The Way I See It: Big East Power Rankings (Feb. 1)

1. Villanova (19-1)

The Wildcats are a perfect 8-0 in conference play this season. This team has barely received a scare this season. Only two games were relatively close, Marquette and Georgetown.

2. Syracuse (21-1)

The Orange routed Georgetown, and then narrowly escaped DePaul this week. They look to be a solid No. 1 seed if they continue to play like this. Once again, The Big East is jockeying for two No. 1 seeds out of its conference.

3. Georgetown (16-4)

The Hoyas earned some respect for the conference with their 89-77 win over Duke this weekend. With Pittsburgh struggling, the conference is starting to clearly separate the pretenders from the contenders.

4. West Virginia (17-3)

The Mountaineers get a shot at their arch-rival, Pittsburgh, this week. The winner will be the clear-cut third best team in the conference and gain another quality win on its resume. West Virginia has been extremely tough at home so don’t be surprised if they come out with the win.

5. Pittsburgh (16-5)

The Panthers need to climb out of the fog they’ve gotten into these last two weeks. They now have losses to Seton Hall and USF over the last week, and their ranking is falling as fast as their NCAA Tournament seed.

6.  Cincinnati (14-7)

The Bearcats are still a hard team to figure out. They don’t win pretty, and when they lose it's usually to teams they should have beaten handily. The loss to Louisville this week was understandable, but the losses to St. John's and Seton Hall have me concerned.

7. Notre Dame (15-7)

Rutgers' losing streak had to come to and end at some point, but come on Notre Dame, really? This loss is inexcusable for the Irish. The schedule doesn’t get any easier with Cincinnati and USF coming to town this week.

8. Louisville (13-8)

The Cardinals almost stole one from West Virginia last weekend. This week they host a struggling Connecticut team, and look to bring Rutgers back to Earth next weekend. This team, much like Connecticut is on the bubble right now and needs to get another quality win or two before the regular season ends.

9. South Florida (14-7)

The Bulls could lose every game left on their schedule, and the season would be a success, compared to the last few seasons. Fortunately for the Bulls there are still several very winnable games left and they should finish well above .500 this year.

10. Marquette (13-8)

The Golden Eagles finally won a close game this season. The 70-68 win at Connecticut was pretty impressive when you consider how these games usually end up for Marquette. This team is better than its record, and hopefully can build some momentum off this win.

11. Connecticut (13-8)

What’s wrong with the Huskies? Providence throttled them, and Marquette beat them at home. This team has earned its spot as a bubble team, and without a serious regrouping, might not even be that soon.

12. Seton Hall (12-7)

The Pirates came up on the losing end over an overtime game with the Bulls last week. Jeremy Hazell has carried this team this season, but the Pirates are going to be NIT bound.

13. St. John's (12-8)

The Red Storm’s last three games were all losses. The bright side is that when any other team in the country goes up against Connecticut, Villanova, and Pittsburgh they’ll probably have the same results. 

14. Providence (12-9)

The Friars caught the Huskies at just the right time this season. They haven’t looked that impressive all season, but not many teams can beat Connecticut 81-66 in a given night. Savor the win Providence; the schedule is brutal from now on.

15. Rutgers (10-11)

The Scarlet Knights finally broke their nine game losing streak against a sleep walking Notre Dame team. Will they carry this momentum into the St. Johns game this week?

16. DePaul (8-13)

The Blue Demons almost upset the Orange last weekend. These games are moral victories even if they aren’t actually victories for this 8-13 team. The best thing about the remaining season is that Rutgers comes up twice before it’s all said and done.