Big east next year. Who is going to be good????

[orangefan13]

I think we will be in the top 4 atleast. Ville will be tough they have a tough 3 studs next year.
ND comes back strong with Cooley and only looses Martin(not a huge loss).
Gtown should be pretty good they lost nobody.

Obviously Uconn is getting screwed by crappy rules, but Omar Calhoon their fresh is pretty good.
Howbout Marq, Cincy, Pitt, UWV they all lose some key players?
Nova seems to be going through tough times.

Curious how Providence will do with some good fresh.
I think Elijah macon is a sleeper at WVU.

Going to be a interesting preseason.

 

[PauliePeppas]

Gtown didnt lose anyone? They lost 3 of their top 4 scorers, leading assist man, top rebounder and thir two best 3pt shooters

 

[NKR1978]

WVU isn't in the Big East anymore.

Louisville, as of now, would be the best team in the BE and a legit top 3 team. I think the top 4 will be Louisville, Cincy, Syracuse and one of Marquette, Notre Dame and Providence.

 

[pearl31]

us and l'vlle, then everyone else. next year is gonna be more of a down year for the conf than this past year was

 

[4evaOrange]

The league will come down to SU and Ville.

 

[PoppyHart]

Martin and Abro could both conceivable return.

 

[billsin01]

us and l'vlle, then everyone else. next year is gonna be more of a down year for the conf than this past year was

I think this past year was a down year for the league. I know they had good success in the tourney and there were a lot of solid teams but there weren't many great or even really good teams, IMO. That said, I agree, I think Cuse and L'ville will be out front.

Second Tier
Marquette -- DJO and Crowder are huge losses, but J. Wilson/Blue/Cadougan/Mayo/Gardner and that style should still make them pretty tough
ND -- even with Abromaitis I think they are a pretty similar team every year, talented enough and tough enough to give you fits but not elite in the talent department.
Pitt -- Ugly year and they lose Gibbs, but Woodall for a full year along with a ton of guys who got experience -- a huge key for them -- and the addition of the big kid (forget his name). They should be back.
USF -- They lose Gilchrist and Anderson Jr., but i think the key for them is Collins and their ability to score just enough. Rudd and kid who's 6-8 and can shoot (fitzpatrick?) should keep them in the upper half if I had to guess. I really like Collins.

Third Tier/Wait and See
UConn -- Boatright, the frosh and Napier should keep them interesting.
Cincy -- I'm guessing they're more likely second tier or maybe even borderline first tier but how the loss of Gates impacts them remains to be seen.
St. John's -- They lose Harkless but they played well and have a lot of young talent. Should have lavin back as well, I think.

Wild Cards
Nova -- No idea. I like Wright and Yarou, Cheek and Wayns have potential (though it's been ugly so far). But this group has really struggled for a while now. Hard to figure. Edit: If Cheek and Wayns have in fact hired agents, then I guess that hurts.
RU -- Birutas leaving really hurts, otherwise I could have seen them creeping up a level or two. Now? I'm not sure but Rice seems pretty good, they play hard and appear to have some talent.
Provy -- Like Cooley and think a group of Coleman/Council/Batts/Henton/Cotton with the addition of Ledo and Dunn could be very interesting to say the least. Edit: Coleman and Cotton xfers will hurt so they are probably relegated to the also-ran group with the Hall and Depaul. Too bad. That would have been a fun collection of talent.

 

[HoustonCuse]

DC is going to make Cooley look like House Party 2.

 

[SmilinBob]

I haven't really paid a lot of attention to when schools are coming to the big east, same cast of characters for 2013 except for the hillbillies, correct?

 

[jr4750]

I think this past year was a down year for the league. I know they had good success in the tourney and there were a lot of solid teams but there weren't many great or even really good teams, IMO. That said, I agree, I think Cuse and L'ville will be out front.

Second Tier
Marquette -- DJO and Crowder are huge losses, but J. Wilson/Blue/Cadougan/Mayo/Gardner and that style should still make them pretty tough
ND -- even with Abromaitis I think they are a pretty similar team every year, talented enough and tough enough to give you fits but not elite in the talent department.
Pitt -- Ugly year and they lose Gibbs, but Woodall for a full year along with a ton of guys who got experience -- a huge key for them -- and the addition of the big kid (forget his name). They should be back.
USF -- They lose Gilchrist and Anderson Jr., but i think the key for them is Collins and their ability to score just enough. Rudd and kid who's 6-8 and can shoot (fitzpatrick?) should keep them in the upper half if I had to guess. I really like Collins.

Third Tier/Wait and See
UConn -- Boatright, the frosh and Napier should keep them interesting.
Cincy -- I'm guessing they're more likely second tier or maybe even borderline first tier but how the loss of Gates impacts them remains to be seen.
St. John's -- They lose Harkless but they played well and have a lot of young talent. Should have lavin back as well, I think.

Wild Cards
Nova -- No idea. I like Wright and Yarou, Cheek and Wayns have potential (though it's been ugly so far). But this group has really struggled for a while now. Hard to figure.
RU -- Birutas leaving really hurts, otherwise I could have seen them creeping up a level or two. Now? I'm not sure but Rice seems pretty good, they play hard and appear to have some talent.
Provy -- Like Cooley and think a group of Coleman/Council/Batts/Henton/Cotton with the addition of Ledo and Dunn could be very interesting to say the least.

Didn't Wayns and Cheek go pro?

 

[cortacuse]

I think this past year was a down year for the league. I know they had good success in the tourney and there were a lot of solid teams but there weren't many great or even really good teams, IMO. That said, I agree, I think Cuse and L'ville will be out front.

Second Tier
Marquette -- DJO and Crowder are huge losses, but J. Wilson/Blue/Cadougan/Mayo/Gardner and that style should still make them pretty tough
ND -- even with Abromaitis I think they are a pretty similar team every year, talented enough and tough enough to give you fits but not elite in the talent department.
Pitt -- Ugly year and they lose Gibbs, but Woodall for a full year along with a ton of guys who got experience -- a huge key for them -- and the addition of the big kid (forget his name). They should be back.
USF -- They lose Gilchrist and Anderson Jr., but i think the key for them is Collins and their ability to score just enough. Rudd and kid who's 6-8 and can shoot (fitzpatrick?) should keep them in the upper half if I had to guess. I really like Collins.

Third Tier/Wait and See
UConn -- Boatright, the frosh and Napier should keep them interesting.
Cincy -- I'm guessing they're more likely second tier or maybe even borderline first tier but how the loss of Gates impacts them remains to be seen.
St. John's -- They lose Harkless but they played well and have a lot of young talent. Should have lavin back as well, I think.

Wild Cards
Nova -- No idea. I like Wright and Yarou, Cheek and Wayns have potential (though it's been ugly so far). But this group has really struggled for a while now. Hard to figure.
RU -- Birutas leaving really hurts, otherwise I could have seen them creeping up a level or two. Now? I'm not sure but Rice seems pretty good, they play hard and appear to have some talent.
Provy -- Like Cooley and think a group of Coleman/Council/Batts/Henton/Cotton with the addition of Ledo and Dunn could be very interesting to say the least.

Both Coleman and Cotton are transferring...

 

[billsin01]

Didn't Wayns and Cheek go pro?

Ah, maybe. I thought I saw they were testing and figured they'd be back.

 

[billsin01]

Both Coleman and Cotton are transferring...

Just saw that on Cotton. Coleman too? That sucks. Still an interesting group if Ledo is what some think he is. Ultimatley probably still shy on talent, however.

 

[SmilinBob]

Just saw that on Cotton. Coleman too? That sucks. Still an interesting group if Ledo is what some think he is. Ultimatley probably still shy on talent, however.

This doesn't make sense to me, they are recruiting well and these guys are leaving?

 

[orangefan13]

I haven't really paid a lot of attention to when schools are coming to the big east, same cast of characters for 2013 except for the hillbillies, correct?

is TCU in I know they sgined up to be a part of the conference before the rest?

 

[cusetown1]

SU, UL and then everyone else. Big East is going to suck this year, first time I can really remember.

 

[HoustonCuse]

is TCU in I know they sgined up to be a part of the conference before the rest?

No, TCU already bailed. They will never play a Big East game.

 

[DeGrozz]

Louisville is going to be a sexy pick because they made a nice run to the Final Four, but I am not sold on them as my league favorite this year. In a somewhat mediocre year in the Big East, they managed to drop 8 games and had a pretty poor record against other tournament teams in our conference. I can't tell if that run through the Big East Tournament to the Final Four was a vastly improved team or a team that just got hot at the right time. They were very inconsistent up to the tournaments, and inconsistent teams usually do not fair well i the Big East. With a year more of experience and invaluable tourney experience though, they could have turned a corner and be really good next year.

It just seems like it'll be one of those off-seasons where the top teams will be able to nit-pick at the other top teams because there is no clear dominating team (at least in my opinion).

One thing I am really looking forward to is if Jay Wright can bounce Nova back when the Big East is down next year -- I'm pretty sure he didn't suddenly forget how to coach. Wayns and Cheek were his stars, but they were also chuckers and may have hurt the team as much as they helped them. I hope he can bring Nova back, they are fun team to watch in Big East action when they're playing well.

 

[longtimefan]

Martin and Abro could both conceivable return.

Maybe, but they each took their *first* red-shirt for reasons that were not medical. Martin, to transfer from Purdue; and Abromaitis, to get stronger and be more BE-ready. Usually, a 6th year is granted only if all the missed years were due to injury (like Dan Conley).

 

[rrlbees]

This doesn't make sense to me, they are recruiting well and these guys are leaving?

rumor is the sheet is about to hit the fan at providence.

 

[rrlbees]

As everyone has said SU and Lville will fight for the top spot. I see SU once again winning the regular season championship led by 1st All BE performer Triche, 2nd teamer Fair, 3rd teamer MCW and all rookie team performer Coleman.

 

[orange79]

rumor is the sheet is about to hit the fan at providence.

Share, please

 

[SmilinBob]

rumor is the sheet is about to hit the fan at providence.

Ah, I see. There's been a lot of sheet going on in Providence, but not the school so I suppose it was only a matter of time, thanks for the info.

 

[Frozen]

Is Ledo not going to qualify?

 

[Cusefaninvirginia]

Here's my preseason picks for the BE:

1. Louisville (clearly best on paper - top 2 or 3 nationally in most preseason polls)
2. Syracuse (easily the 2nd best team on paper - if Coleman can be effective from day one, MCW steps up like I expect, and either Triche or Fair or Southerland or Cooney step up and show they can score while drawing double teams, then SU could overtake Lousville.)

3. Cincy (Wright, Parker and Kilpatrick will be one of best backcourts in BE; they still have a couple serviceable bigs to play up front, and they played some of their best ball last year playing small while Gates was suspended)
4. Gtown (will still be dangerous - Porter, Lubick, Starks, Whittington, and Trawick are a very solid core and they have a couple very good recruits coming in)

Next tier competing for 5. USF, Notre Dame, Pitt, Marquette (this is where it gets hard to predict - all should be competing for tournament bids; ND could move to top or bottom of this tier depending on who gets last year of eligibility approved; USF losing a lot in Gus, Robertson but getting a ton back, including a couple bigs I'm not familiar with but have heard promsing things; Marquette's losing a lot but still will have some talent, and buzz always gets all he can get out of his players; and Dixon is Dixon - he'll be back)

Next: Rutgers, UConn, Providence, St. John's, Nova - you can throw them in any order. I don't expect any to even be a bubble team - hell, not even if UConn was eligible.)
I'd finish with Depaul second to last and Seton Hall dead last.