Marquette's slump continues, Seton Hall stays hot among Big East Basketball storylines

5. Seton Hall continues to be outstanding

Easily the biggest surprise in Big East Basketball has been the great run of the Seton Hall University Pirates. They sit at the top of the conference with wins over three ranked opponents, including the now No. 1 team in the country, UConn. They have been led by Big East Player of the Year candidate Kadary Richmond who has been outstanding throughout this stretch for the Pirates, including a 24-point performance against the Butler Bulldogs.

This week, Seton Hall won two tough road games against Georgetown and Butler, and they now return home to take on the St. John's Red Storm. While they were not ranked in the recent top 25, they are another great win away from finding themselves in the ranks. Regardless of where the voters put them, the turnaround from a team that was eliminated in the first round of the NIT last year, to now being in a position where they can make the NCAA Tournament, all the credit has to go to Shaheen Holloway who has down an outstanding coaching job.

A team that was likely to finish closer to the bottom of the conference now finding itself right at the top in the middle of January, that has been the story of the year so far around college basketball, not just the Big East. The real question for Seton Hall though is if they can keep it going, the Pirates had been in positions like this during the Kevin Willard era, only to disappoint down the stretch, and lose early in March.

Holloway and these Pirates have a chance to flip the script of an entire program over these next few months, and this journey continues with their matchup against a great St. John's team that has won some tough games. However, their recent loss came against a team that has not been talked about a ton.