Is the Big East better than we thought?

Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesIf only DePaul and Georgetown weren’t around. The Big East is comprised of 11 teams, nine of whom are in the top 80 of the KenPom. That’s only marginally behind the SEC (11 in the top 80), the Big Ten (12 in the top 80), and the Big 12 (all 10 in the top 40). The difference is that while the Big 10 and SEC each have an anchor, Minnesota and South Carolina, respectively, the Big East is stuck with both DePaul (147th) and Georgetown (217th). Those two drag the Big East down to fourth in the conference rankings, still holding a gap over the soon to be gutted Pac 12.

Aside from the dreck at the bottom of the conference, the Big East is…