Big East Basketball: Buy or sell UConn, Marquette, Villanova and Xavier?

Xavier

The return of head coach Sean Miller has energized a Xavier program that has often come up just short in recent years. That’s no longer the case for a Musketeers squad that sits #12 in the nation, winners of ten straight, and a perfect 6-0 start to Big East play. The start has been extremely successful, but will the finish fall into the same category?

Much like Creighton, the Musketeers are getting tough minutes and a lot of points from an experienced starting lineup, headlined by Souley Boum (17.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 4.9 apg), the transfer from UTEP. Forwards Zach Freemantle (14.7 ppg, 8.1 rpg) and Jack Nunge (14.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg) are both having terrific senior seasons, while Colby Jones (14.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg) is having himself a season as well. This team also sits in the Top 10 in offensive efficiency and has been particularly impressive on their current win streak, averaging just under 87 points a game in conference play.

We’ve seen real talent in Xavier in recent years, but now they have an elite-level coach who has put them in position for success. It’s hard not to call Xavier one of the early favorites in this league, considering they’ve beaten Connecticut by double-digits and taken care of business three times on the road already. We’re buying what Xavier is doing on the court, and it’ll be exciting to see if Miller has another deeper run in him.

Buy

We’ve taken a deep dive into six Big East squads, indicating if we buy or sell them as NCAA Tournament contenders. Do you think we made the right call about these teams or are we in for a surprise as conference play continues?