Basketball season is officially underway as Big East Media Day kicked off this morning and the conference released its annual coaches’ poll. UConn men’s basketball was picked to finish second this season by the league’s coaches and received four first-place votes, just three shy of No. 1 St. John’s (seven).
Creighton, Providence and Marquette fill out the rest of the top five in the conference. Georgetown, Villanova, Xavier, DePaul, Butler and Seton Hall round out the bottom half.
The coaches’ poll
differs slightly from the AP Preseason Poll and KenPom, where UConn is the top team in the conference in both spots. St. John’s and Creighton join the Huskies as the only teams ranked in the preseason Top 25, but the Big East does have every school inside the top 100 in KenPom and projects to be the fourth-strongest conference in the country.
While UConn is looking to achieve sustained success by keeping its core intact, returning 60 percent of its scoring from last season, Rick Pitino and St. John’s continue to hammer the transfer portal to reload. The Johnnies assembled one of the top transfer classes in the country, poaching Bryce Hopkins from Providence along with Ian Jackson (North Carolina) and Joson Sanon (Arizona State) amongst others. Their top returner, Zuby Ejiorfor, was an All-Big First Team selection last season and was named 2026 Preseason Big East Player of the Year.
Despite relative parity within the conference compared to past years, the Big East is expected to be top heavy, headlined with UConn and St. John’s and potentially joined by the likes of Creighton, Providence or Marquette. With all of the talent and experience on this UConn roster, the Huskies are in prime position to extend its Big East records of 11 regular season titles and eight Big East Tournament titles.
The full 2025-26 Big East Preseason Coaches’ Poll can be found below.
2025-26 BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
1. St. John’s (7)
2. UConn (4)
3. Creighton
4. Providence
5. Marquette
6. Georgetown
7. Villanova
8. Xavier
9. DePaul
10. Butler
11. Seton Hall
First place votes in parentheses
