Mat Mlodzinski gives his Big East basketball power rankings heading into week 14 of the 2023-24 season.
Matchup of the week: Creighton at Xavier (Feb. 10 – 12:30 p.m.)
Sneaky good matchup of the week: Seton Hall at Villanova (Feb. 11 – Noon)
All games listed are EST
1. UConn Huskies
Last week’s ranking: 1 (-)
Record: 20-2 (10-1)
Last week: W vs. Providence (74-65), W at St. John’s (77-64)
Next week: vs. Butler (Feb. 6 – 8:30 p.m.), at Georgetown (Feb. 10 – Noon)
Quality wins: North Carolina, Creighton, Texas, Providence, Gonzaga, St. John’s (x2), at Villanova
Bad losses: N/A
Death, taxes, and UConn basketball winning games. The Huskies haven’t moved from the top spot in the Big East Basketball Power Rankings for a few weeks and I don’t expect that to change. They’ve won without Donovan Clingan. They won (by 13) without Alex Karaban. Dan Hurley always gets his team ready to play. The Huskies are looking more and more like the clear-cut number-one team in the country.
2. Marquette Golden Eagles
Last week’s ranking: 3 (+1)
Record: 17-5 (8-3)
Last two weeks: W at Villanova (85-80), W at Georgetown (91-57)
Next week: vs. St. John’s (Feb. 10 – 6 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Illinois, Kansas, Creighton, at St. John’s, at Villanova, Texas, Seton Hall
Bad losses: N/A
Marquette’s resume speaks for itself. They’re not on UConn’s level, but they’ve begun to separate themselves from the huge pack of Power 6 teams with five or six losses. Tennessee and Kansas might be the only five-loss teams in the country that can compare with the Golden Eagles’ quality wins. The winning streak is also something to note. You want to go into March playing good basketball, and although that’s still over a month away, a six-game winning streak in early February is promising.
3. Creighton Bluejays
Last week’s ranking: 2 (-1)
Record: 16-6 (7-4)
Last week: L vs. Butler (99-98)
Next week: at Providence (Feb. 7 – 8:30 p.m.), at Xavier (Feb. 10 – 12:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: Alabama, at Nebraska, at Seton Hall, Providence, St. John’s, Iowa
Bad losses: UNLV
I’m sure Creighton fans aren’t too happy about the Butler loss, considering the ‘Jays now have two tough road games with Providence and Xavier. But it could be a wake-up call that the defense can’t be so wishy-washy. On some occasions, Creighton keeps teams below 65 points. They’ve done that 13 times and it usually results in wins. But they’ve also surrendered 80+ points four times. They’re 3-1 in such games, but it’s not a good way to consistently get wins. It caught up to them against the Bulldogs and now they’ve got some tough contests to try and respond.
4. Butler Bulldogs
Last week’s ranking: 6 (+2)
Record: 15-7 (6-5)
Last two weeks: W at #13 Creighton (99-98)
Next week: at #1 UConn (Feb. 6 – 8:30 p.m.), vs. Providence (Feb. 10 – 2 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Marquette, at Creighton, Texas Tech, Boise State
Bad losses: N/A
Is Butler a tournament team? I would surely hope so. The Texas Tech and Boise State wins have transformed their non-conference resume ever since the Red Raiders and Broncos started winning games. The road wins over Marquette and Creighton are exactly what you need in a conference like the Big East. Butler’s now moved up four spots in two weeks in the Big East Basketball Power Rankings. Thad Matta, you might be on to something.
5. Seton Hall Pirates
Last week’s ranking: 7 (+2)
Record: 14-8 (7-4)
Last week: W at DePaul (72-39)
Next week: vs. Georgetown (Feb. 7 – 6:30 p.m.), at Villanova (Feb. 11 – Noon)
Quality wins: UConn, Marquette, at Providence, St. John’s
Bad losses: Rutgers
It might be hard to believe, but Seton Hall is officially a bubble team. That doesn’t seem entirely fair, but as parity in college basketball increases, the value of beating UConn and Marquette decreases. It’s time for the Pirates to simply rack up more wins and add to the quantity of the quality wins. This is a perfect week to do that. A home game against Georgetown and a rivalry game at Villanova presents a perfect opportunity for Shaheen Holloway’s group.
6. Xavier Musketeers
Last week’s ranking: 8 (+2)
Record: 12-10 (6-5)
Last week: W vs. St. John’s (88-77), W at DePaul (93-68)
Next week: vs. Villanova (Feb. 7 – 7 p.m.), vs. #19 Creighton (Feb. 10 – 12:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: Saint Mary’s, at Providence, Seton Hall, Cincinnati, St. John’s
Bad losses: Oakland, Delaware
Xavier might have ten losses, but the Musketeers are certainly a quality basketball team. In my book, Sean Miller is worthy of a Big East Coach of the Year vote. If Seton Hall continues at their rate, Holloway should get the award, but Xavier began the season projected around the top five and lost MULTIPLE of their best players. Quincy Olivari has become a flat-out star and the Musketeers, with plenty of backups playing bigger minutes than expected, are winning lots of quality games. Imagine if they can knock off Villanova or Creighton this week.
7. Villanova Wildcats
Last week’s ranking: 9 (+1)
Record: 12-10 (5-6)
Last two weeks: L at #9 Marquette (85-80), W vs. Providence (68-50)
Next week: at Xavier (Feb. 7 – 7 p.m.), vs. Seton Hall (Feb. 11 – Noon)
Quality wins: North Carolina, at Creighton, Texas Tech, Providence, Memphis
Bad losses: Drexel, Penn
Does Villanova have a better resume than Providence? I’d argue no. Two more losses and two bad losses cancel out a few more good wins. However, they did just crush the Friars at home and also played Marquette tough – kind of. It was an up-and-down game against the Golden Eagles, but maybe Kyle Neptune and his up-and-down team have figured something out. Either way, this is a week Nova can take advantage of. Two games they can win, but we haven’t always seen the Wildcats do that. A 1-1 week is a must, but for a team firmly on the bubble, a winning streak is going to be a must pretty soon.
8. Providence Friars
Last week’s ranking: 5 (-3)
Record: 14-8 (5-6)
Last two weeks: L at #1 UConn (74-65), L at Villanova (68-50)
Next week: vs. #19 Creighton (Feb. 7 – 8:30 p.m.), at Butler (Feb. 10 – 2 p.m.)
Quality wins: Marquette, Wisconsin, at Seton Hall, Butler, Georgia
Bad losses: N/A
Just like that, Providence has moved three spots backward. I do want to credit the Friars for battling with UConn until the final minute. There might have been 700 fouls called, but Providence still kept the game close and game the number one team a slight scare. Much different story at Villanova. Was it a Wildcats team hungry for a win? Yes. But 50 points on 29.4% shooting is unacceptable. Is Providence in for a rebound game themselves? Should Creighton be on upset watch? It’ll be up to Devin Carter and Josh Oduro to try and get that done.
9. St. John’s Red Storm
Last week’s ranking: 4 (-5)
Record: 13-9 (5-6)
Last week: L at Xavier (88-77), L vs. #1 UConn (77-64)
Next week: vs. DePaul (Feb. 6 – 6:30 p.m.), at #7 Marquette (Feb. 10 – 6 p.m.)
Quality wins: Utah, Butler, Providence, Villanova (x2)
Bad losses: N/A
Boy was I, and a lot of people, wrong about St. John’s. Apparently, even Rick Pitino can’t fix the Red Storm in one year. It’s now February, and the Johnnies’ best win is Utah. They’ve beaten a few of the middle-tier Big East teams, but this looks more like an NIT team than an NCAA Tournament team to me. Plus, Rick Pitino seems to be pretty focused on complaining about the current state of college basketball, while his team is struggling to gather wins. For the record, I’m a Pitino fan, but St. John’s has been playing well under Pitino standards.
10. Georgetown Hoyas
Last week’s ranking: 10 (-)
Record: 8-13 (1-9)
Last week: L vs. #9 Marquette (91-57)
Next week: at Seton Hall (Feb. 7 – 6:30 p.m.), vs. #1 UConn (Feb. 10 – Noon)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: Holy Cross
I wonder if Ed Cooley is officially regretting his decision. There’s a good chance Georgetown doesn’t even pass their season total of two Big East wins last year. And look, I get that the transfer portal and NIL is crazy and re-building a program might not require as much as it used to. But Georgetown still looks in a much different bracket than the rest of the conference, and not in a good way.
11. DePaul Blue Demons
Last week’s ranking: 11 (-)
Record: 3-19 (0-11)
Last week: L vs. Seton Hall (72-39), L vs. Xavier (93-68)
Next week: at St. John’s (Feb. 6 – 6:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: Purdue Fort Wayne, Long Beach State, Northern Illinois, at Georgetown
The Matt Brady era is *not* off to a great start with it being the same DePaul that we saw under Tony Stubblefield. In fact, they might be worse, losing last week’s games by a combined 68 points. The good news? Honestly, there is none for DePaul. on to 2024-25.