1/3 into the Big East Season. Where Things Stand. How I See it. What Say You?

[ManFromOZ]

Hard to believe that we are almost at the 1/3 mark of the Big East season. Lots of surprises - up's and down's. Season ending injuries and disappointing play by established stars. Pitino's coaching making a difference, Cooley's not so much. Motta and Miller make the league better. Man from Oz (MFO)goes behind the curtain.

1. UCONN (5-1) - Far and away the best team in the conference. Nicely survived the Clingnan absence. Newton playing at a high level. Castle coming on strong. Spencer - the dude every team's fans hates but wants to have on their team. Diarra a surprise with offensive contribution.

2. Seton Hall (5-1) - What is this 1990-91? In Sha they trust. Experienced team that plays bully ball. Think Jamie Dixon and his Pitts thugs. Kadary Richmond playing at an extremely high level. Biggest surprise team - was picked 9th by the coaches.

3. Creighton (4-2) We'll find out more tomorrow night. Kalkbrenner is a load. Tough task for the Samson and AK if he plays the 5. Won four straight on the road with the Hall following our Huskies this weekend.

4. St. John's (4-2) Is this 1990-91 Part Duex? Soriano is the glue and the guy that stirs the drink. Pitino has melded all the portal dudes. Tough out.

5. Villanova (4-2) The enigma that is Kyle Neptune. Jay Wright isn't walking through the door any time soon. Too much talent to lost three games to Drexel, Liberty and Penn.

6. Marquette (2-3) Lost only three times in 20 league games last season. Took them only five games to do that this season. Tyler Kolek is out of sync. Has Shaka worn thin.

7. Xavier 8-8 (2-3) Not a great record but this team wins big when it does win. Miller (Arizona sleaze and all) seems to have made a difference. Tough out at the Cintas Center.

8. Providence 11-6 (2-4) Put up four straight L's after starting league play 2-0. Due to the loss of Hopkins or just coming back down to earth? Probably both. itThe Kim English love affair has hit a pause.

9. Butler 10-6 (2-4) The fighting Thad Motta's have been competitive at home against UConn and Seton Hall, but lost at the buzzer. Lost four out of last five. Posh Alexander continues to be a menace on defense. They play hard.

10. Georgetown 8-9 (1-5) Going to take Cooley time. No fan interest. The arena is a morgue. Supreme Cook was a nice pick-up from Fairfield. Eric "Sleepy" Floyd have any eligibility left? (that's a reference for old dudes who have been with the league since it's inception)

11. Depaul 3-13 (0-5) Epic bad. Wainwright runs the court better than his players. At least they have Max Strus playing in the Association. Who saw that coming? Paging Mark Aguirre and Ray Meyer.

 

[shizzle787]

My predicted order of finish:

1. UConn (we're doomed) (16-4)
2. Creighton (14-6)
3. Seton Hall (13-7)
4. St. John's (13-7)
5. Marquette (13-7)
6. Villanova (13-7)
7. Butler (8-12)
8. Providence (8-12)
9. Xavier (8-12)
10. Georgetown (4-16)
11. DePaul (0-20)

 

[Umami Zen]

Big Boy BB about to happen in BE. Like our chances with a healthy roster.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

What say me?

5 extra apostrophes, Liberty, and Wainwright?
Eek.

 

[Husky68]

I would take 11-3 rest of BE season if given right now. Do better than that and would be quite the season, still have @Vill, @StJ, @ Cre., @ Prov. and @ Mar and all but StJ still at home. And Seton Hall at home is no gimme. Massey sees between 4 and 5 losses rest of season, even that wouldn't be bad.
I'm not seeing far and away best team in conference, some of these other guys are legit top 10 to 25 teams and league has 6 likely NCAA caliber teams and probably one of the next 3 is no more than a couple of upsets away from sniffing the bubble.
And after all that have to factor in BE refs.

 

[superjohn]

 

[ucp990411]

You lost some credibility when you wrote Wainright runs the court better than some of his players. Jerry Wainwright’s last year coaching DePaul was 2010. Not sure if he is still alive but he seemed old in 2010

 

[RedStickHusky]

Eric "Sleepy" Floyd have any eligibility left? (that's a reference for old dudes who have been with the league since it's inception)

Air Force had me stationed in Maryland in Sleepy's day. We got G' Town on TV every night. Sleepy was a heck of a player. Hard times for Perno and UConn but I had seen Tony Hanson play in High School and always enjoyed watching him as a husky.

 

[REB1094]

Once again UConn thrives OOC. But this time we are getting it done in BE play so far. Fortunate timing with the Clingan injury being during a softer part of the schedule. I don’t think we’ll stay at a .833 win percentage, but I don’t think there’s any game on the schedule that should be considered an easy loss

I’m still not fully sold on Seton Hall, but they have 6 conference wins and still have 3 freebies. They’ve beaten top teams. They deserve respect for that

Creighton seems worse than last year but the theme is the same for me. Their top 3-4 guys can win a lot of games by themselves. Not much on the roster after that

Villanova has players. They don’t have a coach

I knew St Johns would improve as the year goes on since they’re mostly transfers and a new coach. Middle of the pack in the BE feels right for now, but that will quickly improve in the next few years

Marquette has been disappointing. Their success depends on Kolek’s success

Xavier should have been primed for a great year but they got wrecked by injuries. Not much they can do to get back in it, it’s unfortunate

Providence was looking good until the Hopkins injury. Unfortunately same as Xavier, not much they can do without him

Did Butler fool us again with their OOC play? I don’t think they should finish near the bottom of the conference but that’s where they are now

Georgetown needs a few years. DePaul needs divine intervention

 

[Tiamat7]

Xavier has a sneaky good NET ranking (38) for a 9-8 team. Somehow, despite the injuries to two starting frontcourt players, Miller has them in a place where they still have tournament hopes.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Once again UConn thrives OOC. But this time we are getting it done in BE play so far. Fortunate timing with the Clingan injury being during a softer part of the schedule. I don’t think we’ll stay at a .833 win percentage, but I don’t think there’s any game on the schedule that should be considered an easy loss

I’m still not fully sold on Seton Hall, but they have 6 conference wins and still have 3 freebies. They’ve beaten top teams. They deserve respect for that

Creighton seems worse than last year but the theme is the same for me. Their top 3-4 guys can win a lot of games by themselves. Not much on the roster after that

Villanova has players. They don’t have a coach

I knew St Johns would improve as the year goes on since they’re mostly transfers and a new coach. Middle of the pack in the BE feels right for now, but that will quickly improve in the next few years

Marquette has been disappointing. Their success depends on Kolek’s success

Xavier should have been primed for a great year but they got wrecked by injuries. Not much they can do to get back in it, it’s unfortunate

Providence was looking good until the Hopkins injury. Unfortunately same as Xavier, not much they can do without him

Did Butler fool us again with their OOC play? I don’t think they should finish near the bottom of the conference but that’s where they are now

Georgetown needs a few years. DePaul needs divine intervention

Georgetown needs an exorcist…….when they decided on Cooley they brought evil into the program. And given its location and history of what exorcisms really are it seems to fit.

 

[Rico444]

Every year there's a team that plays the perfect style of basketball that blends perfectly with how conference games are called. This year it's Seton Hall. They're going to be in the hunt until the very end of the regular season. I don't necessarily see them going on a deep run in the NCAAs but they're going to be tough to beat in conference.

 

[UDann]

Georgetown needs an exorcist…….when they decided on Cooley they brought evil into the program. And given its location and history of what exorcisms really are it seems to fit.

Stairs can be very dangerous in Georgetown ....

 

[CL82]

I'd like to take a moment to thank Big Red for never showing us his butt crack....

 

[ManFromOZ]

Every year there's a team that plays the perfect style of basketball that blends perfectly with how conference games are called. This year it's Seton Hall. They're going to be in the hunt until the very end of the regular season. I don't necessarily see them going on a deep run in the NCAAs but they're going to be tough to beat in conference.

The Pirates are the prototypical senior laden team with a great backcourt that sneaks up on people in the tourney. Experience is critical in the NIL/portal world that exists today. Holloway has gotten them to buy in.

 

[ManFromOZ]

I'd like to take a moment to thank Big Red for never showing us his butt crack....

Yeah, but we see his huge gut. This guy from the Hall could be the dude in Moe's Tavern that Bart is always looking for Hugh Jass.

 

[SubbaBub]

Get back to us after the next 5 games.

 

[UCLJ0211]

You lost some credibility when you wrote Wainright runs the court better than some of his players. Jerry Wainwright’s last year coaching DePaul was 2010. Not sure if he is still alive but he seemed old in 2010

I think that’s exactly why he said it.

 

[TheShot1990]

"Far and away the best team in the conference. "

Hard to make this statement this early when Seton Hall spanked us silly and we had DC part of the game.
Having said that, I like our chances.

 

[AntG168]

"Far and away the best team in the conference. "

Hard to make this statement this early when Seton Hall spanked us silly and we had DC part of the game.
Having said that, I like our chances.

It’s not hard to say when you acknowledge the full body of work

 

[ucp990411]

I think that’s exactly why he said it.

Then it’s pretty funny

 

[CardiacAndre7]

It’s not hard to say when you acknowledge the full body of work

This is a post about the conference season though. Seton Hall has been very impressive. Not to say we haven’t outside of that game, but far and away is a stretch.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Xavier has a sneaky good NET ranking (38) for a 9-8 team. Somehow, despite the injuries to two starting frontcourt players, Miller has them in a place where they still have tournament hopes.

Miller is a very good HC. BE has four very good HC. 1) Hurley 2) Smart 3) tie McDermott and Miller 5) Pitino IMO

 

[ManFromOZ]

I think that’s exactly why he said it.

Some people catch the satire and others want to complain about little things. It's an opinion piece that is meant to elicit reaction and comments. Thanks for pointing that out UCLJ021. Something that Hans Spungerfeld failed to see.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Watch out for the Johnnies. Getting better by the week under Pitino and they've already played their road games against the top third of the conference.