CBB Review previews Big East basketball heading into the 2025-26 season.
Last season, Big East basketball was dominated by St. John’s as the Red Storm went 18-2 in conference, on the way to a historic 31-5 season. It was only the second year led by Rick Pitino, but it worked out to be the right hire, even if the Red Storm got sent home on the opening weekend of March Madness.
But it wasn’t just St. John’s cruising along in the Big East. Creighton, UConn, Marquette, and Xavier all made the Big Dance.
This year, the conference is looking for a stronger bottom of the conference. With DePaul and Seton Hall looking to be more improved, and Georgetown as a potential underrated team to watch, there is a lot in store for Big East hoops this season.
Big East basketball projected standings
1. UConn Huskies
As long as Dan Hurley is the coach at UConn, the Huskies will be one of the best teams in the Big East. And as long as he’s recruiting guys like Braylon Mullins and Eric Reibe to fill the shoes of past players, they’ll continue to be relevant at the national stage.
This year, UConn’s star power is big man Tarris Reed and guard Solo Ball, who is like Han Solo if he had a basketball. They’ve also got sharpshooter Alex Karaban back for his senior year and Georgia transfer Silas Demary, who takes over the point guard reins. It’s another balanced and talented roster that should rival St. John’s right at the top of the conference.
2. St. John’s Red Storm
With the return of Zuby Ejiofor and the additions of Bryce Hopkins, Ian Jackson, Joson Sanon, Oziyah Sellers, and Dillon Mitchell, St. John’s has it all. They’ve got a Hall of Fame coach with one of the best all-around lineups in the country. Need points in the paint? They’ve got it. A strong backcourt? Yep. Enough scorers to have threats at every position on the court? You got it. St. John’s is ready to run it back after winning 31 games a year ago.
3. Creighton Bluejays
While Creighton might take a small step back without Ryan Kalkbrenner, getting Owen Freeman from Iowa in the transfer portal at least gives the Bluejays another top big man in the conference. He’ll be joined by former Hawkeye Josh Dix and Colorado State transfer Nik Graves in the backcourt.
But the player to watch is Jackson McAndrew, who had a very promising freshman season. He could take a big jump and help keep Creighton within reach of the Huskies and Red Storm.
4. Marquette Golden Eagles
It’s officially Chase Ross’s team as Kam Jones and David Joplin are now gone. While Ross isn’t a bona fide star, he is an above-average scorer who just hasn’t had the chance to always show it off as the third or fourth option in the past.
But he’ll really need the help of his teammates, as Shaka Smart once again refused to utilize the transfer portal. That means returning players Ben Gold, Zaide Lowery, Sean Jones, Royce Parham, and more will need to level up in 2025-26. Smart’s system seems to work, though, so there’s no need to totally question his method.
5. Georgetown Hoyas
Georgetown’s backcourt of Malik Mack and KJ Lewis may be up there with UConn and St. John’s as one of the best in Big East basketball. Plus, he brought in Langston Love, DeShawn Harris-Smith, and Vincent Iwuchukwu as guys who have a lot of winning experience. The talent is there, and the winning pedigree is there. They’ll need some help down low as depth is a concern inside the paint, but it seems as if the Hoyas continue to be on the rise.
6. Providence Friars
I’m really loving the star power of Jason Edwards, combined with guys like Duncan Powell, Jaylin Sellers, Rich Barron, Oswin Erhunmwunse, and Corey Floyd Jr. Those six alone can compete with any six in the conference, but the question will be who else steps up, and can Kim English get the most out of these guys? The verdict’s not out yet, but after a rough 2024-25 season, it’ll be important for English to prove some things with this Providence team.
7. Villanova Wildcats
Learn the name Acaden Lewis – he’s going to be one of the top freshmen in the Big East and could really help Villanova’s case if he can come in and control the offense. He’ll have some experience to help out, with Devin Askew, Tafara Gapare, Zion Stanford, and Bryce Lindsay all transferring in, along with new head coach Kevin Willard. But the player to watch is Tyler Perkins, who is heading into year two with the Wildcats. He could be an X-factor if Nova wants to get back to March Madness.
8. DePaul Blue Demons
DePaul made big improvements last season, winning 14 games after just 3 the year before. This year’s already off to a good start as the Blue Demons took down Notre Dame on Friday in an exhibition game. CJ Gunn, Layden Blocker, and NJ Benson are the key returning players who are ready to take the Blue Demons to even greater heights this season. But also look out for RJ Smith and Kaleb Banks, a pair of transfers who played very well in another exhibition win over Loyola Chicago.
9. Butler Bulldogs
This is where the Big East starts to take a hit. Butler’s last 20-win season was in 2019-20, and I see that streak continuing another year. While Finley Bizjack is back, and former Gonzaga player and Pepperdine star Michael Ajayi comes in, there isn’t a whole lot of proven scoring. Yohan Traore averaged over 14 PPG at UC Santa Barbara, but at previous stops at Auburn and SMU, he was more of a rotation player than a 25-30-minute per game type of guy.
In an exhibition loss to Notre Dame (by one point), Jamie Kaiser and Efeosa Olioga-Elabor both had a dozen points, so look to them to be guys who could help keep Butler as a sneaky team at the bottom of the conference.
10. Seton Hall Pirates
Seton Hall was awful last season, so I don’t see how it could get any worse. And from what I’ve heard, incoming transfer Budd Clark is a big improvement in the backcourt, and freshman Najai Hines is a beast inside the paint. Returning big man Godswill Erheriene is a player to keep an eye on, while Miami (Fla) transfer AJ Staton-McCray, Elon transfer TJ Simpkins, and Fordham transfer Josh Rivera will need to put the ball in the bucket – something the Pirates were one of the worst in the country at doing last year.
11. Xavier Musketeers
While some people may say SHU is still the bottom tier of Big East basketball, I’m going with Xavier. The Musketeers fell to Murray State in an exhibition, and while you can’t take those totally at face value, it wasn’t pretty.
Murray State shot 35.9% from the field, 7-of-30 from three, and had 13 turnovers. But Xavier? The Musketeers were barely better at 36.1% from the floor, 2-of-15 from deep, and coughed it up 14 times. The team might go through Tre Carroll and Filip Borovicanin down low, with Roddie Anderson at point guard. And that just doesn’t look like a team that will keep up with the rest of the conference. I don’t like the outlook for year one of Richard Pitino.
CBB Review Preseason Big East Basketball Player of the Year
Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s
Ejiofor was wildly productive in a breakout year for the Red Storm last year, averaging 14.7 points and 8.1 rebounds, blocking 1.4 shots per game, and hitting 63.8% of shots taken inside the arc.
He’s got another loaded group of teammates, but with no RJ Luis, you have to think Ejifor is in store for an even more monster season. Sure, a healthy Bryce Hopkins could also be a candidate to lead the team in scoring, but Ejiofor’s the safer bet to have a remarkable senior season.
CBB Review Preseason Big East Basketball Coach of the Year
Ed Cooley, Georgetown
Cooley brought the Hoyas from 9 wins in year one to 18 wins in year two, doubling the win total just like that. Year three, Georgetown fans hope they can get above 20 wins for the first time since the 2014-15 season when John Thompson III was still the coach.
With a backcourt of Malik Mack and KJ Lewis and other quality players like Langston Love and Vincent Iwuchukwu, it’s out there for the Hoyas to get, and a lot of the praise will go to Cooley if they can get there.
CBB Review Preseason Big East Basketball Freshman of the Year
Acaden Lewis, Villanova
Lewis had 16 points in a recent exhibition game for Villanova against Virginia. As the starting point guard in year one of Kevin Willard, he’ll have the ball in his hands more than any other freshman in the conference. While Braylon Mullins may have a brighter upside, Lewis will have such a high usage rate, it’s hard not to project him as the FOTY in the Big East.
CBB Review Preseason Big East Basketball Transfer of the Year
Jason Edwards, Providence
If Providence is going to be a team to watch this season, it will be because of Jason Edwards. He’s been a scorer everywhere he’s played – from JUCO, to North Texas, and at his last stop at Vanderbilt. With the Commodores, Edwards averaged 17 PPG on 43.5% from the field, a slight decrease in points from UNT, but a slight uptick in percentage. That alone tells me that going from the SEC to the Big East, where he’ll once again be the number one option, won’t make a difference. Edwards is the best bucket-getter in the Big East this season.
CBB Review Preseason Big East Basketball First Team
- G: Jason Edwards, Providence
- G: Solo Ball, UConn
- F: Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s
- F: Bryce Hopkins, St. John’s
- C: Owen Freeman, Creighton
CBB Review Preseason Big East Basketball Second Team
- G: Malik Mack, Georgetown
- G: Chase Ross, Marquette
- F: Alex Karaban, UConn
- F: Jackson McAndrew, Creighton
- C: Tarris Reed, UConn
CBB Review Preseason Big East Basketball Third Team
- G: Silas Demary Jr., UConn
- G: KJ Lewis, Georgetown
- G: Ian Jackson, St. John’s
- G: Josh Dix, Creighton
- G: CJ Gunn, DePaul
CBB Review Preseason Big East Basketball All-Freshmen Team
- G: Acaden Lewis, Villanova
- G: Braylon Mullins, UConn
- F: Jamier Jones, Providence
- F: Najai Hines, Seton Hall
- C: Eric Reibe, UConn