The Big East Conference is one of the best basketball conferences ever, sending as many as 11 teams to the NCAA Tournament during the 2010-11 season.

However, it was shocking to most that the conference only sent three teams to last season’s tournament: Creighton, Marquette and UConn, the latter winning the national championship.

“I think the Big East deserved to have five or six teams in the tournament last year,” Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley said. “I don’t care who you are: Seton Hall beating Connecticut [who had] 13 Big East wins. How [is Seton Hall] not a tournament team?”

“If you were able to compete with them and actually beat them, you’re probably a tournament team,” he continued.

According to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, that number is expected to increase to five with Villanova and Providence on the outside looking in. Along with the three teams that made the Big East last season, Xavier and St. John’s are expected to make the NCAA Tournament as No. 7 and No. 5 seeds, respectively.

Creighton will miss its starting backcourt containing Trey Alexander and Baylor Scheierman, both of whom are now playing in the NBA. However, they have Steven Ashworth back after averaging 11.1 points per game. The Alpine, Utah native was named to the preseason All-Big East third team. Returning in the frontcourt is Ryan Kalkbrenner, the preseason Big East Player of the Year. With that duo, Creighton is expected to go dancing for the fifth year in a row.

“I think the conference is as strong as ever,” Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said, continuing with talking about how UConn is trying to run it back and everyone else is trying to catch up. “I think the bottom of the conference has improved. I think some teams that were on top last year have been able to hold on to some of their talent, but also had an influx of talent, and I think that’s going to make for an exciting Big East portion of our season.”

Marquette will miss guard Tyler Kolek, the 2023 Big East Player of the Year, and big man Oso Ighodaro. However, the Golden Eagles look like a tournament team on paper with Kam Jones returning as the leading scorer. While the rest of the Big East’s coaches voted UConn the top team in the conference, head coach Dan Hurley was not allowed to pick his own team and said he likes Marquette if not his team.

“What put them over the top was bringing back more guys and then the fact we played them in the Big East Championship, and they were the champs the year before, which feels like you earn extra in those polls,” Hurley said.

Xavier’s team last season did not reach the same heights that their 2022-23 team did, but they managed to make the NIT without starters Zach Freemantle and Jerome Hunter. While the Musketeers lost their starting backcourt in Desmond Claude and Quincy Olivari, they are expected to reload in the backcourt with Dayvion McKnight and Ryan Conwell making preseason first and third teams in the Big East, respectively.

St. John’s is one of the teams that was an NCAA Tournament-caliber team last season. However, they found themselves on the wrong side of the bubble. The Red Storm look better on paper, even without starting center Joel Soriano. Head coach Rick Pitino picked up Seton Hall guard Kadary Richmond and Utah guard Deivon Smith out of the transfer portal to create one of the most lethal backcourts in the Big East, if not in all of college basketball.

“To reach those expectations you need more quad one wins,” Pitino said. He also mentioned that Richmond, who made the preseason All-Big East first team, is “the best player in the country.”

One of the other teams that could have gone dancing was Providence. Despite losing Devin Carter, last season’s Big East Player of the Year, they have forward Bryce Hopkins returning after missing most of last season due to injury. The former Kentucky Wildcat made the All-Big East first team in 2023 and is expected to earn the same honor this season.

“We have to be better,” Providence head coach Kim English said. “Simple answer: win more games. More nuanced answer: be better offensively, and we’re going to do our part.”

For a decade, Villanova was considered the standard in Big East basketball. However, since Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright retired, the magic has not been the same despite elevated expectations in past years. As mentioned earlier, they are on the outside of the bubble looking in according to ESPN. Forward Eric Dixon returns and is expected to produce an All-Big East first team-caliber season. Along with him is Miami (Fla.) transfer Woogla Poplar, who was named to the preseason All-Big East third team after averaging 13.1 points per game in Coral Gables.

“I believe we’re the best basketball conference in the country,” Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune said. “Now, to start the year, that’s great. It really doesn’t do anything for you as the season goes. You have to actually go out there and do it. So, for us, especially, we have focused on being the best we can be each day and continue improving on being the best we can be.”

For the rest of the teams in the conference, they are looking to exceed expectations and help the Big East remain one of the best conferences in college basketball.

“I think the Big East is primed to have a five or six or seven team tournament league, and hopefully Georgetown is one of them banging at the door,” Cooley said.

College basketball gets started on Nov. 4, with the first premier games on Nov. 15 as Villanova takes on Virginia and Marquette takes on Maryland.