Big East Power Rankings: Risers and Tumblers (2/20)

by Dan Gardella

Last Week’s Rankings (2/13)

Seton Hall (-)
Creighton (-)
Marquette (+1)
Villanova (-1)
Xavier (-)
Providence (-)
Georgetown (+1)
Butler (-1)
St. John’s (-)
DePaul (-)

This Week’s Rankings

Creighton (+1)
Seton Hall (-1)
Villanova (+1)
Marquette (-)
Georgetown (+2)
Providence (-)
Xavier (-2)
Butler (-)
St. John’s (-)
DePaul (-)

Risers

Georgetown

Prior to conference play starting, Georgetown lost James Akinjo and Josh LeBlanc, which seemed to be a punch in the gut to any NCAA Tournament hopes Hoya fans may have had. However, we are in the middle of February and Georgetown is still floating on the bubble of the Big Dance. The Hoyas are winners of two and a row, the latter being a win against Butler inside Hinkle Fieldhouse.

This is nothing more than a testament to the coaching of Patrick Ewing. He has taken what he has available and has found ways to win ballgames. After Omer Yurtseven hurt his ankle in their win against DePaul, Ewing found a way to win at Hinkle Fieldhouse while playing just seven players. It’s hard enough to win at Butler, but to win with scarce bodies available, speaks volumes to the coaching job Ewing has done.

After a loss to Providence on Wednesday, the Hoyas travel to DePaul on Saturday.

Villanova

Villanova has taken a back seat to Seton Hall this year in the conference. As of now, the Wildcats sit in third place in the conference, but just a game and a half behind the Pirates for the top spot. Villanova took down a surging Marquette team at home before a commanding victory over Temple to cap another Big 5 title. It’s no question Villanova’s three-game losing streak was a rare sight to Big East fans. But things seem to be trending in the right direction for Jay Wright’s bunch.

What is so dangerous about Villanova is their ability to focus on getting better every day. With six games remaining on their schedule before the Big East tournament, the Wildcats can put themselves in a position to be hot going into New York. After staying hot from beyond the arc against DePaul, they face off with Xavier later in the week. A 2-0 week will be a continuation of the team beginning to trend in the right direction.

Tumblers

Seton Hall

It seemed that Seton Hall was almost invincible for the first half of conference play. Since their 8-0 start to Big East play, the Pirates are losers of three of their last five games, including defeats against Creighton and Providence this week. What plagued the Pirates in their loss against Creighton was Myles Powell being limited to just 12 points on 3-16 shooting. He was one of four Pirates in double figures, but Seton Hall couldn’t get the defensive stop they needed. In their loss to Providence, the team was blitzed by a 34-9 start by the Friars and couldn’t quite come all the way back.

This is a time for Seton Hall to take a breath and regroup as a team. They are still a game ahead of Creighton in the Big East standings and host St. John’s later this week. I can’t think of a better way to begin the two-game homestand with a thrilling buzzer-beater win against Butler on Wednesday. It’s just what they need to get back to their winning ways that put them in the top ten in the country. We could look back at the end of the week and view this losing skid as a mere bump in the road in what has been an incredible season to date.

DePaul

Oh how far the Demons have fallen. DePaul has not won a game in a month and have lost 11 of their 12 conference games this year. It was just two months ago that there was buzz around this program making their way back to the NCAA Tournament. They are almost destined to play on Wednesday night of the Big East Tournament and are looking for any kind of positive momentum. Two of those rays of positivity are juniors Charlie Moore and Paul Reed. Moore, leads the team in both points (16.1) and assists (6.7) per night while Reed continues to average a double-double on the year, putting in 15 points and 10 and a half rebounds a night. Certainly the leaders of the team that can get the young players around them to play a complete game.

They host Georgetown this week, looking to find some wins.