The purest basketball conference of them all. Eleven teams, the only high-major round-robin schedule left in the sport, immense hate between geographically sensible rivals, Hall-of-Famers in its coaching ranks, the best venue of ’em all for a league tournament — and the two-time reigning national champs.
The Big East. Nothing like it.
This league just feels different … yet also all too familiar and comfortable. Like this is how college basketball is supposed to be.
And yet, for as much as UConn’s dominance has done for the conference, the Big East is trying to make sure last March’s trio of NCAA snubs doesn’t repeat itself in 2025. Three teams (Connecticut, Marquette, Creighton) easily made the NCAAs with top-three seeds. But Seton Hall, St. John’s and Providence missed out despite having résumés right near the cut line. It was shocking to see none of them break through, with some of that due to the unprecedented number of bid thieves that upped the drama of champ week.
Three bids tied for the fewest amount in conference history, joining the first two years the Big East existed (1979 and ’80, when the tournament was 48 teams) and 1993 (when it was a perfect 64-school bracket). That means the Big East never had a lesser percentage of teams represented in March Madness than 2024. The goal for 2025 is to double last year’s number, and if not that, send at least five to the Big Dance.
Let’s set the table on a conference that has ranked third-best at KenPom.com on average over the past three years.
Big East Preseason Player of the Year
Ryan Kalkbrenner | Creighton | C | Super senior
By passing on the NBA and opting into his COVID bonus season, Kalkbrenner gives Creighton a viable chance to compete for the Big East title. He averaged 17.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.1 blocks for the Bluejays a season ago. Kalkbrenner also doubles as the preseason defensive player of the year in the…
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