2025-26 Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Week 18

James Stowell gives his week 18 picks for each team in the Big East basketball power rankings.

Week 17 team of the week: UConn Huskies

Week 17 game of the week: UConn over St. John’s (72-40)

Week 17 player of the week: Brandon Maclin, DePaul

Week 18 matchup of the week: Seton Hall vs. #18 St. John’s (Mar. 6 – 9 p.m.)

Week 18 under-the-radar matchup of the week: DePaul vs. Villanova (Mar. 4 – 8 p.m.)

All games are listed as EST.

1. UConn Huskies

Last week’s ranking: 2 (+1)

Record: 27-3 (17-2)

Last week: W vs. #15 St. John’s (72-40), W vs. Seton Hall (71-67)

Next week: at Marquette (Mar. 7 – 12:30 p.m.)

Quality wins: at Kansas, Illinois (Neutral), Florida (Neutral), BYU (Neutral), Villanova (2x), at Seton Hall, Texas, St. John’s

Bad losses: N/A

Well, that didn’t last long. Just when UConn finally fell from the top of the Big East basketball power rankings, they came back with a vengeance against St. John’s in a blowout victory. Tarris Reed Jr. had a performance for the ages with 20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 6 blocks.

The Huskies followed that up with a close win to end senior night against Seton Hall. Alex Karaban closed out his final game at the Gampel Pavilion with 23 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 8-11 (72.7%) overall, 5-6 (83.3%) from beyond the arc, and 2-2 (100%) at the free-throw line.

The Huskies only have one more game left this season before the conference tournament begins.

2. St. John’s Red Storm

Last week’s ranking: 1 (-1)

Record: 23-6 (16-2)

Last week: L at #6 UConn (72-40), W vs. Villanova (89-57)

Next week: vs. Georgetown (Mar. 3 – 7 p.m.), at Seton Hall (Mar. 6 – 9 p.m.)

Quality wins: UConn, Villanova (2x), Seton Hall

Bad losses: Providence

The Red Storm only lasted one week on top of the Big East basketball power rankings. Their road matchup against UConn was an ugly defeat where they couldn’t find a scoring rhythm from anywhere outside the charity stripe. Overall, St. John’s shot 11-56 (20%), and their perimeter game wasn’t much better, going 5-20 (25%) from downtown.

Defensively, they were annihilated in the paint, getting outscored 42-12 inside.

The Red Storm managed to rebound from that loss with another great win against Villanova, solidifying their position in the top two of the Big East. In this blowout win, they performed better in terms of their shooting. Overall, they shot 32-61 (52%) from the floor and 8-15 (53%) from beyond the arc.

St. John’s has a pair of games coming up against Georgetown and Seton Hall to close out the season.

3. Villanova Wildcats

Last week’s ranking: 3 (-)

Record: 22-7 (13-5)

Last week: W vs. Butler (82-73), L at #15 St. John’s (89-57)

Next week: at DePaul (Mar. 4 – 8 p.m.), vs. Xavier (Mar. 7 – Noon)

Quality wins: Wisconsin, Seton Hall (2x)

Bad losses: N/A

Despite the blowout loss to St. John’s on the road, Villanova remains in the top three for this week’s rankings.

Acaden Lewis led the Wildcats in their close victory against Butler with 20 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists. He shot 8-14 (57.1%) from the field, 2-8 (25%) from downtown, and 2-3 (66.7%) at the line.

Their game against St. John’s already looked to be over at halftime as they trailed 48-23, and then they lost Matt Hodge to an injury as he was holding his right knee. The potential loss of Hodge this close to the Big East tournament could prove costly.

4. Seton Hall Pirates

Last week’s ranking: 5 (+1)

Record: 19-10 (9-9)

Last week: L at #6 UConn (71-67)

Next week: at Xavier (Mar. 3 – 7 p.m.), vs. #15 St. John’s (Mar. 6 – 9 p.m.)

Quality wins: NC State (Neutral)

Bad losses: DePaul (2x)

After the top three, this week’s rankings are going to be chaotic, to say the least.

Seton Hall clawed their way to a close matchup against the best in the Big East, but couldn’t secure a win on the road against UConn.

The Pirates were led by A.J. Staton-McCray with 20 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 6-13 (46.2%) from the field, 4-8 (50%) from downtown, and 4-4 (100%) at the stripe.

Despite a great perimeter shooting performance (9-18, 50%) and outscoring the Huskies in the paint 30-24, Seton Hall wasn’t able to steal a win against UConn in the end.

5. DePaul Blue Demons

Last week’s ranking: 7 (+2)

Record: 16-13 (8-10)

Last week: W at Creighton (72-71), W at Marquette (62-51)

Next week: vs. Villanova (Mar. 4 – 8 p.m.), vs. Butler (Mar. 7 – Noon)

Quality wins: Seton Hall (2x)

Bad losses: Buffalo, Northwestern, Providence (2x)

For the first time this season, the DePaul Blue Demons rise to the top five of the Big East basketball power rankings. Not a lot of people saw DePaul getting into the top five of even the conference standings this season.

The Blue Demons swept the Bluejays for the first time and swept their hated rivals in Marquette for the first time since the 1990-91 season, when both teams were in the Great Midwest Conference.

Brandon Maclin helped lead DePaul to both wins, scoring 21 points against Creighton before following that up with 18 against the Golden Eagles.

DePaul, to the surprise of many, has a chance to get a first-round bye for the Big East Tournament if they play their cards right.

6. Creighton Bluejays

Last week’s ranking: 4 (-2)

Record: 14-16 (8-11)

Last week: L vs. DePaul (72-71), L vs. Providence (79-76)

Next week: at Butler (Mar. 4 – 6 p.m.)

Quality wins: at UConn, at Villanova, Seton Hall

Bad losses: Providence (2x), at Marquette, at Georgetown, DePaul (2x)

A rough week for Creighton, as they saw themselves get swept by DePaul and Providence in their respective season matchups.

These losses have one thing in common: getting outscored in the paint. Against DePaul, the Bluejays were outscored 32-28 in the paint. Their next game against Providence was a bigger gap as the Friars dominated the paint, outscoring Creighton 40-26.

Creighton has one last game left in the season, and at this point seems to be knocked out of any hope for a first-round berth in the conference tournament.

7. Providence Friars

Last week’s ranking: 10 (+3)

Record: 14-15 (7-11)

Last week: W vs. Xavier (94-84), W at Creighton (79-76)

Next week: vs. Marquette (Mar. 4 – 7 p.m.), at Georgetown (Mar. 7 – 6 p.m.)

Quality wins: at St. John’s

Bad losses: at Xavier, at Marquette, Georgetown

Providence had one of the best weeks of anyone in the conference this time around, a pair of wins against Xavier and Creighton.

Jaylin Sellers had an amazing week, scoring 27 points each in the two games for the Friars. A true contender for player of the week. He also shot over 60% from beyond the arc in both games (66.7% against Xavier and 62.5% versus Creighton).

8. Xavier Musketeers

Last week’s ranking: 8 (-)

Record: 14-15 (6-12)

Last week: L at Providence (94-84), W vs. Georgetown (91-84)

Next week: vs. Seton Hall (Mar. 3 – 7 p.m.), at Villanova (Mar. 7 – Noon)

Quality wins: West Virginia (Neutral)

Bad losses: at DePaul, at Marquette, at Providence

A constant for this season from the Xavier Musketeers has always been a rollercoaster of a week since conference play began. Xavier has only had one winning streak in conference play. Since then, every time they got a win, a loss or two followed.

After suffering a three-game losing streak, it was snapped with a win over Georgetown at home. Tre Carroll had another great game. He recorded 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals. He accomplished this while shooting 5-11 (45.5%) overall, 2-4 (50%) from beyond the arc, and 10-10 (100%) from the charity stripe.

The Musketeers have a pair of games against Seton Hall and Villanova coming up to end the season, with a chance to get an above .500 record and a higher seed in the conference tournament.

9. Butler Bulldogs

Last week’s ranking: 6 (-3)

Record: 15-14 (6-12)

Last week: L at Villanova (82-73)

Next week: vs. Creighton (Mar. 4 – 6 p.m.), at DePaul (Mar. 7 – Noon)

Quality wins: Virginia (Neutral), at Seton Hall

Bad losses: Boise State, at Providence, at Marquette

A short, painful week for Butler saw a nine-point loss to Villanova.

Michael Ajayi was one of the few constants for the Bulldogs in this matchup with Villanova. He led Butler in three categories with 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists. He shot 5-10 (50%) from the field, 1-2 (50%) from beyond the arc, and 6-8 (75%) at the line.

A big knock for Butler in the loss was poor three-point shooting, as the Bulldogs shot a measly 3-13 (23%) from downtown. Butler couldn’t get a consistent bucket from long range and couldn’t get a good run going to steal a late-season win over one of the best teams in the conference.

10. Marquette Golden Eagles

Last week’s ranking: 11 (+1)

Record: 10-19 (5-13)

Last week: W at Georgetown (76-60) L vs. DePaul (62-51)

Next week: at Providence (Mar. 4 – 7 p.m.), vs. #4 UConn (Mar. 7 – 12:30 p.m.)

Quality wins: None

Bad losses: Maryland, DePaul (2x), Georgetown

Marquette followed a win over Georgetown by getting swept by the Blue Demons for the first time since the 1990-91 season.

Their loss to DePaul adds to a rollercoaster of a season. From playing in March Madness to only winning five conference matchups a year later.

Against DePaul, they only scored a pair of touchdowns in the first half. They followed that up by going on multiple scoring runs, but an old problem reared its ugly head: terrible free-throw shooting.

Marquette shot 11-22 (50%) at the line. In critical moments, guys like Nigel James Jr. and Royce Parham missed their chances at the line. That allowed DePaul to maintain its lead and eventually go on a run of its own to close out the win.

11. Georgetown Hoyas

Last week’s ranking: 9 (-2)

Record: 13-16 (5-13)

Last week: L vs. Marquette (76-60), L at Xavier (91-84)

Next week: at #18 St. John’s (Mar. 3 – 7 p.m.), vs. Providence (Mar. 7 – 6 p.m.)

Quality wins: Clemson

Bad losses: at DePaul, Xavier (2x), Marquette

Georgetown has gone through it as the season comes to a close, with their losing streak now extending to six games and their last win being nearly a month ago when they beat Creighton 76-68. Like Butler, poor, often inconsistent perimeter shooting seems to be a big cause for their recent struggles.

Against Xavier, the Hoyas had a great time downtown, converting 12-27 (44%) in their attempts. That performance overshadowed a bad shooting performance the previous game against Marquette, where the Hoyas shot 4-25 (16%) from downtown.

The Hoyas have a tough schedule to close out the season, with games against a ranked St. John’s and a Friars squad that is red hot going into the last stretch of the regular season.