(12-23-2009 02:38 PM)CollegeCard Wrote: It'll be interesting to see what St John's does in conference play. I guess you could say I'll believe it when I see it as far as the Johnnies making a statement.
The entire nation is down this year except for a few standout teams like Texas, Kansas, SU, WVU, etc. So many unexpected teams can do some damage this year in various conferences.
For the Big East St. John's and Seton Hall have the chance to do some damage in a Big East where only SU, WVU, and Nova look like they are head and shoulders above the rest.
St. John's two losses have been @Duke and that ECAC Holiday Festival championship game @MSG against a senior-laden and proven Cornell squad. But the Johnnies, like Pitt, rarely will blow opponents away so they will lose games they shouldn't as well. I'm anxious to see how the team reacts to Mason's return. I see the Red Storm definitely losing 5 Big East road games, but they should also win at least 6 of their 9 Big East home games. So, as a likely 10-6 team with a win over Temple and two tough losses to Duke and Cornell, they will likely be Dancing come March.
As for the Pirates, they have a brutal stretch that has already started with a Temple loss. It's the kind of stretch that made G'Town look really bad last year, really quickly. After beating Navy they now have WVU and SU at home, then VT on a neutral court, UConn on the road, Cincy at home, G'Town on the road, and then Louisville and Pitt at home. They will be fortunate to come out of that 10 game stretch better than 3-7. But if they do better than that, watch out, because the remainder of the schedule is set up for them to be 7-4 or 6-5 at worse, making them an intriguing bubble team come March.
Still, if I were a Cards' fan, I'd be more worried about my own team. The UNLV loss was understandable as was the Charlotte game with the guards being injured, but that loss to Western Carolina @ home is already starting to look bad despite the Catamounts current RPI, especially considering that overrated Clemson blew them out @ home yesterday and Davidson looks good enough to win the 1-bid Southern league again. Here's hoping the way the Cards played against Western Kentucky is more indicative of how they play the rest of the season.
A good Louisville squad and a good Cincinnati squad dancing in the same year has yet to be seen in Big East play. Could this be the year?
Cheers,
Neil