Big East Basketball Power Rankings—Version 01.14.09

There were some great games from last week—hopefully you caught a few of them.

Big East Power Rankings

The format is: ranking, name, last week's ranking

1. Pittsburgh Panthers (1)

3-0, 15-0
No. 1 AP, No. 1 Coaches

Undefeated and on a roll. They had a pretty easy week, but we will see how they do this week against South Florida, Louisville, and Syracuse.

2. Connecticut Huskies (2)

3-1, 14-1
No. 4 AP, No. 4 Coaches

Connecticut is a close second. If Pitt plays poorly in any of their games this week, or if UConn outperforms, they will surely take the top spot. This week they take on St. John's and Seton Hall.

3. Syracuse Orange (3)

4-0, 16-1
No. 8 AP, No. 8 Coaches

Whether or not you think they deserve to be this high, you have to respect how well they have played this season. They haven't played any of the tougher Big East teams yet, but that all changes today when they face Georgetown, and then face Notre Dame and Pitt to end the week. They will be put to the test this week and answer any questions about how good they really are.

4. Marquette Golden Eagles (5)

4-0, 15-2
No. 14 AP, No. 14 Coaches

Marquette played two games this past week, and in the second one they completely blew out West Virginia. The Golden Eagles are still perfect in conference play, and their only opponent this week is Providence.

5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4)

3-2, 12-4
No. 12 AP, No. 13 Coaches

Notre Dame's second blemish of the season happened when they lost in overtime to Louisville. It was a close game until overtime, when they were outscored 16-2. This week they face Syracuse.

6. Georgetown Hoyas (6)

2-2, 11-3
No. 13 AP, No. 12 Coaches

Georgetown stayed flat this week, mostly because of their first half performance against Providence. They played great in the second half, but in the beginning of the game it was all DaJuan Summers—no one else showed up...

7. Louisville Cardinals (9)

3-0, 12-3
No. 20 AP, No. 20 Coaches

Louisville went on a rampage this week, defeating three Big East teams. The only reason that they are not higher up is because one of their wins was over South Florida, and the other two were very close (Villanova couldn't hit free throws down the stretch or make any of their taps as time expired, and they took Notre Dame to overtime).

8. Villanova Wildcats (7)

1-2, 13-3
No. 23 AP, No. 22 Coaches

Villanova's only game this past week was against Louisville, where they had the opportunity to win it down the stretch. This week they have a chance to make a few statements when they host St. John's and travel to Connecticut.

9. Providence Friars (10)

3-1, 11-5
NR AP, NR Coaches

Providence went 1-1 this week, but they get props for how well they played in the first half against the Hoyas. This week they take on Marquette, Cincinnati, and Seton Hall.

10. West Virginia Mountaineers (8)

1-2, 11-4
NR AP, NR Coaches

West Virginia had one game last week to prove to everyone that they deserved to be in the Top 25—they got blown out by 22 points against Marquette. This week they take on Marshall in a non-conference game before facing South Florida and Georgetown.

11. Cincinnati Bearcats (11)

0-3, 10-6
NR AP, NR Coaches

Cincinnati is still winless in Big East conference play, but they get a quasi-thumbs up for how they played against Connecticut. They're busy this week, so we will know if they are a legitimate March bubble team come next week. They take on Rutgers, DePaul, Providence, and St. John's.

12. St. John's Red Storm (12)

1-2, 10-5
NR AP, NR Coaches

St. John's has a win over Notre Dame on their resume, so they do not head as far down as they would otherwise. In their other two conference games, though, they've been blown out. This week they face Connecticut, Villanova, and Cincinnati.

13. Seton Hall Pirates (14)

0-4, 9-7
NR AP, NR Coaches

Remember the team that caused such a commotion in the beginning of the season when they took down USC? Yeah, me neither. The Pirates lost in overtime to Villanova, which is why their four losses aren't dragging them down as far as they could be. They haven't had a good showing in the Big East aside from that, though, and this week it probably won't change as they face Connecticut and Providence.

14. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (13)

0-4, 9-8
NR AP, NR Coaches

Rutgers gets a sympathy vote over the last two teams because of how tough their schedule has been—UNC, Pitt, UConn, Marquette, Syracuse—but they have a chance to show us who they really are this week when they face Cincinnati and Louisville.

15. South Florida Bulls (16)

1-2, 6-9
NR AP, NR Coaches

South Florida moved up this week with their win over DePaul. Unfortunately, this week they face Pitt, West Virginia, and then DePaul gets a chance for revenge. Things are not looking good for the Bulls...

16. DePaul Blue Demons (15)

0-4, 8-9
NR AP, NR Coaches

DePaul became the second Big East team with an overall losing record when they lost to South Florida (the first Big East team that has an overall losing record). This week they face Cincinnati before getting another shot at South Florida on the road.