2019-2020 Big East Conference Basketball Power Rankings 9.0
By Dan Stokes
6. Butler Bulldogs (8-8, 20-9)
Plenty of pundits and talking figures picked against the Bulldogs in the Big East Conference’s preseason coaches poll. They selected Butler to finish last, among the ten teams. Since then, it’s been a rollercoaster season for coach LaVall Jordan‘s team.
Kamar Baldwin, who’s a top-10 guard in the NCAA, currently ranks eighth in the conference with 15.7 points per game, fifth in free throw percentage, at .849 and 10th in assists, 3.1 per game. The senior guard will lead the Bulldogs into the Madness known as March. The further they go, the more Butler proves the doubters wrong.
Interesting Kamar Baldwin stat: Since going 5-8 from 3PT in #Butler's Big East opener at St. John's on 12/31/2019, Baldwin is shooting 23.8% from 3PT in Big East games and just 17.5% from 3PT at home. He's shooting 46.9% from 2PT in over same span of Big East games though.
— Kyle Murphy (@merfe05) March 2, 2020
5. Xavier Musketeers (8-8, 19-10)
With two games remaining and their postseason on the line, the X-Men will have a really tough shot at finishing the Big East regular-season above .500. With tilts against Providence and Butler in the final week of conference play, coach Travis Steele needs to channel his inner Chris Mack and rally his Musketeers team to the Big Dance.
With the tandem of Naji Marshall, Tyrique Jones and Paul Scruggs (all averaging double figures), Xavier has the talent and experience to be a formidable opponent. It all comes down to them playing 40 minutes of complete basketball. The Musketeers need to find it within themselves to get back to what made them the No. 5 team in the nation, earlier this season.