The last time the Xavier Musketeers were in New York City, they were sputtering toward the end of the program's second losing season in 30 years.
Xavier pulled out a win in the Big East Tournament over Marquette, then got crushed by No. 2 UConn by 25 points in the quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden.
That loss ended Xavier's season at 15-18 overall. It was Xavier's fewest wins in a full season (also 13-8 in 2020-2021 Covid year) since going 13-15 under Skip Prosser in the program's first year in the Atlantic-10 in 1996.
Nearly seven months later, the Muskies were back in Manhattan for Big East Media Day, this time at the Marriott Marquis near Times Square. The feeling around the program shows how quickly things can change in the current college basketball landscape.
In March, Xavier was stuck in the cellar of the Big East. After an offseason spending spree in the transfer portal and a few key returning players, Xavier has lofty goals of contending near the top of the conference and returning to the NCAA Tournament.
Thursday marked the unofficial start of the college basketball season. Optimism for each program was accompanied by polling projections and all-league preseason selections.
Xavier men's basketball was picked to finish sixth in the Big East preseason coaches' poll.
Big East preseason men's basketball poll
- UConn (8) − 98
- St. John's (2) − 90
- Villanova − 81
- Marquette (1) − 73
- Providence − 59
- Xavier − 54
- Creighton − 47
- DePaul − 32
- Seton Hall − 31
- Georgetown − 27
- Butler − 13
"Preseason polls are irrelevant, especially with all the transfers. It's getting harder and harder for coaches and media members to figure it out," Pitino said. "I don't put a whole lot of stock into it. I like our team a lot. I'm excited to get rolling."
The Big East preseason poll has been hit or miss in recent seasons for Xavier. This is the 11th time Xavier has been picked in the top 6. Of the previous 10 times, the Musketeers made the NCAA Tournament six times, including four trips with Chris Mack (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) and twice under Sean Miller (2023, 2025).
Last year, Xavier was picked to finish eighth in the conference, in front of DePaul, Butler and Seton Hall. Xavier ended up with the league's worst conference record (6-14) along with Georgetown while Marquette (picked fifth) had the fewest total wins (12) in the Big East.
This year, however, doesn't have the uncertainty that comes with a first-year head coach. Last season, Richard Pitino was taking over a program with a completely overhauled roster that included just one returner, zero returning minutes and 11 new players.
This season, Pitino again turned to the transfer portal, adding seven players, including three from high-major programs. The Musketeers also return a double-digit scorer from last season in Jovan Milicevic and a projected major contributor in Gabriel Pozzato, who missed all of last season.
Milicevic and LSU transfer Mike Nwoko, Xavier's team captains, represented the Musketeers in New York and were both named to the All-Big East Preseason Third Team.
"Part of me as a coach knows it's all irrelevant, but I also want them to be motivated and appreciative that people recognize their past experiences and they believe they're some of the better players in the league," Pitino said about Milicevic and Nwoko's third-team nod. "In order for us to get to where we want to get to, you've gotta win, but you've gotta have all-conference players. Preseason is nice. Hopefully we get postseason."
New Big East coaches
Butler (Ronald Nored), Creighton (Alan Huss) and Providence (Bryan Hodgson) are the league's three teams with new coaches. Butler was picked to finish last in the Big East and Creighton was picked seventh. Providence, anchored by a top 10 incoming transfer class, was picked fifth.
St. John's and UConn were the top two teams in the Big East last season. Despite the Johnnies winning both the regular season and conference tournament title in each of the past two seasons, UConn is the preseason No. 1, earning eight of 11 first-place votes.
St. John's has the No. 1 incoming transfer portal class, according to 247Sports, a group headlined by five-star newcomers Tounde Yessoufou (Baylor) and Keyshawn Hall (Auburn). UConn added five players via the portal and the Huskies return first-team All-Big East guard Silas Demary Jr. and All-Freshman guard Braylon Mullins. Yessoufou, Mullins and Marquette's Nigel James Jr. were the three unanimous first-team selections.
Demary Jr. was named the Big East's Preseason Player of the Year, and UConn forward Colben Landrew is the league's preseason Freshman of the Year.
The 2026-2027 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll and awards have been announced! 🏀🤩
📰: https://t.co/KGmdrZm2Hlpic.twitter.com/BVWaCictZN
— BIG EAST WBB (@BIGEASTWBB) October 1, 2026
Xavier women's basketball picked to finish 9th in Big East
Xavier women's basketball was picked to finish 9th in the Big East. It's the first time since the opening season (2023-24) of the Billi Chambers era Xavier was not picked to finish last in the conference.
Under Chambers, Xavier has improved every season. After going 1-27 in 2024, Xavier won seven games in 2025, then won double-digit contests (11-19) for the first time since 2019 last season.
Meri Kanerva was named to the Preseason All-Big East Honorable Mention team. The third-year guard has started 60 games over the last two seasons and averaged 10.7 points, 3.6 assists and 1.2 steals.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Here's where Xavier Musketeers were picked to finish in Big East
