Big East Roundup: Crieghton Leapfrogs Marquette

While St. John’s continues to pace the Big East with a dominant 12-1 record in conference play, a new team has vaulted into the No. 2 spot, with Creighton surpassing Marquette after a three game skid from the Golden Eagles.

The Blue Jays’ nine game winning streak ranks second in the conference (St. John’s remains one step ahead on an 11–0 tear), vaulting them into the Monday, Feb. 10 AP Poll in the No. 24 spot. Villanova has the next shot to knock the No. 9 ranked Red Storm down a peg, as they’ll host St. John’s at the Finneran Pavilion on Wednesday, Feb. 12, a game they currently possess a respectable 48.3 percent chance of winning per ESPN Analytics. A win could go a long way toward resurrecting the Wildcats’ tournament hopes — or even protecting head coach Kyle Neptune from the hot seat — especially as Villanova enters a critical stretch of their season.

Including that game against St. John’s, three of the Wildcats’ next four games will take place against teams currently ahead of Villanova in the Big East standings: Tuesday, Feb. 18 at Connecticut and Friday, Feb. 21 at home against Marquette.

The Wildcats currently hold the No. 5 spot in the 11 team conference, 1.5 games behind UConn. While the Huskies have a game in hand, Villanova currently has a leg up thanks to their head to head win. UConn lost a tough road battle against St. John’s over the weekend, but with star freshman Liam McNeeley nearing a return from injury, they could easily catch fire down the stretch.

Chasing Villanova

Georgetown and Xavier both remain hot on the Wildcats’ heels, one game back with match 6-7 records. Villanova played the Musketeers to a 1-1 season series tie, while Georgetown knocked off the Wildcats in a last second heartbreaker back in January. Admittedly, Wooga Poplar spent all but eight minutes of that game in the locker room after an early ejection, and Villanova will have a chance at revenge in their regular season finale in Washington, D.C.

The Hoyas hold a 2-3 record in their last five games, winning uninspiring home games against a bad Butler and a terrible Seton Hall team. Xavier has that same recent record, but road losses to St. John’s and Creighton look far more respectable.

Next in the Big East standings, Providence sits amidst a three game losing streak, perhaps providing Villanova some fodder for an easy road matchup on Saturday, Feb. 15… a much needed respite amidst the Wildcats’ ongoing gauntlet.

Bringing up the rear are Butler (4-9), DePaul (2-11) and Seton Hall (1-12), with each of those teams on a different track. The Bulldogs face stagnation in their third year under head coach Thad Matta; DePaul trends steadily up under Chris Holtmann’s guidance, picking up their first two conference wins since early 2023 in recent weeks, while the Pirates careen off the rails after narrowly missing the tournament last season.

Big East Standings as of Tuesday, Feb. 11