective spots from a week ago, those losses make one question where they truly belong in the hierarchy of the league. All four, though, are still in great shape considering their total bodies of work (which is taken into account. These rankings weight recent play a bit more but non-conference resumes still apply).

Now, without any further ado, let’s dive into this week’s edition of my Big East Rankings.