The Big East is slumping

How do you measure success as a conference? Is it bids to the NCAA tournament? If so, the Big East has long been the standard for sending nearly half of the conference. In the 2022 and 2024 seasons it did that. If you prefer to measure by the metrics, the Big East was the second best conference in the nation as recently as 2023. Either way you cut it, the conference has been elite and been elite recently.

This year, it is not. By the metrics the Big East is the fifth best conference in the nation. Given that there are 31 conferences that sounds good, but in basketball there are five that really matter and then a drop off. Of those five, the Big East is fifth. The SEC, Big 10, Big 12, and ACC have all slid ahead of the BE this season. The Mountain West is a distant sixth, so there is no danger of sliding farther, but being the worst of the best isn’t exactly a glittering line on a resume.

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Perhaps more concerningly, the Big East is not currently looking at a plethora of at-large bids to the tournament. If the big dance were to start today UConn, St. John’s, and Villanova would be in. That’s it. Seton Hall is on the wrong side of the bubble and probably the third or fourth team out right now. Creighton looked good earlier this season when they were 9-5, but has since gone 3-6 and lost to Marquette by 24 (somehow). They followed that up by losing to Georgetown. Butler and Providence are probably trying to convince themselves that they are still in the hunt, but they both need a minor miracle.

So what happened to the conference? The knee jerk reaction is to blame NIL but, let’s be honest, these aren’t poor programs we are talking about. It isn’t so much the roster turnover as it is the teams haven’t had a very high hit rate. Still, Michael Ayaji, Tarris Reed, and Silas Demary are all transfers who are playing well. Xavier’s biggest acquisition hasn’t played yet (though Tre Carroll has been excellent) and Providence had an excellent return on…

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Publish date : 2026-02-05 17:12:00

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