2025–26 Big East Conference men's basketball season

2025–26 Big East Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Teams11
TV partner(s)Fox, FS1, TNT, TruTV, NBC, ESPN+
Regular Season
Season championsSt. John's
  Runners-upUConn
Season MVPZuby Ejiofor, St. John's
Tournament
VenueMadison Square Garden, New York City, New York
ChampionsSt. John's
  Runners-upUConn
Finals MVPZuby Ejiofor
2025–26 Big East men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 10 St. John's † 18 – 2   .900 29 – 6   .829
No. 7 UConn 17 – 3   .850 30 – 5   .857
Villanova 15 – 5   .750 24 – 9   .727
Seton Hall 10 – 10   .500 21 – 12   .636
Creighton 9 – 11   .450 15 – 17   .469
DePaul 8 – 12   .400 16 – 16   .500
Marquette 7 – 13   .350 12 – 20   .375
Butler 7 – 13   .350 16 – 16   .500
Providence 7 – 13   .350 15 – 18   .455
Xavier 6 – 14   .300 15 – 18   .455
Georgetown 6 – 14   .300 16 – 18   .471
† 2026 Big East tournament winner
As of March 20, 2026
Rankings from AP poll

The 2025–26 Big East men's basketball season is the current season for Big East Conference basketball teams that began with practices and exhibition games in October 2025, followed by the start of the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season which began in November 2025. Conference play began in December 2025 and ended in March 2026.

Head coaches

Coaching changes

Villanova

After three seasons, on March 15, 2025, the Wildcats announced they had fired head coach Kyle Neptune, naming assistant coach Mike Nardi as the interim coach for the team's College Basketball Crown run.[1] On March 30, the school named Maryland head coach Kevin Willard the team's new head coach.[2]

Xavier

Following the season, on March 24, 2025, head coach Sean Miller left the Musketeers for a second time to take the head coaching position at Texas.[3] Two days later, the school named New Mexico head coach Richard Pitino the team's new head coach.[4]

Coaches

Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record Big East record Big East titles NCAA Tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA Championships
Butler Thad Matta Ohio State 5 47–53 (.470) 21–39 (.350) 0 0 0 0
UConn Dan Hurley Rhode Island 8 130–40 (.765) 69–27 (.719) 1 5 2 2
Creighton Greg McDermott Iowa State 16 270–141 (.657) 137–87 (.612) 0 10 0 0
DePaul Chris Holtmann Ohio State 2 14–20 (.412) 4–16 (.200) 0 0 0 0
Georgetown Ed Cooley Providence 3 27–39 (.409) 10–30 (.250) 0 0 0 0
Marquette Shaka Smart Texas 5 98–41 (.705) 55–24 (.696) 1 4 0 0
Providence Kim English George Mason 3 33–34 (.493) 16–24 (.400) 0 0 0 0
Seton Hall Shaheen Holloway St. Peter's 4 49–53 (.480) 25–35 (.417) 0 0 0 0
St. John's Rick Pitino Iona 3 51–18 (.739) 29–11 (.725) 1 1 0 0
Villanova Kevin Willard Maryland 1 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0 0 0
Xavier Richard Pitino New Mexico 1 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0 0 0

Notes:

  • All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
  • Year at school includes 2025–26 season.
  • Overall and Big East records are from time at current school only and are through the beginning of the season.
  • McDermott's MVC conference records, Matta's MCC records, Hurley's AAC records not included since team began play in the Big East.

Preseason

Preseason Big East poll

Prior to the conference's annual media day, conference standings were projected by panel of writers.[5]

Rank Team Points
1. St. John's 97 (7)
2. UConn 94 (4)
3. Creighton 80
4. Providence 64
5. Marquette 60
6. Georgetown 57
7. Villanova 50
8. Xavier 33
9. DePaul 29
10. Butler 26
11. Seton Hall 15
(first place votes)

Preseason All-Big East

A select media panel named a preseason All-Big East team and player of the year.[6]

Honor Recipient
Preseason Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor, St. John's
Preseason Freshman of the Year Braylon Mullins, UConn
Preseason All-Big East First Team Solo Ball, UConn
Alex Karaban, UConn
Tarris Reed Jr., UConn
Owen Freeman, Creighton
Chase Ross, Marquette
Bryce Hopkins, St. John's
Preseason All-Big East Second Team Silas Demary Jr., UConn
Josh Dix, Creighton
KJ Lewis, Georgetown
Jason Edwards, Providence
Ian Jackson, St. John's
Preseason All-Big East Third Team Nik Graves, Creighton
Jackson McAndrew, Creighton
CJ Gunn, DePaul
Malik Mack, Georgetown
Oswin Erhunmwunse, Providence
Dillon Mitchell, St. John's
Joson Sanon, St. John's

Preseason All-American teams

Player AP[7] CBS[8] USA Today[9] Sports Illustrated[10] SB Nation[11] Sporting News[12]
Zuby Ejiofor, St. John's RV 3rd team 2nd team 3rd team 3rd team
Solo Ball, UConn RV 3rd team
Alex Karaban, UConn RV 3rd team

Regular season

Rankings

See also: 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
Legend
    Improvement in ranking
  Drop in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
(Italics) Number of first place votes
  Pre/
Wk 1		 Wk
2		 Wk
3		 Wk
4		 Wk
5		 Wk
6		 Wk
7		 Wk
8		 Wk
9		 Wk
10		 Wk
11		 Wk
12		 Wk
13		 Wk
14		 Wk
15		 Wk
16		 Wk
17		 Wk
18		 Wk
19		 Wk
20		 Final
Butler AP *
C RV RV
UConn AP 4 (2) 3 (3) 3 (2) 5 5 5 5 4 4* 4 3 2 2 3 6 5 6 4 6 7
C 4 3 3 7 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 5 5 6 4 6 7
Creighton AP 23 23 RV RV *
C 23 23 RV RV
DePaul AP *
C
Georgetown AP RV RV RV *
C RV RV RV
Marquette AP *
C
Providence AP *
C
Seton Hall AP RV RV RV RV RV* RV 25
C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV
St. John's AP 5 13 14 14 23 22 22 RV RV* RV RV 25 22 17 17 15 18 13 10
C 6 11 16 15 22 21 20 RV 25 RV RV 25 24 22 17 16 15 17 13 9
Villanova AP RV RV * RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV
C RV RV 24 RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV
Xavier AP *
C

*AP did not release a week 9 poll.

Early Season Tournaments

Eight out of the 11 Big East teams participated in traditional early-season bracketed tournaments.[13] The three schools that didn't were UConn, Marquette and Villanova, with the former vowing to never participate in one ever again following the Huskies' disappointing 8th-place finish in the 2024 Maui Invitational.[14]

Team Tournament Finish
Butler Greenbrier Tip-Off 1st
Creighton Players Era Festival Won consolation game
DePaul Emerald Coast Classic 2nd
Georgetown ESPN Events Invitational 4th
Providence Rady Children's Invitational 4th
Seton Hall Maui Invitational 3rd
St. John's Players Era Festival Lost consolation game
Xavier Charleston Classic 3rd

Big East Players of the Week

Throughout the conference regular season, the Big East offices named one or two players of the week and one or two freshmen of the week each Monday.

Week Date Player of the week School Freshman of the week School
1[15] November 10, 2025 Zuby Ejiofor St. John's Stefan Vaaks Providence
2[16] November 17, 2025 Alex Karaban UConn Acaden Lewis Villanova
3[17] November 24, 2025 Michael Ajayi Butler Eric Reibe UConn
4[18] December 1, 2025 AJ Staton-McCray Seton Hall Acaden Lewis (2) Villanova
5[19] December 8, 2025 Tre Carroll Xavier Braylon Mullins UConn
6[20] December 15, 2025 Michael Ajayi (2) Butler Acaden Lewis (3) Villanova
7[21] December 22, 2025 Stephon Payne Seton Hall Matt Hodge
8[22] December 29, 2025 Josh Dix Creighton Acaden Lewis (4)
9[23] January 5, 2026 Zuby Ejiofor (2) St. John's Jamier Jones Providence
10[24] January 12, 2026 Silas Demary Jr. UConn Braylon Mullins (2) UConn
11[25] January 19, 2026 CJ Gunn DePaul Stefan Vaaks (2) Providence
12[26] January 26, 2026 Finley Bizjack Butler Nigel James Jr. Marquette
13[27] February 2, 2026 Budd Clark Seton Hall Nigel James Jr. (2)
14[28] February 9, 2026 Jaylin Sellers Providence Acaden Lewis (5) Villanova
15[29] February 16, 2026 Solo Ball UConn Nigel James Jr. (3) Marquette
16[30] February 23, 2026 Bryce Hopkins St. John's Braylon Mullins (3) UConn
17[31] March 2, 2026 Jaylin Sellers (2) Providence Nigel James Jr. (4) Marquette
18[32] March 8, 2026 Zuby Ejiofor (3) St. John's Nigel James Jr. (5) Marquette

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team is scheduled to play 20 conference games, playing one game at home and one game on the road against each opponent.

  Butler UConn Creighton DePaul Georgetown Marquette Providence Seton Hall St. John's Villanova Xavier
vs. Butler – 2–0 2–0 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–1
vs. UConn 0–2 – 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2
vs. Creighton 0–2 1–1 – 2–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–2
vs. DePaul 2–0 2–0 0–2 – 1–1 0–2 2–0 0–2 2–0 2–0 1–1
vs. Georgetown 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 – 1–1 0–2 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0
vs. Marquette 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 – 0–2 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–1
vs. Providence 1–1 2–0 0–2 0–2 2–0 2–0 – 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–1
vs. Seton Hall 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 0–2 0–2 0–2 – 2–0 2–0 0–2
vs. St. John's 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 – 0–2 0–2
vs. Villanova 0–2 2–0 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 2–0 – 0–2
vs. Xavier 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 –
Total 7–13 17–3 9–11 8–12 6–14 7–13 7–13 10–10 18–2 15–5 6–14

Honors and awards

Individual awards

2026 Big East Men's Basketball Individual Awards[33][34]
Award Recipient(s)
Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor, St. John's
Coach of the Year Shaheen Holloway, Seton Hall
Defensive Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s
Freshman of the Year Nigel James Jr., Marquette
Most Improved Player of the Year Tyler Perkins, Villanova
Sixth Man Award Devin Askew, Villanova
Sportsmanship Award Josh Dix, Creighton

All-Big East teams

2026 Big East Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams[35]
First Team Second Team Third Team Freshman Team Defensive Team
Michael Ajayi, Butler
Silas Demary Jr., UConn
Alex Karaban, UConn
Tarris Reed, UConn
†Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s
Tre Carroll, Xavier
 Solo Ball, UConn
Jaylin Sellers, Providence
Bryce Hopkins, St. John's
Budd Clark, Seton Hall
Acaden Lewis, Villanova 		Finley Bizjack, Butler
KJ Lewis, Georgetown
Nigel James Jr., Marquette
Dillon Mitchell, St. John's
Duke Brennan, Villanova
Tyler Perkins, Villanova
 †Braylon Mullins, UConn
†Nigel James Jr., Marquette
Jamier Jones, Providence
†Stefan Vaaks, Providence
†Acaden Lewis, Villanova 		†Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s
Budd Clark, Seton Hall
Dillon Mitchell, St. John's
Silas Demary Jr., UConn
Chase Ross, Marquette
† - denotes unanimous selection

Postseason

Big East Tournament

Main article: 2026 Big East men's basketball tournament
First round
Wednesday, March 11
Peacock/NBCSN 		Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 12
Peacock/NBCSN/FS1 		Semifinals
Friday, March 13
FOX/FS1 		Championship
Saturday, March 14
FOX
            
1 13 St. John's 85
9 Providence 72
8 Butler 81
9 Providence 91
1 13 St. John's 78
4 Seton Hall 68
4 Seton Hall 72
5 Creighton 61
1 13 St. John's 72
2 6 UConn 52
2 6 UConn 93
10 Xavier 68
7 Marquette 87
10 Xavier 89
2 6 UConn 67
11 Georgetown 51
3 Villanova 64
11 Georgetown 78
6 DePaul 56
11 Georgetown 63

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
Seed Region School First round Second round Sweet 16 Elite Eight Final Four Championship
2 East UConn W 82–71 vs. (15) Furman vs. (7) UCLA
5 East St. John's W 79–53 vs. (12) Northern Iowa vs. (4) Kansas
8 West Villanova L 76–86 vs. (9) Utah State DNP
W–L (%): 1–1 (.500) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–)
Total: 1–1 (.500)

CBC

Main article: 2026 College Basketball Crown
School Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
Creighton vs. Rutgers − −
W-L (%): 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–)
Total: 0–0 (–)

NIT

Main article: 2026 National Invitation Tournament

No Big East teams participated in 2026.

References

  1. ^ Thamel, Pete; Borzello, Jeff (March 15, 2025). "Neptune out as Villanova coach after 3 seasons". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  2. ^ "Kevin Willard leaves Maryland for Villanova in messy departure following Terrapins' Sweet 16 run". CBSSports.com. March 30, 2025. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  3. ^ Norlander, Matt (March 24, 2025). "Sean Miller hired by Texas: Longhorns move quickly, bring in Xavier coach to replace Rodney Terry". CBSSports.com. Retrieved July 30, 2025.
  4. ^ By; Press, Associated; By; Press, Associated (March 26, 2025). "Xavier hires Richard Pitino". NBC Sports. Retrieved July 30, 2025.
  5. ^ "St. John's Selected to Finish First on Preseason Poll". www.bigeast.com. October 21, 2025.
  6. ^ "Zuby Ejiofor Named BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year". www.bigeast.com. October 21, 2025.
  7. ^ "Men's Preseason All-America Team". Associated Press. October 20, 2025. Retrieved November 10, 2025.
  8. ^ Parrish, Gary; Boone, Kyle; Trotter, Isaac (October 21, 2025). "2025-26 CBS Sports Preseason All-America Teams: Purdue, Big Ten lead way with college basketball's top players". CBSSports.com. Retrieved November 10, 2025.
  9. ^ Myerberg, Paul (October 29, 2025). "Braden Smith, JT Toppin lead USA TODAY Sports college basketball All-America team". USA Today. Retrieved November 10, 2025.
  10. ^ Sweeney, Kevin (October 29, 2025). "Sports Illustrated's 2025–26 College Basketball Preseason All-Americans". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 10, 2025.
  11. ^ Rutherford, Mike (October 28, 2025). "Meet our college basketball preseason All-America teams for men's 2025-26 season". SB Nation. Retrieved November 10, 2025.
  12. ^ DeCourcy, Mike (November 10, 2025). "Sporting News 2025-26 college basketball preseason All-America team: Purdue's Braden Smith leads the way". Sporting News. Retrieved November 11, 2025.
  13. ^ Dobbertean, Chris (June 28, 2025). "2025-26 Men's College Basketball Exempt Multi-Team Event (MTE) Tracker". SB Nation. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  14. ^ Patton, Andy (December 1, 2024). "Dan Hurley vows to avoid MTE's after going 0-3 in Maui Invitational". College Sports Wire. Retrieved December 24, 2025.
  15. ^ "St. John's Ejiofor, Providence's Vaaks Secure First MBB Honors of the Season". bigeast.com. November 10, 2025.
  16. ^ "UConn's Karaban, Villanova's Lewis Earn BIG EAST Weekly Honors". bigeast.com. November 17, 2025.
  17. ^ "Butler's Ajayi, UConn's Reibe Earn BIG EAST Men's Basketball Weekly Awards". bigeast.com. November 24, 2025.
  18. ^ "Seton Hall's Staton-McCray, Villanova's Lewis Take BIG EAST Weekly Honors". bigeast.com. December 1, 2025.
  19. ^ "Xavier's Carroll, UConn's Mullins Earns Weekly BIG EAST Honors". bigeast.com. December 8, 2025.
  20. ^ "Butler's Ajayi, Villanova's Lewis Win BIG EAST Weekly Awards". bigeast.com. December 15, 2025.
  21. ^ "Seton Hall's Payne, Villanova's Hodge Win BIG EAST Weekly Awards". bigeast.com. December 22, 2025.
  22. ^ "Creighton's Dix, Villanova's Lewis Receive BIG EAST Weekly Honors". bigeast.com. December 29, 2025.
  23. ^ "St. John's Ejiofor, Providence's Jones Notch BIG EAST Weekly Honors". bigeast.com. January 5, 2026.
  24. ^ "UConn's Demary Jr., Mullins Claim BIG EAST Weekly Honors". bigeast.com. January 12, 2026.
  25. ^ "DePaul's Gunn, Providence's Vaaks Earn BIG EAST Weekly Honors". bigeast.com. January 19, 2026.
  26. ^ "Butler's Bizjack, Marquette's James Jr. Receive BIG EAST Weekly Honors". bigeast.com. January 26, 2026.
  27. ^ "Seton Hall's Clark, Marquette's James Jr. Earn BIG EAST Weekly Honors". bigeast.com. February 2, 2026.
  28. ^ "Providence's Sellers, Villanova's Lewis Take Home BIG EAST Weekly Awards". bigeast.com. February 9, 2026.
  29. ^ "UConn's Ball, Marquette's James Jr. Earn BIG EAST Weekly Honors". bigeast.com. February 16, 2026.
  30. ^ "St. John's Hopkins, UConn's Mullins Receive BIG EAST Weekly Awards". bigeast.com. February 23, 2026.
  31. ^ "Providence's Sellers, Marquette's James Jr. Receive BIG EAST Weekly Awards". bigeast.com. March 2, 2026.
  32. ^ "St. John's Ejiofor, Marquette's James Jr. Earn Final BIG EAST Weekly Awards". bigeast.com. March 8, 2026.
  33. ^ "BIG EAST Announces Individual MBB Awards". www.bigeast.com. March 9, 2026. Retrieved March 9, 2026.
  34. ^ "BIG EAST Announces 2025-26 Men's Basketball Major Awards". www.bigeast.com. March 11, 2026. Retrieved March 11, 2026.
  35. ^ "2025-26 All-BIG EAST Teams Announced". www.bigeast.com. March 9, 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.