Creighton is ranked and flourishing again ... thanks to the transfer market

Greg McDermott's Blue Jays are 5-0 with four wins over Power 5 schools

It's rarely easy to move from what is known as a mostly mid-major league to a high-major conference filled with programs that consistently recruit top-100 prospects. But Creighton's jump from the MVC to the Big East still went smoothly, at least immediately, and here's why: Doug McDermott.

In fairness, it wasn't just Doug McDermott.

It was mostly him -- but also Ethan Wragge and Grant Gibbs.

McDermott was a fourth-year senior. Wragge was a fifth-year senior. Gibbs was a sixth-year senior. So Creighton was experienced, talented and led by one of the most accomplished college basketball players in history [McDermott], meaning the move from the MVC to the Big East could not have come at a better time.

"With that senior class -- with Doug and Wragge and Grant Gibbs -- we could've played in any league in the country and been fine [in the 2013-14 season]," Creighton coach Greg McDermott told me Tuesday night.

And he's right.

Creighton finished that season 27-8 overall, including 14-4 in the Big East, and earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. It was awesome. Things were fun. But McDermott has been doing this a long time. And he's smart. So he knew exactly what was coming the moment those seniors exited the program.

Losses.

In an unusual twist, based on little more than timing, Creighton was equipped to handle Year 1 in the Big East but was never going to be suited to succeed in Year 2, which produced a disappointing but not-too-surprising 4-14 league record. And that record wasn't too surprising because Creighton's roster in that season was inexperienced and filled with guys mostly recruited to play in the MVC.

"The young guys didn't play very much in [our first season in the Big East]," McDermott said. "They had limited roles. And then when those seniors graduated, the young guys got thrown into roles they probably weren't ready for. And they weren't recruited to play in the Big East. ... So we had to upgrade our talent, no question. And fortunately we've been able to do that."

Which brings me to the present -- to Year 4 in the Big East.

Because Year 4 is off to a tremendous start.

Creighton is 5-0 and already in possession of victories against a Big Ten school (Wisconsin), a Pac-12 school (Washington State), an ACC school (North Carolina State) and a SEC school (Ole Miss). The Bluejays are ranked 12th in the Associated Press poll, 18th in the coaches poll and 13th in the CBS Sports Top 25 (and one). They're 22nd at KenPom and running the nation's fifth most-efficient offense thanks in part to the fact that they're shooting a remarkable 51.2 percent from 3-point range.

"Our offense has been incredibly efficient, and a lot of that has to do with Maurice Watson," McDermott said. "He sets everybody up. ... And our wings have just shot the daylights out of the basketball. So that's been good."

No, it has been great.

And it has been great for the exact reason McDermott mentioned: Creighton's talent has been upgraded -- specifically through the transfer market, which is something college coaches are trying to do now more than ever.

"We felt it was the quickest way to get back on solid footing," McDermott said.

So Creighton enrolled Boston University transfer Maurice Watson and Nevada transfer Cole Huff after the 2013-14 season, then added Kansas State transfer Marcus Foster after the 2014-15 season. Each had to sit out a year per normal NCAA transfer rules. But they're all, for the first time, playing together now. And the early results are encouraging. Foster is averaging a team-best 18.0 points. Watson is averaging 12.6 points and 9.2 assists. And Huff is averaging 11.4 points and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 55.0 percent from 3-point range.

They are three of Creighton's top four scorers.

They are probably Creighton's three best players.

They are why it's sensible to suggest the Bluejays can challenge Villanova and Xavier at the top of the Big East and maybe make a run at the Final Four. And that's not hyperbole, by the way. One man who has already coached against, and lost to, Creighton told me Wednesday morning the Bluejays are "Final Four good."

As always, we'll see.

But, through five games, they certainly look the part.