Big East

The Big East is STACKED this year. From UConn, to Louisville, to Georgetown, to Marquette, Pitt, Nova, the talent level is phenomenal.  Ten teams in the top 25 AP NCAA Basketball poll are from the Big East. The conference is full of talent and will be a fun one to watch. Let's go team by team and look at their strengths:

Connecticut(2): EVERYTHING! This team was stacked with basketball talent last year but was still young and couldn't exploit it. This year they are all another year older, another year better, another year smarter, another year more everything. That means instead of a young, inexperienced team with a lot of talent, they are now a seasoned, experienced team with a lot of talent. Plus, who's going to stop Hasheem Thabeet?

Louisville(3): I'm tempted to hit my caps lock and use the everything line again, but I will control myself. They are tremendously strong in the paint with their current talent and the depth provided by new addition, and heartwarming story, Samardo Samuels. They lost Padgett which was a big blow, but I they are still packed with talent and ready to make a deep-run at the NCAA tournament.

 

Pittsburgh(5): Pitt was good last year and they were poised to have a good amount of talent returning this year. Sam Young and DeJuan Blair are both big time basketball players in the paint. Young could be the NCAA Men's Big East conference player of the year if he continues to up his game like he did at the end of last season. They also have a strong backcourt that could be even stronger if Mike Cook wins his appeal for another year of eligibility. This could be Pitt's year to break into the elite of NCAA Basketball.

 

Notre Dame(9): Luke Harangody and Kyle McAlarney are coming back to NCAA basketball along with two more of their starters from last year. The only thing that happened to hurt the Irish is a loss of the paint presence provided by Kurz last year. Luke Zeller will begin the season in the paint but he's not the same caliber Kurz was. Still, they made a strong run in the NCAA tournament last year and have a lot of guys returning this year.

 

Marquette (16): Marquette's strength is in its three big time guards. Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, and Wesley Matthews make up one of the most formidable guard groups in all of the NCAA. Their issues reside in their big men. They have Hayward, a forward who will be trying to hold down the paint but he isn't up to the level of much of the Big East. This is a wait and see team in NCAA basketball. If their big men step up and at least play well enough to stop other NCAA teams' big men they will be a force.

 

Georgetown (22): Hibbert is gone. Ewing Jr. is gone. You lost to Davidson in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Deal with it. The Hoyas are still a force to be reckoned with in the Big East. Henry Sims and Greg Monroe make up two big parts of a strong incoming class at Georgetown that may lead to even greater success down the road. With Sapp coming back and providing veteran leadership this Georgetown team, while not a pick to win the conference, is still good enough to make a deeper run into the tournament than last year.

 

Villanova (23): Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament last year. Sounds pretty good but Jay Wright isn't satisfied. He has all of his five starters from last year returning this year and he thinks they can get even farther in this year's NCAA tournament. Scottie Reynolds is like the engine in the Villanova machine. The guard was one of the most dominant forces in the NCAA tournament last year. Oh, and he's only a junior.