Last year, the bottom of the Big East was an anchor on the conference’s overall metrics, the handicap on higher NCAA tournament seeding and overall respect in the college basketball landscape. Seton Hall was the worst team in the Big East last year, finishing 202nd in KenPom.
Here’s where the last place team finished in KenPom from the other Power 5:
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ACC: Miami (193)
Big 12: Colorado (87) (ouch)
Big 10: Washington (104)
SEC: South Carolina (69)
A big chunk of that discrepancy came from bad out of conference losses. Here are some of the losses these teams had in non-conference last year: Fordham, Seton Hall, Monmouth, Austin Peay, North Dakota State, and Columbia. Simply taking care of business against inferior teams should lift the Big East’s floor.
KenPom has faith. The preseason bottom six in the conference, per KenPom, are Villanova (50), Xavier (62), Butler (72), DePaul (78), Georgetown (82), and Seton Hall (93). That is roughly in line with the cellar of the other power conferences.
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Five of those teams, with the exception of Georgetown, who despite a horrendous KenPom preseason ranking were voted to finish sixth in the preseason poll, are all featured in this preview below. To fulfill (or exceed) these expectations though, a lot has to go right for these teams. But if you crack open the tape and look at the rosters, you can also conceivably make a case for these five teams to outperform this year.
Villanova
Fast Facts
Head coach: Kevin Willard (First season)
2024-25 record: 21-15 (11-9 Big East)
Final 2024-25 KenPom ranking: No. 56
2025-26 KenPom ranking: No. 50
Big East Coaches’ Poll Rank: Seventh
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Farewell Kyle Neptune, sweet prince. You really deserved another year to figure it out. In comes Hurley frenemy Kevin Willard, fresh off a 65-39 record at Maryland. Willard let the Terps to a Sweet 16 run last year (to go with a final KenPom rank of No. 10), but has a 0-3 record at out-recruiting UConn.
It will take some time for Villanova to cleanse its Neptune palate, but between Nova boosters eager to stock the NIL cupboard and an upgrade at head coach, a rebuild can hit the fast lane in the blink of an eye.
Tyler Perkins will need to make a leap. He was the perfect role player last year but the jury’s out if he can become The Guy. Top 40 freshman point guard (and UConn target) Acaden Lewis is exciting to watch and will have his ‘whoa’ moments, but will need to play beyond his years right away. Floor spacer Matthew Hodge, who sat out last year as academically ineligible, could turn some heads. Devin Askew is still a college basketball player in the year 2025, and one that at Long Beach State last year seems like he finally tapped into his extensive offensive skillset.
Willard’s teams usually guard well, with an average KenPom defense ranked 18th nationally in his three years at College Park. They’ll need 6-foot-10 Grand Canyon transfer Duke Brennan — a decent enough defender and rebounder in the WAC — to become Derik Queen overnight to really make some noise.
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But overall, this Nova roster makes sense on paper. A dynamic guard in Lewis, a scorer in Askew, a connector in Perkins, a floor spacer in Hodge, and a rim runner in Brennan. James Madison transfer Bryce Lindsay offers backcourt depth. It’s a good start for Willard, but nothing particularly flashy.
Xavier
Fast Facts
Head coach: Richard Pitino (First season)
2024-25 record: 22-12 (13-7 Big East)
Final 2024-25 KenPom ranking: No. 43
2025-26 KenPom ranking: No. 62
Big East Coaches’ Poll Rank: Eighth
Oh, Xavier. The recipients of the Fell For It Again Award. You should have known that’s what Sean Miller does. Now, it’s time to rebuild (again) in Norwood.
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Richard Pitino is here to save everything though, and definitely won’t leave after two-straight NCAA tournament appearances. New Mexico is a mid-major power right now because of Pitino, so now he gets another crack at a Power Five school, one with substantially more pedigree than Minnesota.
Little Rick inherits a bare cupboard. The top seven rotation players are all gone, leaving only Roddie Anderson III — a redshirt senior from UC San Diego— as the last man standing of the exodus. All Wright, Gabriel Pozzato, and Isaiah Walker all come from the Missouri Valley Conference. The former can fill up the scoring column but has questions elsewhere. Pozzato has size at 6-foot-7 and the skillset to be a mismatch, but is rehabbing from a meniscus tear this summer. Walker, by way of Belmont, could project as a serviceable three-and-D guy. Malik Messine-Moore (Montana) could lead the conference in 3-point percentage.
Tre Carroll brings Final Four experience from Florida Atlantic and could make a leap with an increased workload. UNLV transfer Pape N’Diaye has rim runner written all over him, and will battle with Virginia transfer Antohony Robinson at the five.
This is a fun roster … for a mid major. That’s not Pitino’s or Xavier’s fault, it’s what happens when you hitch your wagon to a mercenary like Miller. It will be fascinating to watch Pitino get his hands on the program and implement the family heritage; ball pressure and fast pace. And if the program can find one or two pieces to get excited about for the future, then this season will be a success.
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DePaul
Fast Facts
Head coach: Chris Holtmann (Second season)
2024-25 record: 14-20 (4-16 Big East)
Final 2024-25 KenPom ranking: No. 122
2025-26 KenPom ranking: No. 72
Big East Coaches’ Poll Rank: No. 9
Slowly but surely, Chris Holtmann is getting rid of the DePaul stigma. The Blue Demons improved their KenPom rank from 2024-2025 by the highest margin of any team in the country, from 304 to 112. Fans responded too, with the second-highest attendance jump in the conference. Catch the Blue Demon fever before it spreads, folks!
Unlike most of these other bottom feeders, DePaul has an exciting returning core to work with. Layden Blocker put up 18 points against UConn in the game that the Huskies erased a 14-point deficit in the second half. Improvement across the board could make him one of the more well-rounded guards in the Big East.
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CJ Gunn struggles with efficiency, but is a mismatch waiting to happen at 6-foot-7. With a better supporting cast around him, maybe he’s less trigger happy. NJ Benson is a plus rebounder and a force inside. Factor in Kaleb Banks, a second-team All-AAC selection from Tulane, with RJ Smith, who scored eight points in 16 minutes against UConn for Colorado, and it’s a capable starting five. That unit can play the way Holtmann wants; spread the floor and let ball screens dictate who’s open.
Brandon Maclin, Jeremy Lorenz, and Ilija Milajasevic could see increased roles if foul trouble arises. But despite the buzz in Chicago, depth and top-level talent could hold the Blue Demons back from really making noise. If DePaul finishes the season in the KenPom top 100, it will be a success.
Butler
Fast Facts
Head coach: Thad Matta (Fourth season)
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2024-25 record: 15-20 (6-14 Big East)
Final 2024-25 KenPom ranking: No. 75
2025-26 KenPom ranking: No. 72
Big East Coaches’ Poll Rank: 10th
Thad Matta is trying his best. His Butler teams are always well-coached, tough outs, but ultimately fall victim to a talent di$crepancy. But the numbers don’t lie; four losing records in the last five seasons, and never more than nine wins since 2019-20. To break that cycle this year, Matta is leaning on experience — his entire starting lineup projects to be juniors or grad transfers — to meld with a youthful rotation.
Michael Ajayi is spending his grad school year in Indianapolis, like most sensible fellows do. The 6-foot-7 bulldog started 13 games for Gonzaga last year, and the year prior was a First-Team All-WCC selection at Pepperdine. He was Zags’ best defender statistically, and fourth-best in the WCC. His physicality and defense will be the rock for Matta.
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Finley Bizjack is back to jack up all of the threes. Who cares though, because he makes them; the human heat check was second in the conference in 3-point percentage and will have the greenest of green lights this year with Jahmyl Telfort and Pierre Brooks having graduated.
Jalen Jackson of Purdue Fort Wayne won’t have to travel far to bring his pick-and-roll expertise and paint-attacking aggressiveness. He’ll be Matt’s floor general this year, with Top 100 freshman Stink Robinson a capable backup. Rounding out the backcourt, Yame Butler does a little bit of everything and has the positional size at 6-foot-5 to fit into Matta’s schemes while Jaime Kaiser Jr, if healthy, is a nice depth piece off the bench.
Drayton Jones is the X-factor. The 6-foot-11 junior out of South Carolina State was first-team All-MEAC last year and the third-best defender in the conference. He can protect the rim at an elite level and draw fouls with the best of them. The Bulldogs were turnstiles defensively last year, and just a slight uptick in improvement probably earns them three more wins. If Ajayi and Jones can do their best Castle-Clingan impression, there’s enough talent around the rest of the roster to turn some heads.
If there’s one team on this bottom-dweller list that will make us look stupid, it’s Butler.
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Seton Hall
Fast Facts
Head coach: Shaheen Holloway (Fourth season)
2024-25 record: 7-25 (2-18 Big East)
Final 2024-25 KenPom ranking: No. 204
2025-26 KenPom ranking: No. 93
Big East Coaches’ Poll Rank: 11th
The Big East is better when Seton Hall AND St. John’s are good. We’re halfway home! Seven measly wins and a program-record 25 losses is not what Shaheen Holloway deserves, but it’s what he gets at cash-strapped Seton Hall.
With eight new transfers, the hope is that Holloway’s calling cards of toughness and grit are implemented right away, and this team gels to outkick its coverage. Budd Clark was a stud at Merrimack, but it’s a whole new world now for the 5-foot-10 First-Team All-MAAC selection. He was one of the conference’s best passers and defenders and should be at the very least a fun watch. Don’t knock the step up in competition, either; he put up 32 points against Stanford last year. He won’t have to do it all either; Trey Parker by way of NC State is a serviceable backup while Elijah Fisher put up stats at Pacific and offers a nice complement to Clark.
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TJ Simpkins of Elon can’t really shoot but can get after it defensively and averaged nearly 15 points per game last year, while also leading the team in free throws made. Redshirt senior A.J. Staton-McCray comes in from Miami to round out the backcourt with experience and versatility.
Stephon Payne III was one of the Atlantic Sun’s best players last year at Jacksonville and at 6-foot-9 will anchor the Pirates down low. Don’t sleep on freshman Jersey native Najai Hines either, an Angel Delgado clone and the 71st-ranked player in the 2025 class.
This is the sad formula for rebuilding teams in the Big East; stock the roster with mid-to-low majors, see who swims, and hope they stick around. Holloway’s roster — talented and intriguing as it looks on paper — is just begging for a shooter or two. Whether it comes from Clark, Fisher, or Rice transfer Jacob Dar, it doesn’t matter; that will determine Seton Hall’s ceiling.
