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Between the Power 4 conferences and mid-majors, women’s college basketball boasts two strictly different dimensions. Inspired mid-majors may play David to a Power 4 Goliath every now and again, but competition between the two is often aspirational at best.
However, somewhere in-between these two dimensions is a ripple. A black hole. A fracture in the binary NCAA conference hierarchy that most call “the Big East.”
If there’s a conference with a claim at bringing back the Power 5 (which faded in turn with the dissolution of the Pac-12), it would be our beloved Big East. UConn may run the table on an annual basis, but they are far from the only impressive team in the conference. Per usual, the Big East holds the fifth-highest conference win percentage at 65.8 percent. Six teams have two or fewer losses, which begs the question: Can anyone besides UConn make noise out of the nation’s favorite tweener conference?
Yes, UConn is a contender. I can’t believe I had to even type that.
Seton Hall, after finishing third in the conference last season, has earned the right to be happy with their record. However, none of their non-conference results are enough to suggest that they could do any damage approaching March.
Three double-digit wins against Saint Peter’s, San Francisco and Pacific looked good until Fordham sent Seton Hall into a double-overtime thriller. Despite the Pirates pulling ahead, nail biters against Atlantic 10 (A-10) teams (a solid conference nonetheless) aren’t necessarily good signs for teams wanting to make a statement in the postseason. However, a close-fought loss to Princeton, a team that narrowly miss this week’s AP Top 25 poll, is a more encouraging sign.
Next up is NC State, another contest that should tell us a lot about the potential of the Pirates.
St. Johns suffered an early loss to Harvard that opened up some concern as to whether or not they were on the right track, especially after finishing a hair above .500 last season.
The Johnnies completely made up for that loss two weeks ago after beating Oklahoma State. The Cowgirls aren’t just a Power 4 team—they’re 8-1 this season and finished last season 25-7. Less than 10 days later, St. Johns took down Georgia Tech, another Power 4 opponent. Liberty transfer junior Brooke Moore has been one of the conference’s biggest surprises thus far. After averaging fewer than five points in her first two college seasons, the 5-foot-11 guard is putting up 16 points per game on a conference-leading 65.7 effective field goal percentage.
Unfortunately, the Red Storm won’t face any more Power 4 opponents in non-conference play, and we likely won’t see any more statement games until they have the chance to face Geno Auriemma and UConn. Competing with the defending national champions is a tall, tall task. However, if St. Johns keeps up their dominance, they could be looking at a March Madness berth even if they don’t win the Big East.
Georgetown, who had a disappointing 2024-25 under then-second year head coach Darnell Haney, has been one of the country’s better scoring offenses through seven games.
They took a reasonable loss to Maryland on the chin, and weren’t able to put the ball in the basket against George Mason, losing to the Patriots in overtime. Outside of those losses, the Hoyas have won every other game by nearly 30 points. A trip to undefeated Wake Forest on Sunday will give Haney’s squad a chance to show that they can compete with strong Power 4 opponents.
Similarly to Seton Hall, Providence just hasn’t seen a schedule strong enough to make any bold claims about their solid start. They handled one Power Four opponent in Boston College, but that’s far from anything to write home about. Outside of that, they haven’t even played anyone from the A-10 or a similarly competitive mid-major conference. They beat Yale, and although the Ivy League is a respectable conference, Yale is 1-7.
The Friars only have one more big non-conference matchup on the horizon—and big is an understatement. Their non-conference finale will be down south in Columbia, SC, against Dawn Staley and No. 3 South Carolina. In all likelihood, that game will confirm suspicions about the Friars outlook.
Behind sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe, who was named to the All-Big East team as a freshman, Villanova has suddenly turned heads. They’re top 100 in both offensive and defensive rating despite a top-35 strength of schedule through eight games. Their two losses came to Fairfield and Princeton, who are easily two of the countries best mid-majors.
Two days ago, it would be hard to feel as strongly about Villanova without a statement win. However, they just pulled out a 22-point beatdown in an away game against No.25 West Virginia — possibly the best win of a non-UConn Big East team thus far. Bascoe put up 24 points and six assists, and Villanova held West Virginia to less than 33 percent shooting. Keep an eye on Villanova through Big East conference play.
