2014 Big East Media Day: Villanova Wildcats picked to finish first

Villanova was picked to finish first in the Big East Conference this season with 9 out of 10 possible first-place votes in the leagues' coaches poll. Georgetown, who finished second, were the other team to receive a first-place vote. The league polls its coaches prior to media day every season to determine these preseason rankings -- based on where coaches believe teams will finish at the end of the 2014-15 season.

'Nova will return four from last year's squad that won the Big East regular season title after winning 16 of 18 conference games. It was the school's first outright title since 1981-82.

Creighton was expected to fall pretty far from last season, being picked 9th out of 10 teams -- just ahead of DePaul, who were picked last.

2014-15 Big East Men's Preseason Poll

The League also announced its preseason player of the year, Georgetown's D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, and rookie of the year, Seton Hall's Isaiah Whitehead. JayVaughn Pinkston was the only Villanova player to be included in the preseason All-Big East First Team, though Ryan Arcidiacono and Darrun Hilliard were picked in the Second Team.

First Team:
Jr .- Kellen Dunham, G (Butler)
Jr. - D`Vauntes Smith-Rivera, G (Georgetown)
Sr. - D`Angelo Harrison, G (St. John's)
Sr. - JayVaughn Pinkston, F (Villanova)
Sr. Matt Stainbrook, C (Xavier)

Second Team:
So. - Billy Garrett, Jr, G (DePaul)
Sr. - LaDontae Henton, F (Providence)
So. - Rysheed Jordan, G (St. John's)
Jr. - Ryan Arcidiacono, G (Villanova)
Sr. - Darrun Hilliard, G (Villanova)

Honorable Mention:
Jr. - Roosevelt Jones, G (Butler)
Jr. - Chris Obekpa, F (St. John's)
Jr. - Sterling Gibbs, G (Seton Hall)