Current (1/20) conference standings

#4 Pittsburgh 6-0 -- 18-1
#3 Syracuse 5-1 1 18-1
#7 Villanova 4-1 1.5 16-2
#15 Louisville 4-1 1.5 15-3
#8 Connecticut 4-2 2 15-2
Marquette 4-2 2 13-6
West Virginia 3-2 2.5 12-5
#16 Notre Dame 4-3 2.5 15-4
St. John's 4-3 2.5 11-6
Cincinnati 3-3 3 16-3
#23 Georgetown 3-4 3.5 14-5
Seton Hall 2-5 4.5 8-11
Rutgers 1-4 4.5 10-7
South Florida 1-5 5 7-12
Providence 0-6 6 11-8
DePaul 0-6 6 6-12

My prediction

1. Pitt 15-3
2. Cuse 14-4
3. UConn 14-4
4. Nova 14-4

5. Louisville 12-6
6. Marquette 11-7
7. West Virginia 11-7
8. Notre Dame 11-7
9. Cincinnati 10-8
10. Gtown 10-8
11. St John's 10-8


12. Seton Hall 4-14
13. South Florida 3-15
14. Rutgers 3-15
15. Providence 2-16
16. DePaul 0-18


Top tier

At this point in the season, I think Pitt, Cuse, UConn, and Nova are looking like the cream of the league. I'm fairly confident that the league's winner will come from this group of teams and that at least three of these four teams will take the top seeds in the conference tourney. Pitt has looked the most impressive to me and their my pick to win the regular season.


Second tier

This is where the Big East gets messy. I've got Louisville at #5 and SJU at #11 but honestly I don't think there is much separating the teams in this tier of the conference. This, imo, will be the most fluid portion of the Big East and I wouldn't be surprised if these ranking actual turn out completely opposite of what I have posted. I'd feel more confident about UofL rising to the top of the second tier if the team wasn't so banged up right now (4 players injured right now and new injuries cropping up every week) but we seem to be snake bit this season. Depending on injuries, UofL could keep rolling or they could drop like a rock.


Third tier

I think the bottom tier is much like the top tier - most of these teams currently in this bracket will still be here at the end of the season. USF is much improved from last year but I still don't think they have the depth to move out of the basement. DePaul and Providence aren't much of a surprise nor is the ever cheap Seton Hall. Rutgers is recruiting better, but they'll finish in the cellar this year.

Of course Rutgers is going to be in the bottom third of the league. There's only so much you can do with only 8 scholarship players during Big East play, but they've beaten Providence and USF so far, and I think they can handle SHU and DePaul. As per usual they will steal a game or 2 against someone they shouldn't.

(01-20-2011 02:54 PM)UofL07 Wrote:  USF is much improved from last year but I still don't think they have the depth to move out of the basement.

You might want to go back and look at USF's season last year and this year. USF may be a lot of things, but we're not improved from last year. Frankly, we suck out loud. Heath never bothered to recruit a point guard - I guess presuming that Dominique Jones wouldn't possibly leave early. So you're right that we don't have the depth - we don't even have a viable starter...

USFFan

My predictions, done towards the end of December, were:

Pitt - 14-4
SU - 14-4
Nova - 13-5
UConn - 12-6
G'Town - 12-6
Louisville - 11-7
Notre Dame - 11-7
West Virginia - 11-7
Marquette - 11-7
Cincinnati - 10-8
St. John's - 10-8

and the rest, not worth figuring out.

I'll stick by them, but SU will have difficulty reaching 14-4 now.

I think the league will get 10 bids and Cincinnati took a huge step today beating St. John's to give them the leg up for #10.

The Johnnies will need Marquette, West Virginia, or G'Town to tank or hope they beat Duke or UCLA.

Cheers,
Neil

Georgetown may very well tank in conference. I haven't seen anything that gives me any reason to think the Hoyas will suddenly start playing better...

All I gotta say is Thank God for Providence and DePaul

(01-22-2011 07:58 PM)Cubanbull Wrote:  All I gotta say is Thank God for Providence and DePaul

SSSShhhhhhhhh, don't mention Providence to UL fans right now

Louisville might disagree with you today, Cuban...

LOL. Yeah cards fans are PO right now

It's going to comedown to Nova and Pitt. being a homer and the fact that Pitt is experienced gives the edge to Pitt but Wright's teams always are tough.

(01-22-2011 09:42 PM)pitt83 Wrote:  It's going to comedown to Nova and Pitt. being a homer and the fact that Pitt is experienced gives the edge to Pitt but Wright's teams always are tough.

Nova and Pitt both will lose a couple of games that they shouldnt. But I have far more confidence in Nova losing at minimum 2 more games. Pitt will also lose at most 2 games. SU will also lose a couple or 3 more. Maybe to Gtown since we play them twice and Uconn or Louisville. I think at the end of the season it will come down to Pitt and SU.