2024-25 Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Week 3

Mat Mlodzinski gives his Big East basketball power rankings heading into week 3 of the 2024-25 season.

Matchup of the week: Marquette vs. Purdue

Sneaky good matchup of the week: Creighton vs. Nebraska

All games listed are EST

1. UConn Huskies

Last week’s ranking: N/A

Record: 3-0

Last week: W vs. Le Moyne (90-49)

Next week: vs. East Texas A&M (Nov. 19 – 7 p.m.),

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: N/A

The Huskies have started with all buy games and also not many games, just playing three in the first two weeks, and one more this week.

But after that, we’ll start to learn more about the two-time defending champs. They start the Maui Invitational against Memphis and it’s another strong field with potential games against Auburn and Iowa State. UConn usually dominates the non-conference and we’ll see if that rings true again.

2. Marquette Golden Eagles

Last week’s ranking: 4 (+2)

Record: 4-0

Last week: W vs. Central Michigan (70-62), W at Maryland (78-74)

Next week: vs. #6 Purdue (Nov. 19 – 9 p.m.), vs. Georgia (Nov. 23 – 11 a.m.)

Quality wins: at Maryland

Bad losses: N/A

The Golden Eagles got TESTED against Maryland, coming together in the second half to overcome a tough Terrapins team on the road. Their prize? #6 Purdue and undefeated Georgia this week. Shaka Smart gets no breaks with this early season schedule and we’ll probably know a lot about Marquette should they put together another 2-0 week.

3. Creighton Bluejays

Last week’s ranking: 2 (-1)

Record: 4-0

Last week: W vs. Houston Christian (78-43), W vs. Kansas City (79-56)

Next week: vs. Nebraska (Nov. 22 – 8 p.m.)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: N/A

Creighton is one of many 4-0 teams in Big East basketball and it’s a good thing the Jays haven’t picked up any bad losses. The upcoming schedule is Nebraska, San Diego State, Texas A&M, Kansas, UNLV, and Alabama, before conference play starts at Georgetown. That’s some insane scheduling by Creighton and hopefully for them it doesn’t wear the team out before Big East play opens up.

4. St. John’s Red Storm

Last week’s ranking: 3 (-1)

Record: 4-0

Last week: W vs. Wagner (66-45), W vs. New Mexico (85-71)

Next week: vs. #13 Baylor (Nov. 21 – 7 p.m.), vs. Georgia (Nov. 24 – 11 a.m.)

Quality wins: vs. New Mexico

Bad losses: N/A

The hype seems to be legit after St. John’s took down New Mexico to start 4-0. The Johnnies apparently won’t rely on Kadary Richmond to score the ball, because RJ Luis, Simeon Wilcher, and Deivon Smith are handling it in that department. Brady Dunlap also can’t seem to miss from deep, as the Red Storm look to have one of the top offenses in Big East basketball.

5. Xavier Musketeers

Last week’s ranking: 5 (-)

Record: 4-0

Last week: W vs. Jackson State (94-57), W vs. Wake Forest (75-60)

Next week: vs. Siena (Nov. 20 – 6:30 p.m.)

Quality wins: vs. Wake Forest

Bad losses: N/A

Xavier is undefeated and starting to pick up some steam after knocking out a talented Wake Forest team by 15 points. Ryan Conwell is shooting out of his mind and Zach Freemantle hasn’t taken one step back despite overcoming numerous major injuries.

The combination of coaching and talent makes the Musketeers a very scary team to face.

6. Providence Friars

Last week’s ranking: 6 (-)

Record: 4-0

Last week: W vs. Hampton (60-51), W vs. Green Bay (79-65)

Next week: vs. Delaware State (Nov. 19 – 7 p.m.),

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: N/A

Providence hasn’t really skated to a 4-0 record, winning two buy games by fewer than 10 points. They only have Delaware State this week and then the grind starts next week, with Oklahoma on Nov. 27.

Providence needs to figure things out on the offensive end. Bensley Joseph is leading the team in scoring at just 12 PPG and there doesn’t seem to be anyone who can really take over a game and put the team on their shoulders. But the Friars do appear to be deep, and there are worse problems to have than that.

7. Butler Bulldogs

Last week’s ranking: 10 (+3)

Record: 3-1

Last week: W vs. Western Michigan (85-65), W vs. SMU (81-70)

Next week: vs. Merrimack (Nov. 22 – 7 p.m.)

Quality wins: vs. SMU

Bad losses: vs. Austin Peay

Just one game for Butler this week after going 2-0 last week including an 11-point win against SMU. Jahmyl Telfort was lights out in the second half of that one and has been great all season long. If the Bulldogs can get more production inside, they might be able to compete near the top of the conference this season.

8. Villanova Wildcats

Last week’s ranking: 7 (-1)

Record: 2-3

Last week: L at St. Joe’s (83-76), L vs. Virginia (70-60)

Next week: vs. Penn (Nov. 19 – 7 p.m.), vs. Maryland (Nov. 24 – 1 p.m.)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: vs. Columbia

Despite being 2-3, Villanova didn’t necessarily pick up any bad wins last week. St. Joe’s and Virginia are both quality teams and might wind up playing in the NCAA Tournament. But at this point, it’s hard to consider Villanova a quality opponent.

And it’s not fair to blame it all on the players. Eric Dixon looks like one of the best players in Big East basketball and there’s enough talent on this team that should make the Wildcats competitive in conference play. But they just don’t know how to play as a unit and you virtually need to look at Kyle Neptune as the reason why.

9. DePaul Blue Demons

Last week’s ranking: 11 (+2)

Record: 4-0

Last week: W vs. Mercer (95-64), W vs. Duquesne (84-58)

Next week: vs. Eastern Illinois (Nov. 19 – 9 p.m.), vs. Northern Illinois (Nov. 23 – 5 p.m.)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: N/A

At 4-0, DePaul has already surpassed their win total from last season. Generally, that doesn’t matter, especially for that few amount of wins. But for how bad this program has consistently been, there’s a reason to be optimistic about this season and the future under Chris Holtmann. The Blue Demons are drilling threes at a high rate, rebounding well, and playing with a lot of cohesion on the offensive end. And they’ve got two more buy games to try and improve to 6-0.

10. Georgetown Hoyas

Last week’s ranking: 8 (-2)

Record: 2-1

Last week: L vs. Notre Dame (84-63)

Next week: vs. Mount St. Mary’s (Nov. 20 – 8:30 p.m.), vs. St. Francis-PA (Nov. 23 – Noon)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: vs. Notre Dame

There was a lot of optimism that year two of Ed Cooley could be a big step forward but after a big loss to Notre Dame, it seems as if it’s back to square one.

Still, Hoyas fans shouldn’t act as if it’s the end of the world. Was it the game they’d hoped for? Probably not. But they need to learn from this performance. They don’t play another Power 5 team until Dec. 6 against West Virginia, so there’s a long stretch for Georgetown to figure it out against some inferior teams – if that can even be said for this program anymore.

11. Seton Hall Pirates

Last week’s ranking: 9 (-2)

Record: 2-2

Last week: L vs. Hofstra (49-48), W vs. Wagner (54-28)

Next week: vs. VCU (Nov. 21 – 5 p.m.), vs. Vanderbilt OR Nevada (Nov. 22), Charleston Classic (Nov. 24)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: vs. Fordham, vs. Hofstra

The story of Seton Hall’s win over Wagner was a historic defensive showing, holding them to a measly 28 points. But the story of the Hall’s season has been some of the worst offense in the country, failing to reach 60 points in any of their first four games.

The bright side is the Pirates have some chances for solid resume wins this week in the Charleston Classic. It isn’t a loaded field, but it’s littered with quality teams, especially at the high-major level. A 2-1 showing might turn the season around for SHU.