Big East conference preview: The bottom of the conference

UConn men’s basketball is the preseason favorite to win the Big East this season, with the Huskies earning the top spot in the preseason coaches’ poll. With the regular season just days away, it’s time to take a look at the entirety of the Big East, starting from the bottom and working to the top. Teams are in order of their ranking in the Big East coaches’ poll, with this preview focusing on the bottom of the conference — No. 9 Seton Hall, No. 10 Georgetown and No. 11 Butler. Each team’s respective preseason KenPom rankings are in parentheses.

Seton Hall (64)

Pirates head coach Shaheen Holloway is arguably one of the top coaches in the conference, but Seton Hall’s lack of funding prevents Holloway from doing much more than trying to turn water into wine. That lack of support expedited Na’jai Hines’ transfer from SHU to UConn, but Holloway found an admirable fill in with Devin Williams, who was one of the best shot blockers in the country last season with Florida Atlantic.

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Holloway replenished this roster with nine transfers, including some Power 5 guys like Simeon Wilcher from Texas and Mihailo Petrovic from Illinois. The Pirates’ starting five figures to be all transfers, and it will be up to Holloway to mold it together.

Regardless of what happens, this Pirates team will be relentless on the defensive end. If Holloway can squeeze some more offensive production out of Williams, Wilcher and Radford transfer Del Jones, this team will be better than the preseason ranking pegs them to be. If one team in this tier greatly outperforms expectations, it will be the Pirates.

Projected starting lineup: Jones, Wilcher, Roddie Anderson, Elijah Fisher, Terry Copeland Jr.

UConn at Seton Hall – Saturday, Jan. 9

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Seton Hall at UConn – Wednesday, Feb. 17

Georgetown (75)

This was a real quote from Hoyas head coach Ed Cooley — one of the highest-paid coaches in the conference — last season as Georgetown went on to a 16-18 record:

The Hoyas will likely be blessed…

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Publish date : 2026-10-29 19:25:00

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