2023-2024 Big East Men's Basketball Preview

The Big East has the potential to be one of the deepest conferences in college basketball. That along with some major coaching changes, should create some exciting storylines this season.

Three Big East schools have a new face at the helm, including the legendary Rick Pitino returning to the Big East, to lead the Saint John's Red Storm.

The New York native will once again call Madison Square Garden his home, after he spent two seasons as head coach of the Knicks from 1987-1989.

Legendary Hoyas Patrick Ewing is out, and Ed Cooley is in. Cooley made the in-conference jump from Providence, after leading the Friars for the last 12 seasons.

Kim English is taking over for Cooley at Providence, after a two-year stint as head coach at George Mason.

There are a legitimate three national championship contenders in this conference, as well as another four to five that can compete for a spot in March Madness.

There are not many situations where you can say the reigning national champions are not the preseason favorite in their own conference.

UConn was a force to be reckoned with last March. They lost some key pieces to the NBA, including Jordan Hawkins and Adama Sanogo. They will be led by sophomore center Donovan Clingan and bolstering a top-five incoming recruiting class.

They come in as the No. 6 team in the preseason AP Poll, as conference foe Marquette comes in one spot ahead of them at No. 5.

The Golden Eagles are looking to repeat, as they come in as reigning regular season and conference champions. Luckily for them, senior guard Tyler Kolek will be suiting up for the Golden Eagles this season. Kolek was named as a preseason first-team AP All-American.

Marquette and UConn are not the only two teams from the Big East in the top 10. The Creighton Blue Jays come in at No. 8 in the preseason poll.

The Blue Jays are determined this season after a one-point loss in the Elite Eight to the eventual national runner-up San Diego State. They are returning three of their five starters, including their leading scorer center Ryan Kalkbrenner.

While those three are the conference front runners, there are a couple of teams that could prove problematic down the stretch.

Villanova is the only other ranked team in the Big East, coming in at No. 24 in the AP preseason poll.

The Wildcats are looking to bounce back after an uncharacteristic season last year under first-year head coach Kyle Neptune. Between returning players and transfer portal additions, the Wildcats will look to return to being contenders in the Big East.

Providence and Saint Johns are looking to have success under their new first-year coaches. While Sean Miller, Thad Matta and Shaheen Holloway hope to build off of their first season at their respective programs.

Jack Kiefer is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email jak6707@psu.edu