2019-2020 Big East Conference Basketball Power Rankings 9.0
By Dan Stokes
After a two week hiatus, this is the ninth edition of our 2019-2020 Big East Conference Basketball Power Rankings. A local favorite is at the top, with a Northeast foe on its heels.
Cue the Black Eyed Peas smash hit “Let’s Get It Started.”
March is finally here. We are just two weeks out from the Big East Tournament, and a few weeks after that from the start of the NCAA Division-1 Men’s Basketball Tournament.
There have been two storylines in the Big East all season long. Will it be Marquette’s Markus Howard or Seton Hall’s Myles Powell to take home Big East Player of the Year and how many teams from the conference will make the NCAA Tournament.
To answer the first, I give a slight edge to Howard. On question two, it appears that seven of the conference’s 10 teams could make the Big Dance, although Xavier may still find itself on the bubble.
10. DePaul Blue Demons (2-14 Big East, 14-15 Overall)
After a promising end to the Blue Demons 2018-2019 campaign and a great kickoff to their non-conference play this season, Dave Leitao‘s squad looked poised to snap their 16-season skid of not qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
Due to the unpredictability of the Big East conference and a noticeable regression from highly-touted freshman Romeo Weems. , their once-promising season disintegrated. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Leitao will be looking for a new gig. The 59-year-old may not have long to wait it out.
9. Georgetown Hoyas (5-11, 15-14)
After a sensational road win over Butler on February 15, Patrick Ewing‘s squad is on a four-game skid. Their dreams of making the Big Dance are all but gone. It’s not entirely Ewing’s fault.
Ewing said neither McClung nor freshman center Malcolm Wilson have had surgery (both were wearing boots today on the bench). Wilson broke his leg yesterday at practice but Ewing said he won't need surgery.
— Ava Wallace (@avarwallace) March 1, 2020
No update on Yurtseven.
With injuries to Mac McClung and big man Omer Yurtseven, the Hoyas coach has had to go deep into his bench, something he didn’t do at the beginning of the season. Sadly, I’d say injuries derailed the Hoyas season. It may have just bought Ewing another year or two at the university, to prove he belongs.