Big East Preview Going into Conference Play.
The Big East is the first of the power conferences to kick off their in conference schedule. Starting tomorrow with a double header followed by three games on Wednesday.
Not only does the Big East have the reigning national champion in UConn who is looking just as good this season, this conference is deeper than some suspect.
At the top of the list we have UConn, Creighton, and Marquette as the top three teams to beat. Teams like Villanova, Providence, St. John’s, and even Georgetown will be liable to win a game any given night.
January and February is a gauntlet in this conference on the hardwood. This is a breakdown each teams with win projections.
Big East Conference: Record Predictions
I will go in order of how I believe it will finish.
Marquette (17-4)
UConn (16-5)
Creighton (13-7)
Villanova (13-7)
Xavier (10-10)
Providence (8-12)
Seton Hall (7-13)
Butler (7-13)
St. John’s (6-13)
Georgetown (5-15)
DePaul (2-17)
I believe Marquette will be the most consistent team and will take home the regular season title for the second year in a row. Xavier, Villanova and Providence will be a team that no one wants to play home or away. While Seton Hall and Butler will have strong home court wins and be a nightmare for away teams.
Creighton and UConn will lose one or two games that will just make you scratch your head, I have both teams going on a 2-3 game losing streak at least once in Big East play.
First year head coaches in Ed Cooley and Rick Pitino struggle in year one in the Big East, however do not count them out in the next year or two to make a real run.
Big East Conference Awards
When looking at the win totals above, it feels like one award has to correlate with the winer of the conference. In a season where UConn has multiple players who can be player of the year, I would look to Shaka Smart for the Big East coach of the year. Expecting other teams to eat up the player awards.
UConn has Donovan Clingan who I believe will be in the running for the Wooden Award. However the true star on this team is point guard Tristen Newton. I look for Newton to be in the running with Ryan Kalkbrenner for the Big East player of the year award. With Newton taking home the honor.
Big East: How Many NCAAB Tournament Bids?
Looking at the top four teams in the conference you can almost guarantee that they will be not only invited to the big dance, yet also seeded highly.
Marquette, UConn, Creighton, and Villanova are my four teams I am 100% expecting to be in the tournament. With the first three seeded in the top 4 seed lines, while Villanova will be looking at 7-9 seed.
After these four teams on the list there is always a possibility a team like Xavier, Providence, and Seton Hall can make a run. They would have to play deep into the Big East Tournament and have a great home record. I could see at most two of these three teams squeezing in. At the very best all three with one being one of the last four in.
Given those thoughts, I will official guess that we see 5 Big East teams comfortably in the tournament field and not be surprised to see a 6th or even 7th squeeze in last minute.
As far as making noise in the tournament, I think there will be 2 teams in the sweet 16 from the Big East with only one team making it to the final four. I also think UConn have a tremendous chance of winning back to back championships this season. They are in my Final Four right now easily.
Rowan Donaghey, Sports Reporter and Betting Analyst for Stare Down Sports. You can follow him on the X via @RowanDonaghey
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