With BIG EAST Media Day ahead on Wednesday, Oct. 28, it means the time is near for preseason polls and awards. Sure, these things don’t matter once the games begin. Just ask the Creighton Bluejays, who won a share of their program’s first BIG EAST Championship last season after getting selected seventh in the conference preseason poll. How about Butler? The Bulldogs were selected eighth in last year’s preseason poll, and rose all the way up to the top five in the nation in January. 
 
That said, the preseason forecasts create a lot of debate and discussion, and that only increases the buzz for tipoff, which will have an unprecedented feel once things get underway in the 2020-21 college basketball campaign. 
 
With the polls and awards coming up next week, let’s look at three questions in the BIG EAST entering the season. 
 
1. Where does UConn fit in the standings in its return to the conference? 
 
The Huskies are back, and loaded with depth. 
 
“You almost feel like you have seven or eight different starters,” said head coach Dan Hurley following UConn’s first practice on Friday. 
 
The Huskies return over 70 percent of their scoring from last season and bring in a Top-25 recruiting class. More importantly, UConn learned how to close games last season, winning eight of their final 10. Now, how will that translate to the BIG EAST? Hurley said his staff spent much of the offseason watching film of the 10 “new” conference opponents the Huskies will see this season. 
 
“We’re not going to get seduced into thinking we’ve arrived,” said Hurley. “We’re still climbing the mountain.”
 
Hurley also said Friday that he believes the added depth means UConn can press more in the backcourt than they did in his first two seasons at the helm. With a lead guard and all-conference team candidate James Bouknight leading the way, a multi-faceted frontcourt and 6-foot-6 freshman Andre Jackson shining in the preseason, the pieces are in place for the Huskies to contend near the top of the conference. But, this version of the BIG EAST has shown its depth and parity. The Huskies have new challenges ahead, and a king of the throne,Villanova. 
 
2. Who’s the best player in the conference? 
 
There’s a consensus for the most part on how this debate begins, with Villanova senior Collin Gillespie and Creighton junior Marcus Zegarowski making national preseason headlines. Just last week, NCAA.com’s Andy Katz named both players to his Top 10 candidates for National Player of the Year. An Honorable Mention All-America selection by the Associated Press, Zegarowski was one of the top breakout players in the country last season. He led Creighton with 5.0 assists per game and was second on the team in scoring at 16.1 points per game. Not only did Zegarowski steer the ship for Creighton’s high octane offense, but he took on a leadership role for coach Greg McDermott’s team, which entered the BIG EAST Tournament last season as the No. 1 seed and as a top 10 squad in the country. 
 
As for Gillespie, he has followed in the footsteps of Wildcat point guard greats Ryan Arcidiacono and Jalen Brunson with flying colors. Averaging 15.1 points and 4.5 assists per game, the Villanova “1” has a composure that rubs off on the rest of his team, and he will have the teammates surrounding him for the Wildcats to be a national championship contender this upcoming season. On the March Madness 365 podcast last week, Gillespie was asked about the competition with Zegarowski. 
 
“He’s a great player,” said Gillespie of his Creighton counterpart. “He (Marcus) competes every night. He’s really crafty with the ball. He can get shots up. He finds guys really well, so he’s been great for his team over the last two years from when I’ve played against him. It’s going to be fun when I compete against him. It’s fun to play in the BIG EAST. Every night is a battle. You know you’re going to get everybody’s best shot because it’s just a very tough conference. I’ve enjoyed being able to play against him (Marcus) and just competing with him at a high level.” 
 
While there are other options one could argue for the BIG EAST’s top player beyond these two guards, the conversation should begin with Zegarowski and Gillespie, who have proved themselves and earned that.
 
3. How does the middle of the conference shape up? 
 
Having talked with multiple coaches and national college basketball experts, a statement has rang true when they are asked about the middle of the BIG EAST. 
 
“Flip a coin.” 
 
We explored this question with team-by-team breakdowns in an earlier notebook. To simplify things, there’s a mix of proven teams who have shown they can make the NCAA Tournament consistently, and others who may have the pieces to turn the corner, but there remains a level of unknown with them because of what those teams lost, and raising expectations for those who return. 
 
Seton Hall and Providence appear to be two teams who will continue to contend for the Big Dance, with the Pirates returning Sandro Mamukelashvili and adding Harvard grad transfer guard Bryce Aiken. The Friars have a dynamic backcourt with juniors David Duke and AJ Reeves, and transfer guards Jared Bynum and Brycen Goodine. Both squads have solid cores around them, and coaches Kevin Willard and Ed Cooley have consistently shown they can groom a team to see their names called on Selection Sunday. 
 
As for the middle of these six teams, Xavier and Butler have been staples of the NCAA Tournament, but the Musketeers have lived on the bubble in the last two seasons and the Bulldogs are much younger after losing star Kamar Baldwin to graduation, among others. Can these programs see youth prevail? Of course, but just how impactful that youth is determines whether they find a way to be as high as maybe fifth, or lower in the conference. 
 
And what about Marquette and St. John’s? The Golden Eagles have been to two of the last three NCAA Tournaments, but losing a player as historically good as Markus Howard means that coach Steve Wojciechowski and his staff have to tinker a lot of what they had done over the last four years. MU has a solid backcourt in Ohio State transfer DJ Carton and Utah State transfer Koby McEwen, and the frontcourt is filled with potential, but they are young. The player to watch is 6-11 freshman Dawson Garcia, who has received a lot of national buzz and could be a Swiss army knife for the Golden Eagles. He defines versatility with his size and ability to knock down shots from the perimeter. As for the Red Storm, St. John’s has a proven winner in their head coach, Mike Anderson. They have options, and could even go up to 10-deep, but the question of who the go-to guy is for this team is one that has to be answered. If they can find a No. 1 player - perhaps JUCO transfer Vince Cole or rising sophomore Julian Champagnie - the Johnnies could be a sleeper team. They may be a year too young still, but we do know the Red Storm has a future in place with Anderson on the sidelines.