2025 Big East Basketball Postseason Picture

 

The Big East has the past two national titles and has seven of the past 13 NCAA Titles since 2010-11 with four titles from Connecticut, two from Villanova, and a vacated title from former member Louisville. Despite that success the Big East only had three NCAA Tournament teams last season, though all were seeded on the top three lines. 

 

The picture for the Big East ahead of the 2025 NCAA Tournament doesn’t look a lot better as it again appears likely that the Big East bubble teams will be left out, as Seton Hall and St. John’s were last season despite strong credentials. There is work to do for the conference to live up to its recent postseason success. 

 

Here is a look at the postseason contenders from the Big East as we approach the midpoint of the conference season:

 

Defending Champion – Connecticut (6-3): The Huskies won the title as a #4 seed in 2022-23, going just 13-7 in Big East play and then last season won the title as the clear favorite as a #1 seed with a 31-3 record as Dan Hurley’s team should still be considered the team to beat. Connecticut did earn three impact non-conference wins in early December beating Baylor, Texas, and Gonzaga, after losing three non-conference games in Hawaii in November, with none of those results looking favorable at this point. With potentially bad losses on the resume, the margin for error is lower than expected for Connecticut, and right now the Huskies project to be in an 8/9 game in NCAA Tournament seeding, meaning they aren’t that far from the bubble. Connecticut has had one of the easiest rated Big East schedules so far and has still lost three games as they will still play Marquette and St. John’s twice each, plus a road game at Creighton after losing hosting the Bluejays. Three of those high-profile games for the Huskies are in the next two weeks as this is a key stretch for the defending champions. 

 

Big East Leader – Marquette (8-1): The Golden Eagles have improved by one round in the NCAA Tournament each of the past two seasons now in year four under Shaka Smart, but they have topped out at the Sweet 16 last season, despite being a #2 seed in back-to-back seasons. Right now, Marquette would have a case to be a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament again with an 8-1 conference start and some quality non-conference wins, going 3-0 vs. Big Ten teams beating Maryland, Purdue, and Wisconsin. The problem is that the Big East path so far has been favorable and five games vs. the other three current top four teams remain with three of those five on the road. Marquette went 17-3 in conference play two seasons ago, but last season’s 14-6 finish looks more realistic for this year’s team.

 

Rifle Rick – St. John’s (8-1): Controversy has often followed Rick Pitino, but his track record can’t be argued with. After St. John’s narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament last season, this year’s team appears set on making sure they will be included with an 8-1 league start and a 17-3 overall record. The Big East path for St. John’s so far ranks 11th out 11 teams however as they haven’t faced Marquette or Connecticut. The only loss in conference play came narrowly at Creighton and St. John’s completed a sweep of Xavier last week. There isn’t much weight in the non-conference resume for the Red Storm, who lost in the two toughest games in very close calls in the Bahamas against Baylor and Georgia. Non-conference wins over New Mexico, Virginia, and Kansas State ultimately aren’t pulling as much weight as expected as St. John’s needs to perform well in the Big East race to stay in a good postseason position. Despite being tied on top of the Big East standings with Marquette, currently St. John’s is projected as a #7 or #8 seed in the NCAA Tournament without much of a margin for error. 

 

Erratic Birds – Creighton (7-2): The Bluejays have looked like a quality NCAA Tournament team in a 7-2 Big East start that includes wins over St. John’s and at Connecticut, but the loss count is elevated with four non-conference defeats. The home loss to rival Nebraska won’t do Creighton any favors in March but the Bluejays do have a home win over Kansas to pull up the numbers. It is a big week for Creighton with winnable but difficult games hosting Xavier and playing at Villanova as the Bluejays look to stay in the top four of the Big East. The remaining meetings with Marquette and Connecticut are both at home while also having to play at St. John’s, and the challenge is those three big games will be in succession in the span of eight days in mid-February. An issue for Creighton also may not necessarily be the loss count or the quality of those opponents, but that Creighton was blown out in a few games with three losses by double-digits and five losses by eight or more points. 

 

Bubble Shot – Xavier (5-5): Villanova has a little life remaining as bubble long shot, but with two non-conference losses outside the nation’s top 100, Xavier’s chances look much stronger between the 5-5 teams in the Big East. Xavier has faced the most difficult Big East schedule so far to get to 5-5 and they did manage two wins in the six games vs. Marquette, Connecticut, and St. John’s, for a commendable showing. Losses to Connecticut and St. John’s came in overtime while Xavier also had a 2-point loss to Marquette as the Musketeers have looked the part on the court. The 8-3 non-conference season lacks standout wins but wins over Wake Forest and South Carolina are at least worth mentioning and all three losses came away from home vs. top 100 teams, though the TCU and Cincinnati defeats could become more damaging by season’s end. Xavier must play at Creighton this week as falling below .500 is likely, but from there the opportunity to close the season on a strong run will be there. 13-7 in the Big East wasn’t enough for Seton Hall last season as the Musketeers will need to be sharp the rest of the way but this is a team with potential, and a team that the top three Big East contenders are likely glad to be done with for the regular season.