The Week Ahead: How the Big East has Thrived Without Help from Georgetown and St. John's, Previewing PC's Opponents this Week, and Jeff Goodman's Weird Mike Anderson Obsession
If there’s a common theme between Providence’s two opponents this week it’s that they lack not talent, but cohesion.
That may sound outrageous considering Georgetown is 6-18 on the season and 1-12 in the Big East, or because St. John’s is 4-9 in league games, but we’ll delve into the individual talent on each roster momentarily.
Before going there, let’s take a broader look at the health of the Big East. When the league realigned in 2013 few saw this as a possibility — the league is thriving without ESPN, and without three of the programs that the conference “had” to see succeed if it were to survive.
Barring a shocking Big East Tournament run, Villanova, Georgetown, and St. John’s will all be watching from home come mid-March. And still, there are a handful of teams in the league that could reach the second weekend of the tournament without anyone being overly-surprised.
Villanova has certainly done their part (and then some) in past years, but the Hoyas and Johnnies?
From 2006-2013, Georgetown won eight NCAA Tournament games and made a Final Four. They reached the Big Dance in seven of those seasons.
Georgetown has since won one NCAA Tournament game in the “new” Big East, and if not for a miracle Big East Tournament run in an empty MSG in 2021, they would be looking at eight straight seasons without an NCAA appearance. They also just snapped the longest losing streak in Big East history.
Despite years with great talent, St. John’s hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since an opening round victory over Northern Arizona in 2000. To put that in perspective, St. John’s was a year removed from having Ron Artest.
The Johnnies have had a winning record in Big East play once since 2015.
Yet, the league has thrived without them, or Georgetown, providing much of anything.
If Providence is going to continue to thrive this season (PC is 17-6 and 9-3 this year), a 2-0 week will be very important.