Of all the leagues in the sport of College Basketball, the Big East is the league that has been maybe the most competitive as all 10 teams are in the Top-80 of the NET. Coming into league play 9 of the 10 teams looked capable of making the NCAA Tournament, but with how things have played out thus far the league has taken a hit in the number of teams capable of making the NCAA Tournament. League play has seen a massive divide between the haves and have nots, and while at the top the league looks very strong with five teams projected to wear white uniforms in their first-round games, the rest of the league has seen a major drop off that is severely hindering the number of bids that the league can get as a whole.
Take for example DePaul, they have three great non-conference wins against Texas Tech, while they also won at Minnesota and at Iowa. Even throw in the Butler win and you have four elite wins that are set to stand the test of time. That being said, DePaul has really killed themselves in league play thus far, losing home games to both Providence and St. John’s. While the team is 1-6 in Big East play and yes while conference record does not matter, having a good record does. Minus drastic changes to how DePaul has played thus far in Big East play, we are probably looking at a DePaul team that will enter selection Sunday with 15 or more losses which is certainly not getting them into the field of 68.
St. John’s is another team that has struggled in league play as they are only 2-6 in league play. Much like DePaul they went out in non-conference play and helped themselves by beating West Virginia and Arizona, those wins will travel. Unfortunately ending the season with a 17-15 record is not going to be enough to make the big dance.
As for Xavier and Georgetown, both teams have had tougher schedules thus far in Big East play, so it is more understandable why those teams are 2-5 in Big East play. That being said, those two teams have a combined THREE quadrant 1 wins and neither have picked a Quadrant 1A win to this point. Those two teams have the schedules to rally in league play but even then, they still might be on the wrong end of the bubble given their lack of big wins to this point.
As for Providence, they have been good in Big East play but they have 4 quadrant 3 or 4 losses to this point, while they are 11-10 overall. Basically meaning that unless they go on a magic run to win the Big East Tournament, they will not be dancing.
The top-5 of this league is great right now, Seton Hall, Villanova, and Butler are all set to be top-4 seeds, while Marquette and Creighton are following closely behind. That being said, conferences define themselves by having A.teams make deep runs in March or B.having a lot of teams make the tournament from the league. While the league has a handful of teams that could make a run in the Big Dance, they don’t look like they will get any more than five teams in the NCAA Tournament.