St. John’s, Villanova, Marquette expected to compete in an improving Big East

UConn was painfully close to winning the 2026 Big East regular-season title before losing its finale at Marquette, allowing St. John’s to claim that crown. 

MU had an 11-19 record going into that contest. This year, the Golden Eagles are predicted to be in the league’s top tier along with the Red Storm (2nd place, two first-place votes) and the Huskies (eight first-place votes, landing fourth in the Big East preseason poll.