St. John's head coach Rick Pitino said this week that he sees Marquette as a serious challenger in the conference in 2026-27.
St. John’s men’s basketball head coach Rick Pitino said something this week that undoubtedly gave UConn fans a reason to react.
Pitino, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame coach, said this to NJ.com about the upcoming Big East season:
"Connecticut and St. John's are not the favorites," Pitino said.
"If I had to pick, I'd pick Marquette one."
The same Marquette, which finished 12-20 overall and 7-13 in the conference, last season? The same Golden Eagles who had a winning percentage of .375 – one of only two seasons in the 17-season NCAA career of head coach Shaka Smart with a sub-.550 percentage?
St.John's head coach Rick Pitino (left) and Marquette head coach Shaka Smart chat before their teams play on Feb, 18, 2026, at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. Mark Hoffman-Milwaukee Journal Schedule via Imagn Images.UConn and St. John's at the top
The conference has been dominated by UConn and St. John’s the past three seasons, and the schools have developed a rivalry since Pitino took over the Red Storm before the start of the 2023-24 season. In that time, St. John’s is 81-25 with back-to-back Big East regular-season and tournament championships.
In the past three seasons, head coach Dan Hurley’s UConn squad is 95-20 with two Final Four appearances and a national championship, as well as one Big East regular season and tournament championship titles.
The Golden Eagles are 62-41 overall in that span, but did pull off a huge win against UConn in the final game of the 2025-26 regular season, 68-62.
Could Marquette really win the Big East?
Why not?
The college basketball season is so long, with inevitable twists and turns. Delays caused by the snowy weather that isn’t uncommon in the Big East footprint can disrupt travel plans and throw off a team’s rhythm. And injuries don’t discriminate. A team’s star can incur a season-ending injury just the same as the ninth player in the rotation.
In other words, much has to go just right for a team to win conference championships.
Pitino, in the NJ.com interview, issued a reminder that Marquette will return three of the five starters who defeated the Huskies on March 7.
Chase Ross and Ben Gold were lost to graduation but the others – sophomore guards Nigel James Jr. and Adrien Stevens, along with junior forward Royce Parham – all return.
They combined to average 36.8 points per game, nearly half of the Golden Eagles’ team average of 75.2 points.
Hurley and Pitino both lost key contributors from their teams, starting with three NBA first-round draft picks: UConn’s Tarris Reed Jr. (No. 26 overall) and Alex Karaban (No. 29) as well as St. John’s Zuby Ejiofor (No. 23). Both coaches restocked via the transfer portal.
St. John's forward Zuby Ejiofor (24) fights for a rebound against Connecticut center Tarris Reed Jr. (5) and guard Silas Demary Jr. (2) during the second half of the men's Big East conference tournament championship game at Madison Square Garden on March 14, 2036. Brad Penner-Imagn ImagesWait and see
Early predictions from a couple of the best-known NCAA men’s basketball experts project UConn and St. John as the top two teams in the Big East. It will be interesting to see the preseason poll results and to hear from other coaches in the league closer to the start of the season.
Marquette has the most recent experience as a Big East champion, aside from the Huskies and Red Storm.
St. John’s won the past two seasons, with UConn the champ in 2023-24. Marquette won its second regular-season title in 2022-23 and its first conference championship that same season.
