What it would take for each team to get (or stay) ranked.

[adoraz11]

Hey everyone, I'm new here and a fan (and student) of SJU. I like to see the conference doing as well as possible as it benefits my team and yours. The first few years will be critical for the future success of the league. We have an excellent recruiting class incoming next year and the eventual expansion, but this year so far has been a bit of a disappointment.

Obviously we want to always have at least one team in the AP Top 25, preferably more. This year we have a lot of good teams, but not dominate teams (aside from the surprising Nova). We don't have as many teams as the other conferences, so even though we are in solid shape RPI wise, we have less opportunities. As you may know, we started with Marquette being ranked. Creighton joined them, and a couple weeks later both are out. Fortunately Nova (with some huge wins) saved the conference from some early embarrassment with a couple excellent wins and sprang to #14.

Here is my opinion on what it would take for each team to get ranked. I only took into account the out of conference schedule, since anything can happen once BE play starts.

Butler- unranked & #54 (kenpom): missed some big opportunities last week with very narrow losses to OK State and LSU. Still in good shape, but don't have many big opportunities before conference play. They have a neutral site game vs Purdue, so maybe that is a tournament? If they keep winning, they will get some votes heading into conference play.
DePaul- unranked & #118 (kenpom): even if they win the final six games, I doubt they would be ranked. There are no major opponents left, They would however help their RPI a lot and probably be a bubble team at that point.
Creighton- #35 (AP) & #25 (kenpom): bad week for Creighton being knocked out (from #20). Fortunately for Creighton, they are still in good shape. Not many big games coming up, but teams are always falling out of the top 25 this early and Creighton is right behind them. If they keep winning, I think they would be ranked before conference play. 10 spots (at #35 now) is not a lot to make up for.
Georgetown- unranked & #23 (kenpom): pretty solid kenpom ranking. Win the next three (easy) matches. Then the big one following is @Kansas. Pretty simple for Georgetown. If they win the games they should easily win along with @Kansas, they will be ranked before conference play. If they fail to do this, they won't.
Marquette- unranked & #47 (kenpom): another bad week last week, being knocked out of the rankings and not even receiving votes. They have a huge opportunity this week @Wisc (#8). Win that along with the games they should win and I think they'll be at least receiving some votes fairly quickly.
Providence- unranked & #60 (kenpom): win the next few games (all very winnable) and win @Mass (#23) in a few weeks. If they do this, I think they would get some consideration before conference play.
Seton Hall- unranked & #137 (kenpom): one of only a couple teams I think has no chance of being ranked before conference play. No big matches coming up. Need to focus on getting quality wins and improving RPI.
St. John's- unranked & #70 (kenpom): Fordham is a must win. After that they play #4 Syracuse. I think if they win that, they would at least get some votes and be in excellent shape. Lose, and they will have to wait until BE play for any chance of being ranked.
Villanova- #14 (AP) & #15 (kenpom): the only team currently in excellent shape and is on the other side of the spectrum (focuses on staying ranked). Their win over Iowa was huge, because it will take at least two (maybe three) losses for them to be knocked out of the rankings. They have five games before conference play. @stjoes this Saturday is important for staying in good standing, After that their most difficult game is @Syracuse (#4) December 28. As long as they continue to play well and there isn't a big downgrade in play quality they will be ranked heading into Big East play.
Xavier- #44 (AP) & #64 (kenpom): another team that missed opportunities last week. Five games before conference play, with probably the biggest being vs. Cinn. Even if they win out, they may not be ranked by conference play (personally I think they would be somewhere in the 20s). But if they do win out, they would be in great shape and certainly get some votes.

As I said, I'm a SJU fan first and foremost, but root for everyone in the Big East and try to follow all the teams. I'm sure other posters know more than me about different teams and their schedules, so critique wherever necessary.

[TheHall]

Seton Hall- unranked & #137 (kenpom): one of only a couple teams I think has no chance of being ranked before conference play. No big matches coming up. Need to focus on getting quality wins and improving RPI.

Well said.

[Omaha1]

Creighton- #35 (AP) & #25 (kenpom): bad week for Creighton being knocked out (from #20). Fortunately for Creighton, they are still in good shape. Not many big games coming up, but teams are always falling out of the top 25 this early and Creighton is right behind them. If they keep winning, I think they would be ranked before conference play. 10 spots (at #35 now) is not a lot to make up for.

Creighton should be favored in every game they play from here until conference play and they are all at home after tonight. If we win those 5 games, I think we will be ranked for New Years when Marquette comes to Omaha.

[whiteandblue77]

Hey everyone, I'm new here and a fan (and student) of SJU. I like to see the conference doing as well as possible as it benefits my team and yours. The first few years will be critical for the future success of the league. We have an excellent recruiting class incoming next year and the eventual expansion, but this year so far has been a bit of a disappointment.

Obviously we want to always have at least one team in the AP Top 25, preferably more. This year we have a lot of good teams, but not dominate teams (aside from the surprising Nova). We don't have as many teams as the other conferences, so even though we are in solid shape RPI wise, we have less opportunities. As you may know, we started with Marquette being ranked. Creighton joined them, and a couple weeks later both are out. Fortunately Nova (with some huge wins) saved the conference from some early embarrassment with a couple excellent wins and sprang to #14.

Here is my opinion on what it would take for each team to get ranked. I only took into account the out of conference schedule, since anything can happen once BE play starts.

Butler- unranked & #54 (kenpom): missed some big opportunities last week with very narrow losses to OK State and LSU. Still in good shape, but don't have many big opportunities before conference play. They have a neutral site game vs Purdue, so maybe that is a tournament? If they keep winning, they will get some votes heading into conference play.
DePaul- unranked & #118 (kenpom): even if they win the final six games, I doubt they would be ranked. There are no major opponents left, They would however help their RPI a lot and probably be a bubble team at that point.
Creighton- #35 (AP) & #25 (kenpom): bad week for Creighton being knocked out (from #20). Fortunately for Creighton, they are still in good shape. Not many big games coming up, but teams are always falling out of the top 25 this early and Creighton is right behind them. If they keep winning, I think they would be ranked before conference play. 10 spots (at #35 now) is not a lot to make up for.
Georgetown- unranked & #23 (kenpom): pretty solid kenpom ranking. Win the next three (easy) matches. Then the big one following is @Kansas. Pretty simple for Georgetown. If they win the games they should easily win along with @Kansas, they will be ranked before conference play. If they fail to do this, they won't.
Marquette- unranked & #47 (kenpom): another bad week last week, being knocked out of the rankings and not even receiving votes. They have a huge opportunity this week @Wisc (#8). Win that along with the games they should win and I think they'll be at least receiving some votes fairly quickly.
Providence- unranked & #60 (kenpom): win the next few games (all very winnable) and win @Mass (#23) in a few weeks. If they do this, I think they would get some consideration before conference play.
Seton Hall- unranked & #137 (kenpom): one of only a couple teams I think has no chance of being ranked before conference play. No big matches coming up. Need to focus on getting quality wins and improving RPI.
St. John's- unranked & #70 (kenpom): Fordham is a must win. After that they play #4 Syracuse. I think if they win that, they would at least get some votes and be in excellent shape. Lose, and they will have to wait until BE play for any chance of being ranked.
Villanova- #14 (AP) & #15 (kenpom): the only team currently in excellent shape and is on the other side of the spectrum (focuses on staying ranked). Their win over Iowa was huge, because it will take at least two (maybe three) losses for them to be knocked out of the rankings. They have five games before conference play. @stjoes this Saturday is important for staying in good standing, After that their most difficult game is @Syracuse (#4) December 28. As long as they continue to play well and there isn't a big downgrade in play quality they will be ranked heading into Big East play.
Xavier- #44 (AP) & #64 (kenpom): another team that missed opportunities last week. Five games before conference play, with probably the biggest being vs. Cinn. Even if they win out, they may not be ranked by conference play (personally I think they would be somewhere in the 20s). But if they do win out, they would be in great shape and certainly get some votes.

As I said, I'm a SJU fan first and foremost, but root for everyone in the Big East and try to follow all the teams. I'm sure other posters know more than me about different teams and their schedules, so critique wherever necessary.

Awesome first post!

It was a pretty bad week for everyone but Nova, which had an awesome week.

I expect Creighton to take care of business and climb back into it... we have a long home stretch after tonight so we have no excuses.

[Bulldog_Muskie]

If Butler goes undefeated up to conference play they might get votes but I doubt they'd break into the top 25.

The Purdue game is part of the crossroads classic event. It's not a tournament but each year Notre Dame, IU, Purdue, and Butler meet for games against each other. Butler and Notre Dame alternate playing IU and Purdue.

[Jet915]

Luckily, Creighton is at home for their last 4 non-conference games which include Nebraska and Cal. If they can get those 4, we should be close to top 25.

[stever20]

Luckily, Creighton is at home for their last 4 non-conference games which include Nebraska and Cal. If they can get those 4, we should be close to top 25.

yeah- if for nothing else, just out of attrition...

[JohnT]

Providence- unranked & #60 (kenpom): win the next few games (all very winnable) and win @Mass (#23) in a few weeks. If they do this, I think they would get some consideration before conference play.

I don't think we'll be ranked, but the goal for PC is to avoid bad losses so that we are in the discussion for an NCAA bid if we can finish with 9-10 wins in the Big East.

[stever20]

Providence- unranked & #60 (kenpom): win the next few games (all very winnable) and win @Mass (#23) in a few weeks. If they do this, I think they would get some consideration before conference play.

I don't think we'll be ranked, but the goal for PC is to avoid bad losses so that we are in the discussion for an NCAA bid if we can finish with 9-10 wins in the Big East.

I think for PC to have any shot of making tourney with 9-10 wins is if they beat UMass. Loss there and they are 10-3 OOC, but with absolutely no quality wins. Right now the best 2 are BC(#83 in Ken Pom) and Vandy(#89 in Ken Pom). 9-9 would be 19-12- don't think that's in the discussion unless they win at least 1 if not 2 games in the BET. 10-8 may even be needing a win in the BET.

[adoraz11]

Thanks for the nice replies everyone, I'll update this at least once a week.

Good win for Creighton yesterday. Moved up a tiny bit in Kenpom today. I think they're the most likely team (other than Nova) to be ranked going into BE play. Creighton just needs to win the games they're expected to win. Most of the other teams need to to do that as well as pull off a big upset or two.

As long as we have two teams ranked and others with (mostly) good rpi heading into BE play we will be fine. I expect we will be able to do that and maybe more.