STF Conference Previews: Big East

Conference: Big East

Last Season Recap: After a decade out of the limelight, Georgetown finally returned to the top of Big East, as well as back to the Final Four. Traditional powers UConn, Syracuse and Cincinnati suffered abnormally dismal seasons, while also-ran Notre Dame found themselves near the top of the standings. And Pittsburgh did something not interesting.

Team to Beat: Take your pick. Not many conferences can boast three potential top ten teams all battling for the top spot. You can’t go wrong picking either Georgetown’s height and experience, Louisville’s depth and athleticism or Marquette defense and guard play as your team to beat. We’ll go with Georgetown, but not by much

Second Tier: Syracuse and UConn are both looking to rebound after disappointing seasons. The Orange will rely on Devendorf and super freshmen Johnny Flynn and Donte Greene while the Huskies will hope to get more out of A.J. Price and Hasheem Thabeet. Pittsburgh will once again be Pittsburgh: as boring as dry wedding, yet somehow they will advance to the Sweet 16 by defeating a 12 and 13 seezzzzzzzzzzzzzz…….sorry about that, the Panthers just make me doze off. Providence loses leading scorer Herbert Hill, but four other starters return from a team that was a few bounces from the tournament. Villanova can be be interesting if they find anyone else to play along side Scottie Reynolds. West Virginia returns everyone, but will need to adjust to Bob Huggins' system and his windbreaker vests.

Sleeper: Seton Hall - The Pirates are one of my top 5 sleepers for the entire year. Not many teams (not even Marquette) return close to 50ppg from their backcourt, with Brian Laing, Eugene Harvey and Jamar Nutter Yes that's right, 50 ppg. Throw in other factors have me believing in the Pirates: I’ve always been a Bobby Gonzales fan from his days at Manhattan and the Pirates are moving into the new Prudential Center in downtown Newark, much closer to campus than the Meadowlands was. If they can get anything from the post, the Pirates will be a contender.


Overrated: Notre Dame - I know that this team returns eight key players from last year’s squad, but I’m not a believer. This team overachieved all last season and is missing arguably their most important players in Colin Falls and Russell Carter. Who can create their own shot on this squad? Back to Earth for the Irish

Bottom of the Barrel: South Florida - Enjoy this football run, Bulls fans, because this team is the worst team in the Big East by leaps and bounds.


STF predicted order of finish

1. Georgetown
2. Louisville
3. Marquette
4. Syracuse
5. UConn
6. Providence
7. Pittsburgh
8. Villanova
9. Seton Hall
10. Notre Dame
11. West Virginia
12. St. John’s
13. Cincinnati
14. DePaul
15. Rutgers
16. South Florida