Big East Breakdown: Syracuse remains on top

With several teams playing their best basketball of the season and poised to make a run for the… With several teams playing their best basketball of the season and poised to make a run for the conference title, the Big East men’s basketball standings have become an ever-changing entity.

Pitt’s disappointing loss at South Florida on Wednesday not only ended the Panthers’ four-game winning streak, but the defeat also keeps Pitt out of the top half of my Big East standings.

Meanwhile, at the front of the pack, a familiar squad remains on top, but there’s an anxious group of teams looking to narrow the gap on the leaders.

My weekly power rankings of all 16 teams in the conference lay out which teams are trending upward and which teams are falling into the Big East abyss.

1. Syracuse — It took overtime on Wednesday night, but the Orange (24-1, 11-1 Big East) solidified their position at the top of the Big East standings with a hard-fought victory over Georgetown. With Fab Melo’s academic issues resolved and the star sophomore center back in the lineup, Syracuse is set to coast through its remaining six conference games and clinch the Big East regular season title, as well as No. 1 seeds in both the Big East Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.

2. Notre Dame — The Fighting Irish (16-8, 8-3 Big East) handed Syracuse its only conference loss and are currently riding an impressive five-game winning streak, so Notre Dame might be the only team in the Big East that can catch the Orange. Two more tough wins this week over Marquette and West Virginia legitimized Notre Dame as a contender in the conference, which is all the more impressive when you consider the Irish have played the majority of this season without their best player and leading scorer Tim Abromaitis.

3. Marquette — The Irish’s victory over Marquette this week finally ended the Golden Eagles’ (19-4, 9-3 Big East) seven-game winning streak. However, thanks to senior guard Darius Johnson-Odom’s 23 points, head coach Buzz Williams’ team didn’t take long to get back in the win column. Marquette fans hope that Monday night’s solid, double-digit-victory at DePaul will be the beginning of a new winning streak for their team.

4. Georgetown — The Hoyas (18-5, 8-4 Big East) concluded a nearly perfect week with an upset victory at Syracuse on Wednesday night. A dominating 30-point win against South Florida made a statement to the rest of the Big East that Georgetown has enough talent to win big, but the overtime defeat to the Orange robbed the Hoyas of a much-needed signature win. With four straight games against opponents at the bottom of the conference standings coming up on the schedule, Georgetown should have no trouble rebounding from the disappointment.

5. Louisville — As another team quickly climbing up the Big East standings, the Cardinals’ (19-5, 7-4 Big East) dominating performances in their current five-game winning streak have the rest of the conference on alert. Head coach Rick Pitino’s teams are known for being late bloomers, and if Louisville can continue playing as well as it has over the past three weeks, the Cardinals could make a lot of noise in the conference and nationally down the stretch.

6. Cincinnati — Victories over DePaul and St. John’s were just what the Bearcats (17-7, 7-4 Big East) needed this week to recover from a three-game losing streak. Cincinnati’s inconsistencies stem from the team’s tendency to live and die by the 3-point shot, but with a quality center like Yancy Gates and tough tests still on the schedule against Marquette and Louisville, the Bearcats will have several opportunities to prove to everyone that they aren’t a one-dimensional team.

7. South Florida — It was hard not to be impressed with the Bulls’ (14-10, 7-4 Big East) dominating defensive performance in Wednesday’s victory over Pitt. South Florida entered the crucial contest as the Big East’s second-best defensive team statistically, and it certainly validated that statistic at the Panthers’ expense. If the Bulls continue to play such suffocating defense and protect their home court, they will find themselves in the NCAA Tournament.

8. West Virginia — An overtime victory at Providence couldn’t help the Mountaineers (16-9, 6-6 Big East) out of their current slump, as proven by a disappointing home loss to Notre Dame on Wednesday night. WVU — even with probable Big East Player of the Year Kevin Jones in the lineup — has now lost four of its last five games — and the schedule won’t get easier any time soon. If the Mountaineers lose to Louisville on Saturday, this could be the last week they spend in the top half of my standings.

The bottom half of the Big East definitely isn’t up to par with the typical depth the conference has shown over the past few seasons. Seton Hall (9) ended its six-game losing skid with a win at Rutgers Wednesday, while Pitt (10) suffered a momentum-killing defeat in South Florida. Defending national champion Connecticut (11) needs to get out of a slump just to make the NCAA Tournament this year. Finally, it looks like the Big East Tournament will be where Rutgers (12), Villanova (13), St. John’s (14), DePaul (15) and Providence (16) will have their last chances to make the Big Dance.