Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Providence, Xavier surging

Welcome to the bubble conversation, Providence! After putting together a horrid non-conference resume that made people around the country shake their heads in confusion, the Friars appear to have found their rhythm in conference play and are currently in a tie for third.

While Providence could be ranked higher in this article, I cannot simply ignore the team’s non-conference slate. Providence’s total body of work is significantly worse than the five in front of it in these rankings and that is why the team ranks at No. 6 here.

With that said, though, the Friars have been particularly impressive as of late. They have already secured road wins over Marquette and Butler in conference play so far and are fresh off a 17-point home win over Creighton. They sit at 13-10 (6-4 BE) on the season and are trending towards the at-large cutline for the NCAA Tournament.

In order to keep those hopes alive, though, Providence will need to keep competing at a high level. The Friars will play three of their four games on the road with the lone home game coming against Seton Hall. This is a crucial stretch.

Providence dug a deep hole for itself that it is slowly but surely climbing out of. There is still a long way to go but the Friars are getting closer to reaching the Big Dance. Even if their resume ends up falling a bit short by the end of the regular season, this team might have enough to land a solid seed in the BE Tournament and make a run at MSG.