Geno Auriemma’s Connecticut Huskies completed a perfect 18-0 regular season in the Big East conference (13th time overall), claiming its 12th consecutive conference title and fifth in a row since rejoining the Big East prior to the start of the 2020-2021 season.
Connecticut’s three losses (Notre Dame, USC and Tennessee) came by an average of 5.6 points, with only one loss falling in the 2025 calendar year. UConn is 17-1 since December 22nd, winning each Big East conference game by an average of 34.1 points. Connecticut never won by less than 11 points in conference play, pulling away in the middle quarters from each of its hardiest challenges (Georgetown and Creighton).
The Huskies also claimed stake in four Big East awards, with Paige Bueckers taking home the conference’s Player of the Year Award, Sarah Strong the Freshman of the Year and Ashlynn Shade the Sixth Woman of the Year award. Auriemma won his 19th Big East Coach of the Year award.
Connecticut will await the winner of No. 8 St. John’s and No. 9 Butler in the tournament’s quarterfinal round on Saturday afternoon.
In summary: the Huskies are the team to beat. But what else does the Big East have to offer? How do the other teams stack up to the conference’s juggernaut?
There are a handful of teams worth highlighting here.
First of which are the Creighton Blue Jays, who stuck with the Huskies through the thick of two quarters in Omaha before a crushing third period ended Jim Flanery’s upset bid.
Creighton finished the regular season 16-2 in conference play (both losses to Connecticut) and 24-5 overall, ranking 23rd in the final AP Top 25 Poll.
Led by the experienced scoring duo of Lauren Jensen and Morgan Maly, the Blue Jays pilot the most dangerous scoring attack in the Big East behind Bueckers and Strong, and have added supplementary help in the form of Molly Mogensen and Kiani Lockett.
Securing the No. 2 seed, Creighton will avoid UConn until Monday’s final round if the two teams were both to qualify. The Blue Jays will meet the winner of No. 7 Providence (13-18, 6-12) and No. 10 Georgetown (11-18, 4-14) in the quarterfinals and one of Seton Hall, DePaul or Xavier in the semifinals.
Seton Hall (21-8, 13-5) is the only other Big East team within seven games of Connecticut. The Pirates fortified themselves in the conference’s upper tier with the program’s first 20-win season since 2021, guided by the veteran leadership of forward Faith Masonius (15.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 2.9 apg).
The Hall also built up two legitimate scoring threats in Jada Eads (14.1) and Savannah Catalon (14.1) throughout the course of the season. Eads came on strong near the end of the regular season, scoring in double figures in every game from December 6 to February 1.
The fourth-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles finished with 20-plus wins for the seventh consecutive season (not counting the 2020 COVID season) and under ten losses for the second consecutive year.
What makes this feat especially remarkable was Marquette’s continuation of success under first year head coach Cara Consuegra, who shared conference Coach of the Year honors with Auriemma.
Marquette is guided by the outstanding guard play of Skylar Forbes (15.1 ppg) and Lee Volker (13.1) but enjoys tertiary scoring from the likes of backcourt mates Halle Vice (10.8) and Jaidynn Mason (8.8).
The Golden Eagles drew perhaps the toughest first round matchup, holding a quarterfinal date with No. 5 Villanova, who has lost just three times since January 25 and is saddled by the creative Jasmine Bascoe at the point and Maddie Webber on the wing.
Head coach Denise Dillon has commanded three 20-plus win seasons, including a 30-win 2022, in her five year tenure in Villanova.
The top five seeds (teams listed up to this point) all receive first round byes and will begin play on Saturday. UConn, Creighton and Seton Hall all await its first opponent, with play-in games beginning Friday afternoon in Mohegan Sun Arena.
St. John’s and Butler tip-off tournament play at 11 a.m., with Providence and Georgetown following at 1:30 p.m. and No. 6 DePaul and No. 11 Xavier ending Friday’s action at 4 p.m.
The Huskies will meet the winner of Saint John’s and Butler at noon on Saturday. The game will stream on FS1. The closest seeded match-up of the day will then follow with No. 4 Marquette and No. 5 Villanova dueling at 2:30 p.m.
The two winners of those games will meet on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. for a place in the Big East title game.