2026-27 Big East preview: UConn is the pick, and GameSim splits with St. John's

The Big East coaches picked the team that reached the national championship game, then the team that just won the league twice. UConn took eight first-place votes and 98 points. St. John's took two first-place votes and 90. Coaches cannot vote for their own team. Villanova was third at 81, Marquette fourth at 73 with the other first-place vote. After that the poll thins out: Providence 59, Xavier 54, Creighton 47 under new coach Alan Huss.

GameSim ran only UConn and St. John's. Neutral site, 20 simulations with each team on the home side, 2027, injuries off. Both samples finished 10-10. The scores were UConn 69.5-68.4 and UConn 69.4-68.6. Across 40 games the win count is 20-20 and the averages are UConn 69.5, St. John's 68.5. The coaches left eight points between them. The sim left a point.

Silas Demary Jr. is the preseason player of the year. Last season he averaged 10.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 1.6 steals, and he was first-team All-Big East. Braylon Mullins, an All-Freshman pick a year ago at 12.0 points and 3.5 rebounds, was a unanimous first-team choice this time. Na'jai Hines, in from Seton Hall, made the second team. The league office has the Huskies at No. 4 in the AP poll and No. 5 in the USA Today coaches poll, off a 34-6 season and a third Final Four in four years.

St. John's went 30-7, won the regular season and the Garden tournament for the second straight year, and reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999. The coaches' first-team picks in Queens are Tounde Yessoufou, unanimous after a Baylor season of 17.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 2.0 steals, and returnee Ian Jackson. The Johnnies are No. 13 in the AP poll. Villanova, third in the league vote, opens the college season on Sunday, Nov. 1, against Notre Dame in Rome. Tyler Perkins, last year's most improved player at 13.7 points, is a first-team pick, with transfers Kwame Evans Jr. and Devin Royal on the second team. Marquette's Nigel James Jr., the freshman of the year at 16.4 points and 4.9 assists, was a unanimous first-team pick of his own.

The poll's top two are the only teams with a real claim, and GameSim could not split them. Everything from Villanova down is a race for who gets to play them in March.

First-place votes in parentheses. Coaches could not vote for their own team. Source: Big East coaches poll, Oct. 1.