NEW YORK CITY − A lot can change in college basketball. For proof, just look at the Xavier Musketeers.

Seven months after being knocked out of the Big East Tournament quarterfinals by UConn in a 27-point blowout, Xavier is back at Madison Square Garden for Media Day expected to be in contention for a conference title this season.

Wednesday marked the unofficial start to the college basketball season at "The World's Most Famous Arena." Optimism for each program was accompanied by polling projections and all-league selections with the season less than two weeks away.

Xavier men's basketball was picked to finish third in the Big East preseason coaches' poll.

The Big East preseason poll has been hit or miss during the second edition of the Sean Miller era. In 2022, Xavier was picked to finish second in the league, and they did just that, going 27-10 and reaching the Sweet 16. Last season, Xavier checked in at sixth in the poll and finished ninth.

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The jump to the No. 3 spot stems from Xavier's work in the transfer portal. The league's coaches are believing in Miller to get the Musketeers back into March Madness with a reloaded roster. At this time last year, Xavier was trying to get a team full of first-year players ready for the college basketball grind. Now the Musketeers have two frontcourt returners in Jerome Hunter and Zach Freemantle from that Sweet 16 run, as well as several impact transfers through the portal and a pair of sophomores (Dailyn Swain, Trey Green) who were thrown into the fire last year.

Freemantle and returning point guard Dayvion McKnight were selected to the preseason All-Big East second team while Indiana State transfer Ryan Conwell was selected to the third team. Freemantle was Xavier's lone preseason all-conference selection last season, earning an honorable mention nod despite being sidelined for the year.

Two-time defending national champion UConn was picked to win the Big East. Ten of the league's coaches gave the Huskies their first-place vote. UConn head coach Dan Hurley's vote went to Marquette, which was picked to finish fourth. The Golden Eagles lost Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek and NBA draft pick Oso Ighodaro but return standout guard Kam Jones.

Creighton was selected as the runner-up in the conference with 84 total points. The Bluejays get back senior center Ryan Kalkbrenner, a three-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year, along with starting guards Steven Ashworth and Mason Miller. Greg McDermott's club has been to the Sweet 16 in three of the last four seasons.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Big East Media Day: Where was Xavier picked to finish in conference?