Xavier pulled out a win in the Big East Tournament over Marquette, then got crushed by No. 2 UConn by 25 points in the quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden.
That loss ended Xavier's season at 15-18 overall. It was Xavier's fewest wins in a full season (13-8 in 2020-2021) since going 13-15 under Skip Prosser in the program's first year in the Atlantic-10 in 1996.
Nearly seven months later, the Muskies were back in Manhattan for Big East Media Day, this time at the Marriott Marquis near Times Square. The feeling around the program shows how quickly things can change in the current college basketball landscape.
In March, Xavier was stuck in the cellar of the Big East. After an offseason spending spree in the transfer portal and a few key returning players, Xavier has lofty goals of contending near the top of the conference and returning to the NCAA Tournament.
Thursday marked the unofficial start of the college basketball season. Optimism for each program was accompanied by polling projections and all-league preseason selections.
Xavier men's basketball was picked to finish sixth in the Big East preseason coaches' poll.
Big East preseason men's basketball poll
- 1. UConn (8) − 98
- 2. St. John's (2) − 90
- 3. Villanova − 81
- 4. Marquette (1) − 73
- 5. Providence − 59
- 6. Xavier − 54
- 7. Creighton − 47
- 8. DePaul − 32
- 9. Seton Hall − 31
- 10. Georgetown − 27
- 11. Butler − 13
The Big East preseason poll has been hit or miss in recent seasons for Xavier. During the three-year return of Sean Miller, Xavier made the NCAA Tournament both times it was picked in the league's preseason top 3 (No. 2 in 2022 and No. 3 in 2024).
Last year, Xavier was picked to finish eighth in the conference, in front of DePaul, Butler and Seton Hall. Xavier ended up with the league's worst conference record (6-14) along with Georgetown while Marquette (picked fifth) had the fewest total wins (12) in the Big East.
This year, however, doesn't have the uncertainty that comes with a first-year head coach. Last season, Richard Pitino was taking over a program with a completely overhauled roster that included just one returner, zero returning minutes and 11 new players.
This season, Pitino again turned to the transfer portal, adding seven players, including three from high-major programs. The Musketeers also return a double-digit scorer from last season in Jovan Milicevic and a projected major contributor in Gabriel Pozzato, who missed all of last season.
Milicevic and LSU transfer Mike Nwoko, Xavier's team captains, represented the Musketeers in New York and were both named to the All-Big East Preseason Third Team.
New Big East coaches
Butler (Ronald Nored), Creighton (Alan Huss) and Providence (Bryan Hodgson) are the league's three teams with new coaches. Butler was picked to finish last in the Big East and Creighton was picked seventh. Providence, anchored by a top 10 incoming transfer class, was picked fifth.
St. John's and UConn were the top two teams in the Big East last season. Despite the Johnnies winning both the regular season and conference tournament title in each of the past two seasons, UConn is the preseason No. 1, earning eight of 11 first-place votes.
St. John's has the No. 1 incoming transfer portal class, according to 247Sports, a group headlined by five-star newcomers Tounde Yessoufou (Baylor) and Keyshawn Hall (Auburn). UConn added five players via the portal and the Huskies return first-team All-Big East guard Silas Demary Jr. and All-Freshman guard Braylon Mullins. Yessoufou, Mullins and Marquette's Nigel James Jr. were the three unanimous first-team selections.
Demary Jr. was named the Big East's Preseason Player of the Year, and UConn forward Colben Landrew is the league's preseason Freshman of the Year.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Here's where Xavier Musketeers were picked to finish in Big East