Seton Hall, in case you missed it, enters the week on a roll. We're talking major hype and big-time success for a basketball program most people equate to the heady days of the Big ESPN Conference.
Sorry, that's the Big East; it's hard to keep the loop and the leader separated.
The Pirates were a member of the long-lost conference when it was big time. It now has 10 members spread from Rhode Island and New Jersey to Nebraska and Wisconsin. That makes it east in terms of U.S. geography.
MORE: College basketball scores | Polls | Videos
When the Big East was really big, it included national powers and NCAA title teams. UConn, Georgetown and Villanova. 'Nova remains, but the other biggies are long gone.
Why are college basketball fans talking about Seton Hall? Saturday's victory over No. 6 Villanova marked the second time in 72 hours the Pirates keelhauled a nationally ranked team. It was a 66-61 overtime victory that followed a 78-67 victory over No. 15 St. John's.
"We knew we were a good team," said Khadeen Carrington, a freshman who hit the basket that put Seton Hall ahead to stay on Saturday. "But it showed that we are getting better."
This is heady stuff for the little school in South Orange, N.J. It likely means the Pirates will be in the Top 25 in the next college basketball polls. It means they are drawing attention in way-too-early talk about national title contenders.
What is clear is coach Kevin Willard has something special in the works.
"The fact that we were able to prove ourselves and beat two top 15 teams in the country, I think it shows a lot about us," the Pirates' Sterling Gibbs said. "We really stuck together. We're a young team, but at the same time we're really talented and really tough."
Especially since they won both games without freshman star Isaiah Whitehead, out of action with a bum foot.
Willard is building a power program in a gold mine of basketball talent. But while two upset victories are great, it's a long way to March, with the Big East Tournament and possible NCAA seeding in the Field of 65.
It's prove it time, and Seton Hall has Xavier and Creighton on this week's schedule. Good luck.
Contributing: NJ.com, New York Times, Seton Hall athletics, Associated Press