Welcome to the first Big East Round-Up of 2026! The last week of action featured only in-conference matchups for the Big East for the first time all season, and saw some shakeups in the rankings — at least, after UConn, who proved its might with 23- and 16-point wins. Villanova continued to blossom, Providence pulled off a road upset, and DePaul earned a victory that sent Marquette to the bottom of the Big East’s standings and KenPom rankings.

Let’s dive into the recent storylines as well as the teams with most pivotal stretches looming.

Is Villanova the second-best team in the league?

Perhaps the top storyline coming into this season for the Big East was determining who the third-best team would be behind UConn and St. John’s. After the first month, several teams took turns at the forefront of the conversation, including Georgetown, Seton Hall, and Butler. Now a few games into the Big East season, though, Villanova has made its push into the spotlight — not as the third-best team, but likely surpassing St. John’s into the No. 2 spot.

With three away-from-home wins over Wisconsin, Seton Hall, and Butler over the past few weeks, Villanova has added quality to a resume with pre-existing quantity. The Wildcats are 12-2 with three impressive away-from-home wins and no bad losses; their only defeats have come at the hands of KenPom top 10 opponents (Michigan and BYU), again away from home.

Villanova is thriving with its balance, in more ways than one. The Wildcats are currently one of only 13 teams to rank top-30 in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency. Additionally, five different players reached double-figures in their win over Butler. Bryce Lindsay continues to be at the forefront, netting 37 points on 8-for-17 from three in wins over DePaul and Butler this past week, while freshmen Acaden Lewis and Matt Hodge are improving with each game.

Lewis earned KenPom Game MVP against Butler by stuffing the stat sheet with 12 points (5-for-9 FG), five rebounds, six assists, and five steals. Lewis’ streak of consecutive games with a steal has reached 13, plus he has now recorded 2+ steals in five straight — all against high-major opponents. Albeit in a small, three-game sample size, the Wildcats are second in the Big East in turnover rate forced in league games.

Jamier Jones earns Big East Freshman of the Week.

Providence returned from its 15-day hiatus with a bang, coming back from a double-digit second-half deficit in Madison Square Garden to beat St. John’s. Stefan Vaaks was the hero down the stretch, but fellow freshman Jamier Jones earned Big East Freshman of the Week honors for his performance: 15 points (5-for-7), 10 rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

While the honor was handed out for his one-game performance, Jones has been blossoming of late. The 6-6 forward has now reached double-figures as a scorer in five straight, and is making a difference on both ends with his athleticism and physicality. Offensively, Jones is an aggressive attacker with superb finishing ability, grading in the 88th percentile among forwards for both FGA% at the rim (72.3% of shots) and FG% at the rim (80% efficiency).

Jones is one of only 13 players converting at 70% or better on 10+ 2-point attempts per 40 minutes (minimum 155 minutes played) — one of only three listed at 6-6 or shorter.

Defensively, Jones’ on-off splits are off the charts. Providence is allowing 20.1 fewer adjusted points per 100 possessions with him on the floor compared to without this season:

As shown, the most significant difference is in opponent 3-point shooting: teams shoot just 27.1% from three with him on the floor, compared to 45.1% without. His defensive impact statistics are thus likely a tad overstated by virtue of shooting variance and lineup…dare I say the word regarding Providence…luck, but the impact still stands as positive. He is a blossoming star for the Friars and, if the defensive numbers hold, one that changes their trajectory. The offense has always been there for Providence this season.

Seton Hall continues to dominate the stock market.

Seton Hall's offense only ranks 130th in adjusted efficiency but its defense is suffocating opponents inside and out. Budd Clark and AJ Staton-McCray set the tone on the perimeter with top-100 individual steal rates, while Stephon Payne and Najai Hines eliminate interior attempts to the tune of the 13th-best 2-point percentage defense. Now nearly halfway into the season, Seton Hall still leads the country in steal rate and is second in block rate.

Whatever you choose to call Steals+Blocks (Stock Rate, Hakeem Percentage, etc.), Seton Hall is breaking the chart defensively:

Steal and block rates can be swayed by strength of schedule, especially still only 15 games in, but Seton Hall has thrived in these areas regardless of competition. Narrow the focus to just the Pirates' eight games against high-major opponents, and they still rate in the 97th percentile for steal rate and 96th percentile for block rate against that split — culminating in a 99th percentile rating for Hakeem%.

In conference games only, the Pirates lead the Big East in steal rate and are third in block rate. Look at the other end of the floor, and they are blocked the least and stolen from the third-least. Simply put, Seton Hall is controlling the stock market.

Marquette's tumble reaches six straight losses

Marquette's season already appeared in trouble in the first week of December. By that point, the Golden Eagles had already dropped nearly 40 spots from their preseason ranking on KenPom amid a 5-4 start that featured zero KenPom top-150 wins. Fast-forward to now, though, and those might have been deemed to be the 'good times' of the season. Marquette has lost six consecutive games since then, dropped on KenPom after each result, and saw Zaide Lowery leave the program.

Marquette now finds itself ranked at No. 119 on KenPom, its lowest ranking in nearly a decade (late-January of 2016). The ongoing losing streak ties the longest since losing six in a row twice in the 2014-15 season. If the Golden Eagles drop their next game, a home bout against Xavier in which they are favored, a seven-game streak would tie their longest without a win since 1990-91.

It is hard to recall that Marquette was picked to finish fifth in the Big East this season. Amid the disappointment, though, the Golden Eagles are getting extended looks at a pair of freshmen. Nigel James has started the last 12 games, showing flashes early and more consistency of late; albeit all in losses, he has averaged 16.8 points (.491 eFG%) and 4.0 assists (to 3.3 turnovers) over Marquette's last four games. 7-1 big Josh Clark has played more minutes in the last three games than the previous eight combined; he scored six points on 3-for-3 shooting to go with six rebounds and two steals against UConn.

Creighton, St. John’s to meet in pivotal weeks

After dropping a home game to Providence to begin 2026, St. John's finds itself in an unexpected position. The Red Storm were picked to win the Big East coming into the season but are instead stuck at 9-5 (2-1 BE) and with only two wins over the KenPom top 100. Quality metrics like KenPom still view SJU as a top-25 team, but resume metrics paint them more as a top-50 group. Logic implies one of those numbers will win out over time, and the Red Storm hope for the former.

A big week approaches to find out. St. John's first travels to face Butler in the battle of two teams that could really use a quality win to get back on track. Then, they stay on the road and head west to face a surging Creighton team that has played well lately but has a lot of work to do to overcome a 5-5 start.

Creighton's hosting of the Red Storm is also its latter portion of a big week. The Bluejays open the week on the road against Villanova before hosting St. John's. For reference on their surge, the Bluejays played at the equivalent of the No. 95 team in the country over their 5-5 start, per Hoop-Explorer, but have turned up the jets to playing like the No. 18 team since (4-1 record) thanks to a lineup change.

St. John's and Creighton both have huge weeks, but facing each other means at least one will be disappointed.

Games to watch

  • Jan. 10: St. John’s at Creighton (Thrill Score: 77.2)
    • 2:00 pm ET on FOX
  • Jan. 6: St. John’s at Butler (Thrill Score: 76.2)
    • 7:00 pm ET on Peacock
  • Jan. 7: UConn at Providence (Thrill Score: 62.9)
    • 7:00 pm ET on Peacock
  • Jan. 10: Providence at Xavier (Thrill Score: 60.3)
    • 4:00 pm ET on Fox Sports 1
  • Jan. 10: Seton Hall at Georgetown (Thrill Score: 58.2)
    • 6:00 pm ET on Fox Sports 1