As you surely know by now, the Huskies are home. With two weeks to go until the start of the college basketball season, we're officially less than one month away from UConn playing in its first Big East conference game since realignment wreaked havoc on the college landscape in 2013. While it's not the Big East you remember - there's no Syracuse, Pitt or Rutgers, nor newer additions Louisville and Cincinnati - it's still one of the premier basketball conferences in the country.
So let's meet the teams the Huskies will play in this year's 20-game conference slate, set to begin December 11 at Gampel against St. John's.
Villanova: The Wildcats are the preseason favorites to win the conference, and are in the group many are picking to win the national title. Jay Wright has turned Nova into a true power, winning a pair of championships since 2016 and four of the last five Big East Tournament titles. This year's edition of the Wildcats see them ranked third in the AP preseason top-25 and they'll follow the same formula as their predecessors: three-point barrages, experience in the backcourt with Collin Gillespie and a frontcourt that can stretch you out with Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Jermaine Samuels.
Creighton: This is the new Big East, stretching all the way out to Nebraska, and the Blue Jays are no longer a very good mid-major -- they can play with the big boys. Ranked 11th in the preseason by the AP, the expectations would have been even higher for the Blue Jays had Ty-Shon Alexander not elected to stay in the NBA Draft pool. Alas, there's still plenty of talent in Omaha, led by Preseason Player of the Year Marcus Zegarowski (16.1 points, 5.0 assists per game) and perimeter threat Mitch Ballock. If someone topples Villanova's reign atop the throne, it will likely be Creighton.
Providence: This is the renewed rivalry many fans have been anxious to see, as on top of the old Big East memories there's the added twist of Dan Hurley's old ties at Rhode Island, whose fan base also doesn't get along with PC. Picked to finish third in the conference's preseason coaches poll, the Friars lost a lot from a 2019-20 team that was very similar to UConn. After a sluggish 6-6 start, PC roared to life at the end of the year, winning its final six games before everything shut down. Perimeter shooter David Duke is the only returning starter, but Ed Cooley always seems to figure it out as the season goes along.
Seton Hall: The Pirates have been on a steady climb up the Big East hierarchy in the last half decade, having made four straight NCAA Tournaments (and it would have been five, but, you know...). This year they'll have work to do in replacing All-American Myles Powell, underrated guard Quincy McKnight and shot blocker Romaro Gill. Now the offense gets turned over to Sandro Mamukelashvili, who was hurt for much of last year, and Harvard transfer Bryce Aiken (22.2 PPG with the Crimson). Oh, and head coach Kevin Willard is fanning the flames on the renewed rivalry with Connecticut.
Marquette: The Golden Eagles will look entirely different offensively than the past two years with the departure of Markus Howard. The nation's leading scorer a year ago, he took over 40 percent of Marquette's shots and was a National Player of the Year candidate despite a 18-12 finish. Now he and Sacar Anim are gone, and 40 combined points need replacing.
Who will do it? Five-star freshman Dawson Garcia is earning praise from coach Steve Wojciechowski and was named the Preseason Freshman of the Year. The leading returning scorer, Koby McEwen, will likely improve on his 9.5 PPG from last year. But otherwise, it will be a by-committee effort.
Xavier: The Huskies are still going to play in Cincinnati every year, but against the other half of the Crosstown Shootout. The Musketeers lose their top two scorers from a year ago in Naji Marshall (16.1 PPG) and Quentin Goodin (14 PPG, 11 RPG), but the offense wasn't very efficient to begin with, scoring 70.2 points per game, while allowing 71.1 on average. Paul Scruggs (12.7 PPG) was the team's best three-point shooter and should see his volume increase with Marshall's departure. The question remains as to whether Xavier can find enough points elsewhere to get to the NCAA Tournament.
Butler: This could be a rebuilding year by the high standards that have been set in the last decade in Indianapolis. After going 22-9 a year ago, the Bulldogs now have to replace their top two scorers in Kamar Baldwin (16.2 PPG) and Sean McDermott (11.7 PPG). Baldwin's expected heir apparent, Khalif Battle, transferred, and it leaves two players with high expectations needing to meet them. Aaron Thompson should make a big leap as a sophomore after averaging 7.2 points and 4.7 assists a year ago, and grad transfer Jair Bolden comes in after shooting 41 percent from deep last year at South Carolina.
St. John's: Year 1 under Mike Anderson saw an improvement over 2018-19, but the Johnnies fell out of the NCAA Tournament picture after an 11-2 start, finishing with a 17-15 record. Their hopes for this year took a big blow when LJ Figueroa, the team's leader in points and minutes played last year, transferred to Oregon. It leaves the offense in the hands of Rasheem Dunn, the team's leading returning scorer (11.9 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 3.4 APG), though he has to improve on 22 percent three-point shooting. If everything breaks correctly, this is a fringe NCAA Tourney team.
DePaul: Yes, the Blue Demons are going to finish near the bottom of the standings, but don't be fooled. This isn't "0-18" DePaul that gets blown out and is arguably the worst high-major program in the country. Last year's team started 12-1 with some notable wins (Texas Tech, Minnesota and Iowa) before the wheels fell off come conference play, where they went just 3-15. But for context, DePaul finished the year as a top-100 KenPom team despite finishing in last place. In the American, only seven teams were top-100 in KenPom.
Georgetown: Everything that could go wrong, did, for Patrick Ewing and company last year. Between mid-season departures and injuries, the Hoyas could barely field a team on most nights by year's end. Things are still weird, with Omer Yurtseven off to the NBA and Mac McClung testing the NBA waters, Ewing saying he was coming back, then McClung ultimately transferring. This is now Year 4 under the Hoyas legend, and if the Hoyas don't look to make major steps forward, Ewing's seat will get mighty hot.