After completing their two exhibition games, it is time to focus on Opening Night of the Friars 2025-26 season next Monday, November 3rd against Holy Cross at the AMP. With that, and getting a feel for the league’s teams, it is the proper time to put forth my updated predictions for the season, and the all-conference teams (pre-Gavvies).
- St. John’s
- Connecticut
- Providence
- Creighton
- Villanova
- Georgetown
- Marquette
- DePaul
- Butler
- Xavier
- Seton Hall
Notes: The voting by the league coaches (or random staffers) appeared to divide the league into a top 3, a middle 4, and a bottom 4. I see it slightly differently, with a top 4, a middle 3, and a bottom 4. The difference is Providence, where the coaches had them in fourth, but closer in points to seventh place Villanova than third place Creighton. The coaches also have some separation between St. John’s and Connecticut and the rest of the conference. My opinion is that Providence and Creighton are closer to the top teams, and all four should comfortably make the NCAA tournament.
In the middle three, I chose Villanova above Georgetown and Marquette because I think they have a more balance roster, and more guard depth. Zion Stanford and Devin Askew have already suffered injuries, but both are expected to be back before conference play. They also added Duke Brennan from Grand Canyon, who won’t dazzle anyone, but will be solid on both sides of the court. Georgetown lost two players to the NBA and two other starters plus key reserve Jordan Burks. They’ve added KJ Lewis and Langston Love, and I’m high on Caleb Williams, but the have a lot to replace. Marquette under Shaka Smart has avoided the portal for the last two years, which seems like a mistake considering the success he has had with O-Max Prosper and especially Tyler Kolek. My guess is that it catches up to him this year. I would not be surprised to see at least one of these teams join the above four in the big dance.
I have DePaul in eighth place, as Chris Holtman was able to return the key components from last year’s roster (CJ Gunn, Layden Blocker, and NJ Benson) and paired them with solid additions, including Kaleb Banks, RJ Smith, and Khaman Maker. Xavier takes DePaul’s place in replacing their entire roster, while Butler has a tough task replacing Pierre Brooks, Andre Screen, and Jahmyl Telfort. Seton Hall will have one of my favorite players in Budd Clark, and my guess is that they spring a major upset on one of the top 4 teams (hopefully Connecticut again).
2025-2026 Big East All-conference Teams
Third Team
Nik Graves – Creighton
Oziyah Sellers – St. John’s
Joson Sanon – St. John’s
Josh Dix – Creighton
Silas Demary – Connecticut
Second Team
Alex Karaban – Connecticut
Oswin Erhunmwunse – Providence
Jason Edwards – Providence
Chase Ross – Marquette
KJ Lewis – Georgetown
First Team
Bryce Hopkins – St. John’s
Zuby Ejiofor – St. John’s
Solomon Ball – Connecticut
Tarris Reed – Connecticut
Owen Freeman – Creighton
All Freshman Team
Jamier Jones – Providence
Braylon Mullins – Connecticut
Eric Reibe – Connecticut
Nigel James – Marquette
Hudson Greer – Creighton
Chris Jeffrey – Villanova
Big East Freshman of the Year – Acaden Lewis – Villanova
Big East Defensive Player of the Year – Oswin Erhunmwunse – Providence
Big East Player of the Year – Jaylin Sellers – Providence
Braylon Mullins would have been the easy pick for freshman of the year, but I am not convinced that he will be ready to compete at the highest level from day one. Acaden Lewis will have the job of running the Villanova offense and I believe he is up to the task. Jamier Jones and Hudson Greer will push for minutes on their respective teams, and Eric Reibe should be able to provide solid backup for Tarris Reed.
Reed and Erhunmwunse were my two candidates for DPOY, and I suspect they will both make a strong impact on the defensive side of the ball. Despite being raw, Oswin showed his ability to learn on the fly and became a totally different player down the stretch for the Friars, improving both his defense and offense, including a 16 point, 11 rebound double-double in the season finale. He also averaged 2.1 blocks per game in conference play, a number the should go up this season.
While the pick of Jaylin Sellers as POY might seem like a homer pick, I truly believe he is going to take off this year. Watching him against Harvard, it is clear that there is still a little rust to shake off after barely playing in actual games over the past 19 months, but the skills are there. He attacks the basket as if it owes him money, and he’s comfortable shooting from deep, as evidenced by the fact that he scored double figures 29 times two years ago. Additionally, he is a plus defender and will be able to be more aggressive this year with players like Corey Floyd and Daquan Davis around him and Oswin Erhunmwunse to protect the basket behind him. In recent years, we’ve seen players like Souly Boum, Cam Spencer, and Micah Peavy come into the league with the same mentality and succeed. Sellers is the next one on that list.
On November 3rd, we will begin to see how prescient (or wrong) I am. Go Friars.