For a league that skeptics said had taken a step backwards this season, what with the departures of premium talent to both graduation and the NBA draft, the BIG EAST more than held its own during a challenging non-conference portion to the 2018-19 season.
Seton Hall took down Kentucky in a thriller at Madison Square Garden and is coming off a quality road win at Maryland. Providence just knocked off Texas on its home court last Friday. Butler has taken down Florida and most recently rolled to an easy home win over a UC-Irvine team that had already posted road wins at both Texas A&M and St.