Bracketology 2024: Analyzing bubble resumes of 6 Big East at-large contenders

As February winds down and the final regular season games play out, competition in the Big East is heating up. The top-three have all but punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament, but for those still in the mix, these next few weeks are pivotal. There's only one question: Who's going dancing in March?

By Kyle Craib | Feb 20, 2024

Seton Hall v Villanova / Mitchell Leff/GettyImages

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Seton Hall Pirates - 17-9 (10-5)

The Seton Hall Pirates’ 2023-24 season is a testament to showing up when the lights are brightest.

Guard Kadary Richmond has taken a massive leap forward in his senior year with the program. The Brooklyn native has bumped up his offensive output by over six points per game up to 16.1, all the while elevating his assist and rebounding numbers. In the middle, senior center Jaden Bediako has brought the Pirates into the upper echelon of rebounding teams in the nation, especially on the offensive glass. The Santa Clara transfer averages 3.9 offensive rebounds per game, good enough for ninth-best in all of college basketball.

In his second year behind the bench, Head Coach Shaheen Holloway has found a way to extract the most out of his team. With a starting lineup featuring Richmond and Bediako, alongside Al-Amir Dawes and Dre Davis who combine for over 28 points per game, Seton Hall has established themselves as a true threat.

This sentiment rang true when Big East play finally kicked off. On home court at Prudential Center, the Pirates shocked the nation with a commanding 75-60 win over the reigning champs at UConn. The team proved this was no fluke by following it up with wins over Providence (61-57) at The Dunk, and back at home against Marquette (78-75).

Seton Hall currently sits at 5-5 in Quad 1 matchups this year. Four of the team’s five losses in the category have come on the road, with the only exception being a triple-overtime thriller with Creighton (97-94) back in January. All together, the Pirates’ rank NET 63 with five games still to play.

Currently on a two-game hot streak, Seton Hall will look to close out their conference schedule strong with games at home against Butler, Villanova and DePaul, alongside a pair of road contests at Creighton and UConn. If this team can continue to take care of their business at home and finish out the season 3-2 or better, I expect the Pirates to make their way back to the Big Dance for the first time since 2021-22.

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