James Stowell gives his Big East basketball power rankings for week 5 of the 2025-26 season.
Week 4 team of the week: Seton Hall Pirates
Week 4 game of the week: Seton Hall over NC State
Week 4 player of the week: AJ Staton-McCray, Seton Hall
Week 5 matchup of the week: UConn vs. Kansas (Dec. 2 – 9 p.m.)
Week 5 under-the-radar matchup of the week: Seton Hall at Kansas State (Dec. 6 – 4 p.m.)
These rankings are based on the performances of each team in the previous week.
All games are listed as EST.
1. UConn Huskies
Last week’s ranking: 1 (-)
Record: 6-1
Last week: W vs. #13 Illinois (74-61)
Next week: at Kansas (Dec. 2 – 9 p.m.), vs. East Texas A&M (Dec. 5 – 7:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: BYU, Illinois (Neutral)
Bad losses: N/A
The Huskies continue on top of the Big East basketball power rankings for four consecutive weeks in the season. It was a short week that saw a quality win over a ranked team in Illinois. Solo Ball led UConn with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals. He shot 6-14 (42.9%) from the floor and a poor 2-9 (22.2%) from beyond the arc.
Alex Karaban had an all-around great game, with 12 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks.
The team shot well throughout the game, converting 26-63 (41%) from the field and 10-28 (36%) from downtown
2. Seton Hall Pirates
Last week’s ranking: 5 (+3)
Record: 7-1
Last week: W vs. #23 NC State (85-74), L vs. USC (81-83), W vs. Washington State (75-61)
Next week: vs. CCSU (Dec. 3 – 7 p.m.), at Kansas State (Dec. 6 – 4 p.m.)
Quality wins: NC State
Bad losses: N/A
Seton Hall has been rising up the Big East basketball power rankings throughout the season. They started off the week with a great win against a ranked opponent in NC State.
Against the Wolfpack, they were led by AJ Staton-McCray with 22 points and 8 rebounds, nearly securing a double-double. He shot 7-11 (63.6%) overall, 3-7 (42.9%) from beyond the arc, and 5-6 (83.3%) from the line.
In the first half, the Pirates had an early lead stolen away, and this resulted in a back-and-forth half, with Seton Hall barely leading at 35-33 at halftime. In the second, they took off running with a 12-2 run and never looked back. That run came off the backs of McCray and Elijah Fisher. The Wolfpack never got the lead in the second half after previously leading in the first throughout. The Pirates were dominant in the paint and in transition, outscoring the Wolfpack 40-26 in the paint and 22-7 in fast break points.
In their second game of the Southwest Maui Invitational, they followed up their win against a ranked team with a tight loss to the USC Trojans. Like against NC State, the Pirates led at the end of the first after exchanging leads with their opponents several times. At 5:27 left in the half, Seton Hall led 34-21, leading 42-38 at the end of the first.
Opposite of their game against the Wolfpack, they led early in the second, lost it, and never got it back. After a 10-0 scoring run from USC, the game exploded out of control. Seton Hall made a comeback attempt and came very close to winning as Staton-McCray tied the game at 78 with a three-pointer with 1:02 left in the game. Jordan Marsh sealed the loss for the Pirates after draining a pair of free throws with a second to go. Fisher would make a free throw to end the game in an 81-83 loss.
Budd Clark led the team with 18 points and 7 assists while shooting 8-14 (62.5%) from the field and 0-2 (0%) from downtown. While they got outrebounded 21-35 by USC, the Pirates again dominated in transition, outscoring their opponents 20-11 in points off turnovers and 22-6 in fast break points.
In their win against Washington State, Staton-McCray led with 20 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 8-14 (57.1%) overall, 3-6 (50%) from the perimeter, and 1-2 (50%) from the line. Conference play is coming up, and the Pirates are looking to continue their success.
3. St. John’s Red Storm
Last week’s ranking: 3 (-)
Record: 4-3
Last week: L vs. #15 Iowa State (82-83), W vs. Baylor (96-81), L vs. #21 Auburn (74-85)
Next week: vs. Ole Miss (Dec. 6 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: N/A
Like another team further down the list, the St. John’s Red Storm faced a bumpy road at the Players Era Festival.
Their first game was a down-to-the-wire loss to Iowa State. The first half was close throughout the way, but the Cyclones led for most of the time by as much as 10 when the score was 23-13 with under 11 minutes left in the half. St. John’s went on a 6-0 run at the end of the half and eventually led 45-43 at the end of the first.
In the second half, the leads would change hands several times throughout the second half, with leads not going more than around 5-6 points at a time. The Red Storm led 80-79 with 2:05 left in the game. Joshua Jefferson would score the last points for Iowa State off a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left to make St. John’s trail 80-83. Dillon Mitchell converted on a last-second layup after a missed three from Zuby Ejiofor to make the deficit 82-83.
Oziyah Sellers led the team in scoring for St. John’s against the Cyclones with 20 points and 5 rebounds while shooting 6-11 (54.5%) overall, 5-6 (83.3%) from downtown, and 3-4 (75%) from the line. The team shot 43% overall and 35% from downtown.
Against the Baylor Bears, they were led by Bryce Hopkins with 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Hopkins shot 9-12 (75%) from the floor, 3-3 (100%) from long range, and 5-5 (100%) from the line. Sellers had another amazing performance with 22 points and 2 rebounds. The game against the Bears saw a one-sided, dominating win from Rick Pitino and the Red Storm, which saw them shoot 50% from downtown.
Against Auburn, Ejiofor led with 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. He shot 6-11 (54.5%) from the field, 1-2 (50%) from beyond the arc, and 11-13 (84.6%) from the stripe.
Both the Tigers and Red Storm saw lead changes multiple times in the first, but St. John’s went on an 11-2 scoring run to end the first half, giving themselves a 39-30 lead. For over 10 minutes into the second half, St. John’s had a lead that eventually was taken out from under them with under 8 minutes left in the game. With the last four minutes in the game, the Red Storm only scored 5 points, ending the game losing 74-85. Auburn took the lead late and went on a run to seal the win.
As a team, they didn’t perform well from downtown, converting on 28% of their attempts.
4. Georgetown Hoyas
Last week’s ranking: 2 (-2)
Record: 5-2
Last week: L vs. Dayton (79-84), L vs. Miami-Fla (65-78)
Next week: vs. UMBC (Dec. 3 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins: Maryland, Clemson
Bad losses: N/A
A brutal week for the Hoyas after starting the season off 5-0.
Against Dayton, Malik Mack led the way with 24 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. He didn’t have the most efficient shooting performance, converting 9-20 (45%) from the field and 4-12 (33.3%) from downtown. The team as a whole was solid in terms of shot conversion, going 28-63 (44%) overall and 9-25 (36%) from the three. They weren’t great at the line, however, converting 14-21 (67%) from the charity strike.
Against Miami, it was more one-sided; the Hoyas never got the lead at any point in that game. Caleb Williams led the team with 23 points and 6 rebounds. He shot 8-14 (57.1%) from the floor, 5-10 (50%) from beyond the arc, and 2-2 (100%) from the line.
Georgetown shot poorly from beyond the arc and from the line, going 7-26 (27%) from long range and 16-24 (67%) from the line.
The Hoyas look to bounce back next week to maintain their great non-conference record.
5. Villanova Wildcats
Last week’s ranking: 4 (-1)
Record: 5-1
Last week: W vs. Old Dominion (89-75)
Next week: vs. Temple (Dec. 1 – 6:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: N/A
Like another team down the list, a quick week ending with a win for Villanova.
Tyler Perkins led the Wildcats in the win against Old Dominion with 21 points and 7 rebounds. He shot 8-13 (61.5%) overall, 3-4 (75%) from downtown, and 2-2 (100%) from the charity stripe.
Acaden Lewis was another notable player from the win. He scored 20 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. He did this while shooting 8-12 (66.7%) from the floor, 2-4 (50%) from the perimeter, and 2-3 (66.7%) from the line. Villanova shot 30-56 (54%) from the field and 10-26 (38%) from long range. Their free throw shooting could’ve been better as they converted 19-26 (73%).
6. Butler Bulldogs
Last week’s ranking: 7 (+1)
Record: 6-1
Last week: W vs. Wright State (94-69)
Next week: vs. Eastern Michigan (Dec. 2 – 7 p.m.), vs. Boise State (Dec. 6 – 2 p.m.)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: N/A
A quick, successful week for the Bulldogs was followed by a win against Wright State.
Michael Ajayi and Finley Bizjack led the team with 20 points each. Ajayi had a more complete performance, adding to those 20 points with 8 rebounds and 4 assists. He shot 8-15 (53.3%) from the floor, 1-4 (25%) from long range, and 3-6 (50%) from the charity stripe.
The team as a whole shot 36-53 (57%) overall and 7-21 (33%) from downtown. They got plenty of opportunities to go to the line off the back of a whopping 24 fouls from Wright State. However, they failed to convert on many of them, going 15-26 (58%) from the line.
7. Creighton Bluejays
Last week’s ranking: 6 (-1)
Record: 4-3
Last week: L vs. Baylor (74-81), L vs. #15 Iowa State (60-78), W vs. Oregon (76-66)
Next week: vs. Nicholls (Dec. 2 – 9 p.m.)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: N/A
Not everything is going well for the Bluejays in Omaha in the Players Era Festival.
Their first stop was against Baylor, where they could never get a lead the entire game, but they did tie multiple times in the second half.
Against Baylor, they were led by Hudson Greer coming off the bench. He scored 16 points and 3 rebounds while shooting 7-8 (87.5%) from the field and 2-2 (100%) from beyond the arc. The team shot well from the perimeter, going 7-18 (39%) from long range. The main contributor to this loss was an enormous rebounding discrepancy. The Bears outrebounded Creighton 45-28, as well as 22-8 offensively. They couldn’t buy a board for the entire game.
Their second game was against Iowa State, another loss that saw the Bluejays never get a lead, but this game was a bit more one-sided as it dragged on. This time, they were led by Jasen Green with 15 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 6-10 (60%) overall, 1-3 (33.3%) from beyond the arc, and 2-4 (50%) from the line.
The second game saw a more even scale for rebounding on both sides, with the Cyclones only outrebounding Creighton 39-34. Instead, the main problems were turnovers and points in the paint. For the latter, Creighton was outscored in the paint 20-52. For the former, the Bluejays committed 17 turnovers to Iowa State’s 8 turnovers. This resulted in 19 points off turnovers for the Cyclones.
They managed to get out of the tournament with a win at the end with a victory over the Oregon Ducks. Blake Harper led the way with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 steals. He shot 6-12 (50%) from the floor and 6-8 (75%) from the line. Creighton didn’t shoot that well from downtown, going 5-17 (29%) from three. Oregon did much worse, though, going 1-15 (7%) from long range.
8. Xavier Musketeers
Last week’s ranking: 11 (+3)
Record: 5-3
Last week: W vs. Texas A&M-CC (88-67)
Next week: vs. Saint Francis (Dec. 1 – 7 p.m.), vs. Cincinnati (Dec. 5 – 7:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: N/A
The backend of this week’s Big East basketball power rankings is in flux. Xavier rises up a bit after a convincing win over Texas A&M-CC, while others fall due to respective blowout and/0r close losses.
Jovan Milicevic led the way for the Musketeers with 14 points and 3 rebounds. He shot 5-11 (45.5%) overall and 4-8 (50%) from downtown. Another player to look at is senior Serbian transfer Filip Borovicanin had a 10-point, 15-rebound double-double, the latter stat being a season high for the New Mexico transfer.
As a team, they shot 46% from the field and 43% from downtown. Their performance at the line was an issue. Xavier only converted 14-24 (58%) from the line. Although their opponents didn’t do much better in that regard, going 11-20 (55%). The Musketeers need to work on their free-throw shooting going forward.
9. DePaul Blue Demons
Last week’s ranking: 10 (+1)
Record: 5-3
Last week: W vs. Georgia Tech (75-61), L vs. LSU (63-96)
Next week: vs. AR Pine-Bluff (Dec. 6 – 9 p.m.)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: N/A
It was an up-and-down week for Chris Holtmann and the Blue Demons. At the Emerald Coast Classic, they started off with a win against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Layden Blocker led the team with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 5-9 (55.6%) from the floor, 1-3 (33.3%) from the three, and 7-7 (100%) at the charity stripe.
At times, it looked grim. By the end of the first, DePaul trailed 25-32. In the second, it became a back-and-forth contest. With both teams going blow for blow, DePaul took their first lead of the second on the back of a 7-0 run to give them a 44-40 lead with 12:28 left in the game. Eventually, after a few ties, the Blue Demons would explode late in the game, going on multiple mini scoring runs while also keeping Georgia Tech at bay.
DePaul shot 7-22 (32%) from downtown and dominated in the fast break, outscoring the Yellow Jackets 19-3 in transition. Their perimeter defense was something to be feared, with Georgia Tech going only 2-18 (11%) from beyond the arc.
Against LSU, it was a different story. The Tigers led the entire game, at one point exploding to a 50-22 lead at halftime. DePaul never was able to get it within a single-digit point difference as the buckets kept on coming for LSU.
Freshman Kruz McClure led the Blue Demons with 22 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals, the only player on the team to score double-digit points. He shot 6-11 (54.5%) from the field, 3-6 (50%) from long range, and 7-8 (87.5%) from the line. He was one of only two Blue Demons to convert on more than one three-point attempt (Kaleb Banks shot 2-4, 50%).
DePaul was dominated in the paint, allowing 54 points to their 16. They also were outrebounded 37-19 and shot a poor 52% at the line, converting 12-23 on their attempts.
10. Marquette Golden Eagles
Last week’s ranking: 9 (-1)
Record: 4-4
Last week: L vs. Oklahoma (74-75)
Next week: vs. Valparaiso (Dec. 2 – 8 p.m.), at Wisconsin (Dec. 6 – 2 p.m.)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: N/A
This season has been many bumps and bruises for Shaka Smart and the Marquette Golden Eagles. The latest was a gut-wrenching loss to the Sooners in close fashion. The first half ended with a close 37-33 lead for Marquette. However, that doesn’t tell the whole story.
Earlier in the half, Marquette led by as much as 13 points when they had a 37-24 lead with 4:46 left in the half. Oklahoma would go on a 9-0 scoring run to lower the gap to 37-33. The Golden Eagles would maintain control early in the second, at one point leading 50-38 with 13:19 left to go. The Sooners would respond in force, going back-and-forth with Marquette, eventually tying the game at 54 a piece with 8:40 left in the game and then take their first lead at 57-54 with 7:25 left.
With 2:32 left in the game, Jadon Jones converted on a three-pointer to extend the lead to 72-64. With 54 seconds left in the game, both teams were tied 72-72. Derrion Reid would hit a dagger three to lead 75-72. Nigel James Jr. would convert on two clutch free throws to cut the deficit to one, but Chase Ross failed to convert on the buzzer beater, and the loss was sealed.
Ross and James Jr. would lead the way with 21 points and 20 points, respectively. Both men shot 8-15 (53.3%) from the floor. Ross was slightly better from the perimeter, going 2-5 (40%) to James Jr’s 1-3 (33.3%). Other than Royce Parham (13 points, 4 rebounds, 62.5% from the field, 60% from downtown), it was a two-man gig for the Golden Eagles. Ben Gold played poorly, only scoring 3 points while going 1-7 (14.3%) overall and 0-3 from beyond the arc.
Most of the team did poorly from beyond the arc. While as a whole they shot 9-27 (33%), only Parham and Ross converted on more than one three-point attempt. Adrien Stevens had a rough night on that front, going 1-5 (20%).
The team had a grip on the lead in the first half but squandered it. They squandered another lead in the second and were never able to get it back.
11. Providence Friars
Last week’s ranking: 8 (-3)
Record: 4-4
Last week: L vs. Wisconsin (83-104), L vs. #10 Florida (78-90)
Next week: vs. FDU (Dec. 2 – 7 p.m.), vs. Rhode Island (Dec. 6 – Noon)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: N/A
Last week was not kind to the Friars, as they followed up a week of two wins against New Hampshire and Penn State with two straight losses to Wisconsin and Florida. They fall to the bottom of the Big East basketball power rankings.
Against the Badgers, Providence never had a lead the entire game. This affair was close for most of the first half, at times being within five points, being down 31-26 with 4:59 left in the half. The Badgers would go on an 8-0 run over the next two minutes, and they would lead 51-32 at the end of the half. Providence couldn’t stop them in the second, allowing 53 points, but also scoring 51 of their own. It was a complete offensive performance from Wisconsin.
For Providence, they were led by Jason Edwards with 20 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 8-15 (53.3%) overall and 3-7 (42.9%) from the three.
In their next game against Florida, it was a strange game that saw each team score the exact same amount of points in each half. Providence would score 39 points in both halves, and the Gators scored 45 points in both halves.
Ryan Mela led Providence in this game with 17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 5-11 (45.5%) overall and 7-8 (87.5%) from the line.
In both of these games, the Friars shot over 40% from the field (45% vs Wisconsin, 43% vs Florida) and nearly 40% from beyond the arc (39% vs Wisconsin, 38% vs Florida). The loss against the Badgers is somewhat clear, Providence got outscored in transition, allowing 32 fast break points to their 14. Against Florida, there was no major discrepancy between teams other than the Gators doing a better job passing the ball, recording 18 assists to the Friars’ 10.
This past week was a case of well-performing offenses from the Friars, but their defense was not able to stop the scoring from their opponents, and they dug themselves into a trench that they couldn’t get out of. Next week, they return to the Northeast to face a pair of schools familiar to those in the Northeast in FDU and Rhode Island.