Some of our teams have been playing like a bunch of turkeys this week.  With such high expectations this season, things seem to be going bad faster than that extra helping of cranberry sauce you still have in your fridge.

Is there still time?  Of course, there’s lots of it.  Do losses really matter right now?  Sure, a little bit, but they’re not that important if your not going to be a bubble team in four months.  It’s just annoying to have team after team lose.  So what do we make of all these defeats?  Well, for those of us living in ACC & SEC country, it makes it difficult to win debates over who has the best conference.  Am I running around in circles here?  Yea, but that’s what losses do, they add confuson and uncertainty, and I for one, am certainly confused and uncertain.

The biggest loss was not Louisville dropping a game to BYU, it was Padgett going down to injury.  Hopefully, by late January he’ll be back.  Hopefully.  If the Cards are to be as good as many, including myself have predicted them, they’ll need Padgett at full strength.  Even without Padgett though, Louisville should have beaten Brigham Young. 

Then there’s Syracuse.  We know they’re young, and we can expect upset wins and upset losses, but they got shredded by Ohio State the other night.  If you saw the game, you know, it was ugly. 

And after Providence beat Arkansas, then they go and lose to Miami.  This wouldn’t be so bad if Miami wasn’t a member of the ACC. 

Then we have Notre Dame, who blew two late leads to Baylor, and the ACC’s Georgia Tech. 

And even though Marquette’s loss to Duke wasn’t a bad one, it was still another loss to the ACC. 

What do we know so far?  Marquette can be really good.  They easily played well enough to beat Duke, and without what seemed like 10 bad bounces, Marquette would have won.  The ball often bounces Duke’s way though, and last week out in Maui, it certianly did. 

We also know that UConn is in fact, much improved.  They lost to Memphis at MSGin a game that was close until the final moments.  They played well, and Memphis is easily one of the most talented teams in the country.  This is Memphis’ best team they have ever had, and UConn’s effort was very encouraging to Husky fans. 

We also know that Pitt and G’town are going to be consistant.  Pitt has played 5 weak teams so far, but I’ve still been impressive.  In the past, they’d beat those teams, but they’d win close.  They’ve been burying everyone so far, and that’s very promissing for the Panthers.  Georgetown detroyed Michigan, and two other cupcakes.  And with Padgett not being around, the Hoyas look like favorites in the conference right now.  Villanova has remained undefeated, as has Seton Hall and St. John’s.  None of the Wildcats, Pirates or Redmen have a significant victory yet, but all have been consistant. 

And once again this year, West Virginia might be better than expected.  They lost by two yesterday to SEC favorite Tennessee.  Again, another loss, but like the Huskies’ loss to Memphis, this one doesn’t seem so bad. 

How have we done against the ACC this year?  1-3 (Thank you very much USF for beating FSU)

Against the other majors?  Big Ten 1-1; Big Twelve 0-1; SEC 1-2; Pac Ten 1-0.  Courtesy of Syracuse, the only major conference that we have a winning record against is the Pac Ten.

What does this all mean?  So far, our beloved Big East has been far from beastly.  But hopefully, as the weather gets colder, our teams will get hotter. 

Categories: Commentary