It was not a very pleasant Thanksgiving for Big East basketball teams as most of the conference was detonated by their performances during multi-team events as the league dropped to 14-17 in non-buy game matchups.
The terrible weekend was punctuated by the crown jewel of the conference, the Connecticut Huskies, losing all three games during its trip to Hawai'i for the Maui Invitational.
Somehow the Huskies remained in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll at No. 25 while all other teams from the league dropped out expect No. 5 Marquette, who remains perfect and the clear superior team in the conference.
The average NET ranking for Big East teams is 84.0, which is only higher than the ACC (95.9) among power conferences. The league needs a big showing in this week's Big East vs. Big 12 Battle to try and restore the confidence around the country that this conference can be just as good as any other in the nation.
Trying to rank the teams in the Big East this week is one of the hardest tasks to do because of how inconsistent teams have been, but the show must go on.
1. Marquette Golden Eagles (8-0)
Marquette did not play in a feast week tournament but it didn't need to after three consecutive statement victories over Maryland, Purdue, and Georgia. This week, the Golden Eagles got back to the basics with victories over Stonehill and Western Carolina but things turn up quickly over the next 14 days.
On the road against No. 6 Iowa State, hosting No. 14 Wisconsin, and traveling to Dayton.
If Shaka Smart somehow comes out of that stretch of games with an undefeated record, Marquette is no longer a Big East title contender, they are a National Championship title contender.