Big East Basketball: Xavier, Seton Hall rises, Villanova slides in latest power ranking

5. Xavier Musketeers

The Xavier Musketeers are a team that has sneakily had high rankings in the NET and also has impressed the Big East by picking up some key wins this season. They stormed Providence out of their own arena with a 20-point blowout, and they have another 20-point victory over the surging Seton Hall Pirates. And while their overall record is nothing to be too shocked at, their margin of victory is something to be impressed by for sure. 

They were a basket away from taking down Villanova on the road as well, so this team is some key plays away from finding themselves at the top of the conference. Quincy Olivari has been a superstar for this team as well, he is averaging 18.1 points per game and has been a pure bucket-getter when this team needs it. The contribution of Dayvion McKnight has also been impressive with him leading the team in assists and steals to help round out this unit. 

Xavier boasts one of the better home-court advantages in the Big East with the Cintas Center, and that was a big part of why they were able to defeat Seton Hall by such a wide margin. They still have to prove they can take down top teams like UConn, Marquette, and Creighton, but this team is off to a much better start than most expected. After losing so much of their star power, to be able to keep this team solid is a testament to the coaching of Sean Miller with this program. The Musketeers are going to continue to be a tough team in this conference, and they find themselves in a position to surprise a lot of people in the Big East Conference.