The Big East won't be mistaken for the deepest league in the nation. And given that its membership stops at 10 teams, it will never echo the preseason banter of other mega conferences touting the possibility of double-digit NCAA tournament bids.

But keeping the focus strictly on quality, how many other leagues have a top four playing better than No. 2 Villanova, No. 7 Xavier, No. 10 Creighton and No. 18 Butler?

The wins have been impressive. Nova won that rare, true road game in November by beating Purdue 79-76. Xavier bested Clemson, a likely NCAA tournament team, 83-77. Creighton handed Wisconsin its first loss of the season 79-67. Butler knocked Arizona from the top 10 with its 69-65 win in Las Vegas last Friday.

The Big East figured to be a race among those three teams. Villanova, Xavier and Creighton all started the season ranked and expected to carry the league.

But Butler? The Bulldogs once again earned their way into the rankings with results.

Head coach Chris Holtmann made it three straight seasons with a win over a top-10 team when Butler toppled No. 8 Arizona.

Kelan Martin led No. 18 Butler with 18 points in the Bulldogs' win at Utah on Monday. AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

Butler forward Kelan Martin has taken up the mantle from departed seniors Kellen Dunham and Roosevelt Jones. Martin, who leads the team with a 16.4 scoring average, notched a game-high 18 points in the Bulldogs' 68-59 win over Utah on Monday.

That moved Butler to 7-0 and gave the Big East's four best teams a collective record of 25-0. The four best teams of the other major conferences can't say that.

Not the Big 12, where Baylor has made the most surprising leap from unranked to top 10. While Kansas is formidable, it has already been tagged with a loss, along with Iowa State and West Virginia.

The Big Ten has been sent licking its wounds as injuries have depleted a Michigan State squad that was highly touted in the preseason. Indiana's well-intentioned road trip to Fort Wayne ended in disaster, and Wisconsin posted double-digit losses to its two ranked opponents.

The Pac-12 is witnessing the return of UCLA to national prominence, but Oregon has slipped under the weight of expectations and Arizona could potentially keep sliding due to the unexplained absence of Allonzo Trier.

Thanks to South Carolina and Florida, the Southeastern Conference is at least showing a pulse outside of Kentucky. But can you name a fourth team from the league playing as well as Butler is right now?

Let me help: There isn't one.

Only the ACC has a viable argument against the Big East's top four. Third-ranked North Carolina is playing at a level that rivals where it left off in reaching the national title game last season. Sixth-ranked Virginia hasn't missed a step despite the dismissal of Memphis transfer Austin Nichols.

The difference is No. 14 Louisville showed its vulnerability when it struggled to score in a 68-62 overtime win over Old Dominion, and in losing a 22-point lead in its 66-63 loss to Baylor.

No. 5 Duke could become the best team in the country when it gets healthy, or it could carry the most talented injured trio of "what ifs" in history. Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden have yet to see the court, and there is still no set date for their debut.

The common thread in the Big East? It has literally quit trying to be the biggest and has taken ownership of small ball.

None of the four teams have a dominating big man in the middle. In fact, most of them trot out a four-guard rotation with some 6-foot-6 guy masquerading as a power forward. It creates a disadvantage on defense, but it sure does open up things on offense.

That's what separates the Big East. Villanova (2), Creighton (6), Xavier (14) and Butler (20) make it the only conference with four teams ranked in Ken Pomeroy's top 20 of adjusted offense.

That's enough of a reminder that even though it downsized, the league still has a lot of beast left.