Take a Big East team and analyze their performance so far this season and how you project that they will do in conference play. PITTSBURGH 11-0 WEST VIRGINIA 10-1 MARQUETTE 9-1 VILLANOVA 9-1 GEORGETOWN 8-1 NOTRE DAME 8-2 CONNECTICUT 8-2 SETON HALL 8-2 SYRACUSE 9-3 PROVIDENCE 8-3 SOUTH FLORIDA 8-4 LOUISVILLE 6-3 RUTGERS 7-5 ST JOHNS 5-4 CINCINNATI 4-7 DEPAUL 3-7
links don't work, but I'm hoping Seton Hall makes the Big East tourney. Had a big win over Virginia on a neutral court, and a nice comeback win against a solid James Madison squad. Only losses were @ St. Mary's and in OT to Penn State. I would figure them to beat out teams like Depaul, St Johns, USF, Rutgers, Cincy, and be competitve with Providence and Louisville. They should be right in the middle of the pack.
I think it'll be between Marquette, Georgetown and Villanova to win the Big East. Thats my prediction.
For the Bearcats, there is one mission this season, make the Big East tournament. However, that goal looked nearly impossible after Mike Williams went out for the season before it even started. Things got worse for the Bearcats when Jamual Warren, the only real PG on the roster, got injured and had to miss the first six games of the season. But after a bad loss at UAB, the Cats have improved their effort on the defensive end and Warren has helped the offense. The Bearcats nearly pulled out the upset against a ranked Xavier team in a rivalry game and made Memphis play ugly on UC's court. Traveling to NC State, Mick Cronin decided to see how good his team is at executing the press defense and managed to make a game of it in the second half. Their last non-conference game is against Miami of Ohio and should serve as a good measuring stick for how far the team has come. In conference, UC has Cuse, Nova, Pitt, UConn, Marquette, St. Johns, USF, Providence and DePaul at home. I think they can win 3 of those games, but that will still leave them short of the Big East tournament.
Syracuse is screwed without their veteran leadership there. Hopefully, Johnny Flynn can lead them...but right now, the season's looking pretty grim.
I watched WVU play against Oklahoma today and it looks like despite how physical Huggins has them playing, teams with real interior players are going to give them problems. Blake Griffin and Longar Longar really gave WVU problems.
UC pulled out an ugly win over Miami (OH) but it showed me that they have improved, even since the Xavier game. It looks to me like they will be able to pull out some home wins. Also, young big man Anthony McClain (6-11) is looking like he is getting over his foot injury. If he continues his progress, he gives the Cats a real weapon.
Pitt getting destroyed on the road in Dayton doesn't bode well for the Panthers heading into conference play. They looked really bad and had horrible shot selection.
UC went into Freedom Hall yesterday and pulled out a huge road win. I did not expect them to win a single conference road game this season.
Syracuse won their first conference game vs St. John's. Flynn played well, Donte played well in the first half, and Arinze played BIG. Arinze Onuaku definitely gets POTG, 23 points, 13 rebounds. It was crazy! He was a beast. I'd love to see him go against Hibbert.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JCB @ Jan 2 2008, 10:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Rutgers is screwed without Corey Chandler. Gransberry for USF is a damn monster.</div> Yeah he is, he killed Syracuse last time they played. I think Syracuse's next game is vs. USF. I can't wait to see Arinze go up against Gransberry, they're about the same size...it'll be an interesting matchup.
I feel really good about Seton Hall this year. They already knocked off #23 Virginia, and even though their schedule isn't that tough, they've beaten teams they might have lost to last year. The best thing about this team is obviously Eugene Harvey, who is one of the Big East's best players, but Brain Laing is having an absolute monster senior year. He was leading the Big East in scoring for a period of time, and remains up there with the top scorers at 17 per game. Junior Paul Gause leads the Big East in steals at three per game. But perhaps the most encouraging thing of it all is how Seton Hall never plays without full effort. It's simply not a part of their identity. Even in their very close loss to N.C. State last week, they may have made mistakes, but they owned that game for 30 minutes plus. I think this year is another step in the right direction in getting Seton Hall back to their place as a power in the Big East and a team to be reckoned with nationally. This team will not be a easy game for any team in the Big East.
Eugene has been a disappointment this year so far to me. He needs to learn to protect the ball. John Garcia has been the x-factor for them, this year.
