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Big East coaches pick St. John’s to finish second in preseason poll

UConn dominates Big East preseason polls, yet a minority of coaches—including Rick Pitino—break ranks.

By · Published October 2, 2026  07:50 UTC · Updated October 2, 2026  09:24 UTC

4sources
5articles
3velocity
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Sources (5)

The story so far

⚡ Executive Intelligence Takeaways Corroborated across 4 independent newsrooms
  • Velocity & Diffusion: Coverage exploded across 4 distinct news outlets with 5 published articles, achieving a live velocity of 3.
  • Primary Driver: UConn dominates Big East preseason polls, yet a minority of coaches—including Rick Pitino—break ranks.
  • Source Integrity: Verified strictly against primary headline reporting under zero-hallucination protocols.

UConn occupied the top slot in the Big East preseason rankings for both its women’s and men’s basketball programs, according to the conference’s poll released on Oct. 1. The sweep of major preseason awards, highlighted by Vukosa’s honors on bigeast.com, underpins the consensus.

Yahoo Sports reported that two Big East coaches broke from the consensus, with Rick Pitino among them, by not selecting UConn as the league champion. Future updates from the conference will reveal whether the outlier votes hint at deeper competitive concerns as the season approaches.

Synthesized by Archynetys from the headlines below under a strict no-invention contract. ✓ fact-checked: unsupported claims removed (67% supported) Updated 1h ago.

The obvious questions

Which program led the Big East preseason rankings for both men's and women's basketball?

UConn topped both the women's and men's preseason polls.

Who was named preseason Player of the Year for the Big East men's basketball?

Silas Demary Jr. was named preseason Player of the Year, per CT Insider.

Which notable coach was reported not to have voted for UConn as the league champion?

Rick Pitino was reported by Yahoo Sports as one of the two coaches who did not vote for UConn to win the league.

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Topics

UConn Big East preseason poll Rick Pitino Silas Demary Jr.

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