Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Providence, Xavier surging

NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 01: Tyrique Jones #4 of the Xavier Musketeers dunks against the Seton Hall Pirates during the second half of a college basketball game at Prudential Center on February 1, 2020 in Newark, New Jersey. Xavier defeated Seton Hall 74-62. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – DECEMBER 30: Head coach Leitao of DePaul looks. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /

I feel for DePaul fans. I really do. The Blue Demons started this season tremendously well while emerging as a legitimate potential NCAA Tournament team. They were 12-1 at the end of non-conference play with high-quality wins over Minnesota, Texas Tech, and Iowa already on their resume. Bracketologists quickly bought into that group of wins and placed them in many projected fields and deservedly so. It was looking like DePaul was going to make its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2003-04 season.

The Blue Demons have never danced as a member of the Big East (now in the 15th season in the conference) and that no longer looks destined to change in this campaign. DePaul has started just 1-9 in conference play and there is no recovery from this start. The Blue Demons have effectively ended all of their at-large hopes with this horrid record to begin the Big East season and it is incredibly disappointing. This group really had a lot of promise and hasn’t even played particularly poorly as of late – they just can’t close.

But alas, DePaul once again sits in the cellar of the conference all by itself. There is still a chance that the Blue Demons could run through the Big East Tournament and land the automatic bid for the conference (it wouldn’t be the craziest thing to ever happen) but that is extremely unlikely. This just feels like a lost season for the Blue Demons as it is amazing just how much can change in one month.

#RankDePaul was fun while it lasted.

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