Defending NCAA Champions, Villanova — Image: Charles Fox /
Villanova will once again have a bullseye on their back when the Big East tips off their season.
The NCAA champions were picked by the league coaches to win the Big East Conference on Thursday. The conference held their Media Day at Madison Square Garden, players and coaches answered questions from media outlets that cover the league.
It’s familiar territory for the Wildcats, this is the fifth straight year they’re in the top spot. To win the Big East, Villanova is still the team to beat, but the competition once again projects to be strong.
There’s lofty expectations for Marquette. They finished 9-9 in the conference last season, but Markus Howard and Sam Hauser proved they can light up a scoreboard.
The coaches gave Providence plenty of props by picking them third. Keep an eye on the duel of junior Alpha Diallo and freshman David Duke.
It was a good day for St. John’s at media day. The Johnnies were picked to finish in the top five of the conference. Brooklyn’s Shamorie Ponds was voted Big East Preseason Player of the Year. This could be the year head coach Chris Mullin gets the program back into March Madness.
With the top half of the conference projected to have a different field chasing Villanova, the bottom half reflects teams going through transition.
Xavier has a new head coach with Chris Mack moving on to Louisville. The Musketeers, however, maintained familiarity by promoting Travis Steele to replace Mack. The 36-year old has been at Xavier the past 10 seasons, nine of them as a member of Mack’s staff. Xavier was last year’s regular season conference champions.
Here is the Big East preseason poll as voted on by the coaches:
- Villanova (8) 79 points
- Marquette (1) 70 points
- Providence 58 points
- St. John’s 57 points
- Butler (1) 45 points
- Xavier 41 points
- Georgetown 33 points
- Seton Hall 26 points
- Creighton 25 points
- DePaul 16 points
Big East Preseason Player of the Year
Shamorie Ponds, St. John’s
Big East Preseason co-Freshmen of the Year
David Duke, Providence
Jahvon Quinerly, Villanova
Preseason All-Big East First Team
Kamar Baldwin, Butler
Jessie Govan, Georgetown
Markus Howard, Marquette
Alpha Diallo, Providence
Eric Paschall, Villanova
Preseason All-Big East Second Team
Max Strus, DePaul
Sam Hauser, Marquette
Justin Simon, St. John’s
Myles Powell, Seton Hall
Phil Booth, Villanova
