Seton Hall was the preseason favorite in the Big East. So, on a surface level, it's no surprise that the Pirates are currently sitting alone atop the league standings. But what is surprising is that they're now on a nine-game winning streak, and a perfect 7-0 in the Big East, despite the fact that Kevin Willard's team lost one of its best three players (Sandro Mamukelashvili) to an injury 11 games ago.
"I always say Coach Willard doesn't get enough credit," Myles Powell, a legitimate national player of the year candidate, told reporters after Wednesday's 73-64 victory over Providence. "I'm glad to see him start to get the recognition he deserves. We're on a nine-game winning streak because of him."
It was Romaro Gill, not Powell, who was the star against Providence. The 7-foot-2 center who averaged just 2.3 points and 2.7 rebounds in 10.7 minutes per game last season finished with 17 points and eight -- yes, eight -- blocks in 33 minutes. Impressive stuff. When I was the CBS Sports Network sideline reporter for Seton Hall's 69-55 victory over Marquette two Saturdays ago, Golden Eagles coach Steve Wojciechowski told me pregame that trying to score at the rim against Seton Hall, primarily because of an improved Gill, was mostly a futile exercise. With every passing game, that's looking more and more true. With every passing game, imagining the Pirates in the Final Four seems more and more realistic.
Seton Hall is No. 9 in Thursday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The Pirates' next two games are home contests against unranked DePaul and unranked Xavier. So moving to 17-4 overall, and 9-0 in the Big East, is a likely scenario before next month's road games at Georgetown and Villanova.
Thursday's Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Killian Tillie finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's 92-69 victory over BYU. The Zags have won 12 straight games since losing to Michigan. | -- | 5-0 |
| 2 |  | Freddie Gillespie finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds in Monday's 61-57 victory over Oklahoma. The Bears will take a 15-game winning streak into Saturday's game at Florida. | -- | 3-1 |
| 3 |  | Malachi Flynn finished with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists in Tuesday's 72-55 victory over Wyoming. The Aztecs are 20-0 for just the second time in school history. | -- | 2-1 |
| 4 |  | Christian Braun made six 3-pointers and finished with 20 points in Tuesday's 81-60 victory over Kansas State. The Jayhawks are 6-1 in their past seven games with the lone loss in that stretch coming to Baylor. | -- | 5-0 |
| 5 |  | M.J. Walker made four 3-pointers and finished with 19 points in Saturday's 83-79 victory at Miami. Florida State is 18-2 in its past 20 ACC regular season games. | -- | 4-1 |
| 6 |  | Malik Williams got 13 points off the bench in Wednesday's 68-64 victory over Georgia Tech. The Cardinals are 7-1 in the ACC and alone atop the league standings. | -- | 2-1 |
| 7 |  | Jermaine Samuels finished with 20 points and seven rebounds in Tuesday's 76-61 victory over Butler. The Wildcats will take a five-game winning streak into Saturday's game at Providence. | -- | 3-3 |
| 8 |  | Jalen Crutcher made five 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 23 points in Wednesday's 86-60 victory over St. Bonaventure. The Flyers' 17-2 record features zero losses in regulation. | -- | 5-0 |
| 9 |  | Romaro Gill finished with 17 points, eight blocks and six rebounds in Wednesday's 73-64 win over Providence. The Pirates are 7-0 in the Big East for the first time ever. | -- | 2-2 |
| 10 |  | Cassius Winston finished with six points, five rebounds and four assists in Friday's 67-55 victory over Wisconsin. The Spartans are 6-1 in the Big Ten and alone atop the league standings. | -- | 4-1 |
| 11 |  | Oscar Tshiebwe finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds in Monday's 97-59 victory over Texas. The Mountaineers are 10-3 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities. | -- | 3-1 |
| 12 |  | Matthew Hurt finished with 22 points and six rebounds in Tuesday's 89-59 victory over Miami. Duke is 6-2 in the ACC. | -- | 3-1 |
| 13 |  | Jalen Smith finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's 77-66 victory at Northwestern. Each of Maryland's four losses came on the road to a top-30 KenPom team. | -- | 4-1 |
| 14 |  | Chandler Lawson finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds in Saturday's 64-61 victory at Washington. The Ducks are 5-2 in Quadrant 1 opportunities. | -- | 4-0 |
| 15 |  | Devan Cambridge made six 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 26 points in Wednesday's 80-67 victory over South Carolina. The double-digit win snapped Auburn's two-game losing streak. | -- | 4-0 |
| 16 |  | The Bulldogs missed 15 of the 20 3-pointers they attempted in Tuesday's 76-61 loss at Villanova. Butler will take a three-game losing streak into Friday's game with Marquette. | -- | 3-1 |
| 17 |  | Luka Garza finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds in Wednesday's 85-80 victory over Rutgers. The Hawkeyes will take a four-game winning streak into Monday's game with Wisconsin. | 1 | 5-0 |
| 18 |  | Ashton Hagans finished with 23 points and nine assists in Tuesday's 89-79 victory over Georgia. The Wildcats are 6-1 in their past seven games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at South Carolina. | 1 | 4-0 |
| 19 |  | Quentin Grimes got 10 points and four rebounds off the bench in Saturday's 65-54 victory at Wichita State. The Cougars are 8-1 in their past nine games. | 1 | 2-1 |
| 20 |  | Tyson Etienne finished with 13 points in Tuesday's 56-43 victory at USF. The Shockers are 6-3 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with zero losses outside of the first two quadrants. | 1 | 4-0 |
| 21 |  | Lamar Stevens finished with 19 points and nine rebounds in Wednesday's 72-63 victory at Michigan. The Nittany Lions own four wins over top-20 KenPom teams. | 1 | 5-0 |
| 22 |  | Kofi Cockburn finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds in Tuesday's 79-62 victory at Purdue. The Illini will take a five-game winning streak into Saturday's game at Michigan. | 1 | 3-1 |
| 23 |  | Emmitt Williams finished with 19 points and four rebounds in Tuesday's 84-82 win over Florida. The Tigers are 6-0 in the SEC and alone atop the league standings. | 1 | 4-0 |
| 24 |  | Mitch Ballock made five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points and six rebounds in Wednesday's 83-68 victory at DePaul. All five of Creighton's losses are Quadrant 1 losses. | NR | 4-0 |
| 25 |  | The Scarlet Knights led by five at halftime but ultimately lost 85-80 at Iowa on Wednesday. Rutgers is 8-2 in its past 10 games with both losses coming to currently ranked teams. | -- | 4-0 |
| 26 |  | Brad Davison finished with 16 points and six rebounds in Tuesday's 82-68 victory over Nebraska. The Badgers will enter Friday's game at Purdue with five Quadrant 1 wins. | NR | 5-0 |
