Why is St. John's playing Kentucky in the BE/SEC Challenge on Thursday?

[HooperScooper]

i also think they thought that the johnnies would have a full team and a better team

How? They had like 9 players use up their eligibility last year. Everyone knew way ahead of time that SJU would be in a rebuilding year. Granted they lost 3 freshmen to academics that they thought they would have, but let's be honest none of them were elite recruits who anyone thought would make an immediate huge impact in college.
Everyone knew SJU wouldn't be good this year and everyone expected UK to be really good. Pairing those 2 just makes no sense.

 

[alexd]

How? They had like 9 players use up their eligibility last year. Everyone knew way ahead of time that SJU would be in a rebuilding year. Granted they lost 3 freshmen to academics that they thought they would have, but let's be honest none of them were elite recruits who anyone thought would make an immediate huge impact in college.
Everyone knew SJU wouldn't be good this year and everyone expected UK to be really good. Pairing those 2 just makes no sense.

The 3 kids SJU lost were all 4 star guys. Good players, but not difference makers, atleast not right away. They did give them some athleticism and depth. I think maybe ESPN was enamored by the Lavin vs. Calipari thing also. Two high profile, charismatic coaches and the fact that SJU did seem to be on the way back with the job Lavin did last year and the haul of recruits he brought in.

 

[champs99and04]

St. Johns-Kentucky is a joke of a game. Granted, SJU was supposed to be decent before they lost all their players, but still, everybody knew UConn, Pitt, Cuse, Ville were the class of the Big East. Imagine Kentucky coming to Gampel..would be insane.

 

[MattMang23]

Yonick, it's hard to have everyone participate when one league has 12 members and the other 16. USF also not participating, btw.

 

[alexd]

Yonick, it's hard to have everyone participate when one league has 12 members and the other 16. USF also not participating, btw.

That's the solution. The SEC needs to increase their membership to make this challenge work right. Can we offer to switch sides???

 

[HuskyHawk]

So if UK goes down, the BE looks fantastic. If SJU loses, nobody cares because they are expected to. This is the ideal scenario. Ashley Judd is probably filming something in NY and requested the game.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Better as then they are now because they don't have a full team

How? They had like 9 players use up their eligibility last year. Everyone knew way ahead of time that SJU would be in a rebuilding year. Granted they lost 3 freshmen to academics that they thought they would have, but let's be honest none of them were elite recruits who anyone thought would make an immediate huge impact in college.
Everyone knew SJU wouldn't be good this year and everyone expected UK to be really good. Pairing those 2 just makes no sense.

in

 

[Yonick]

Yonick, it's hard to have everyone participate when one league has 12 members and the other 16. USF also not participating, btw.

Yeah, my bad on that. Remember when the BE coaches killed the ACC-BE challenge.

 

[HooperScooper]

I guess here's a plausible reason why they played.

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn...ig-eastsec-challenge-20111202,0,2577121.story