1/3 of the way through the season, and we’ve got surprises, some disappointments, but mostly, the usual and expected chaos. I don’t see a National Championship contender in the mix this year, and I won’t be surprised if we don’t get a team in the Final Four, but there’s still a lot of time, and much room for improvement. Last year at this time, we wouldn’t have considered Georgetown a Final Four team either. And all the parody does mean one great thing, it’s going to be a hell of a tournament at MSG in March (but really, when is it ever not?).

1. Georgetown – Despite all the chaos, they’re in first by themselves. They’re the standard of consistency, not a great team, but they’ll give you the game you expect them to. Yes Dennis Green, they are who you thought they were. But you let ‘em off the hook!!

2. Pitt – This is the most overachieving team this season. I don’t care about DePaul and Cincinnati, does Pitt have anyone left uninjured? Jamie Dixon needs to win coach of the year this season. I do think they’ll slide down the standings a bit in February, but they still have had a great start. At this rate, Pitt will lose in the Big East Final, and then go out in the Sweet 16.

3. West Virginia – They’re having a nice year this year, but have two monster home games coming up, and then two tough ones on the road. If they can split or better their next four, they’ll be great shape for a good stretch run and a shot at the NCAAs.

4. Louisville – Still my pick to win the BE Tournament and to go the farthest of any of our teams in the NCAAs. I couldn’t believe it when they lost to Seton Hall. Actually, I don’t think anyone could. Give Pitino another month, this team will be dynamite.

5. DePaul – Wow. Most didn’t think they’d win four all year. We’ll get to see how good this team really is over the next two weeks. Marquette, Cuse, ND and PC make up the next four games, and if DePaul is still in the top half after that, then they’ve convince me that they’re for real.

6. Notre Dame – If they could only play all their games home……just think of the possibilities. They play like champions at home, and get shelled on the road. Because of this total inconsistency, I really don’t know what to think of the Irish. Are they any good? Clearly a maybe.

7. Providence – Their best days are ahead of them (wait, checking the score). OK, they’re up by 10 early and looking good tonight. I think the Friars have a shot at finishing in the top 4 in this conference. It’s more likely that they’ll be a little lower, but this is a pretty good team, watch out for the Friars in March.

8. UConn – Sung to the tune of If I Only Had a Brain from the Wizard of Oz
Wiggins, Price and Dyson,
would be so enticin’,
if they could only shoot a three,
(ba-da ba-da-ba-da-ba)

The Huskies wouldn’t be mediocre,
if they didn’t shoot like Al Roker,
if they could only shoot a three.

9. Cincinnati – Deonta Vaughn has been the best player in the league so far. The Bearcats have absolutely been impressive. They’ve got four wins against L’ville, Cuse, Nova and Pitt. Not exactly lightweights there. The weak part of their schedule is ahead of them, and the future is bright for this team.

10. Marquette – The Golden Eagles have been pretty disappointing so far. James being injured doesn’t help. For three years now we’ve been comparing this team to that ’06 Villanova team. The main difference, Villanova’s ’06 guards would wipe the floor with Marquette’s ’08 guards.

11. Villanova – Fast forward a month. ESPN experts will be wondering what happened to the Wildcats, how they fell so far this year as they sit in 12th place in the Big East. But we’ve been telling you this since November, Villanova is overrated. They’re a good team, but not anywhere close to a top 25 team. Next year, the Wildcats will be much, much better, and a serious player in the Big East. Next year.

12. Syracuse – With a young team and an imposing upcoming schedule, things don’t look too good for the Orange. I love watching this team, and they have a ton of talent, but they’re going to have a rough rest of the year, much like last year’s UConn team. Hopefully, they’ll make the Big East tournament, it wouldn’t be the same without them (unless you’re a UConn fan, and don’t want to see your Huskies bounced by the Orange….again).

13. Seton Hall – Hazel is a great, great player. Past that, Seton Hall doesn’t have much. I still can’t believe they beat Louisville. How did that happen again?

14. St. John’s – The Red Storm have had a bad start. Their next two games are against Louisville and Georgetown. Good luck with that.

15. USF – I thought they might make a run at finishing in the top 12 this year. It doesn’t look like that is going to happen.

16. Rutgers – It looked like the Knights had no hope until they beat down Villanova. Perhaps they can keep the good times rolling in Jersey.

Categories: Commentary
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We all know that the key to success in the BE is to hold home court and steal a few on the road. It is always a large task to win one on the road in conference play. Up until last night that is.

Going into the games last night, the home team had a 36-10 record in conference play. 70% win percentage. Almost a lock. But that was before last night. In four league games last night, only one team, Rutgers (yes, Rutgers) won at home. Pitt went to the Garden and destroyed St. John’s. Louisville bombed USF. And UConn edged Cincinnati. As time goes on, the Georgetowns, Pitts, and Louisvilles will pick off an occasional road victory. And that will separate them from the pack. So UConn had a tremendous win last night. The re-emergence of Jerome Dyson and great play of Hasheem Thabeet brought the Huskies back from a 12 point deficit with 5 minutes left.

Some teams are Jeckyll/Hyde types. ND wins at home easily (3-0) and gets throttled (0-2) away. WVU is 3-0 at home and 1-2 away. SU is 3-1 at home and 0-3 away. Nova is 2-0 home and 1-3 on the road. Pitt is 2-2 on the road and has won both home games. So home losses may doom some teams to the lower reaches of the standings and road wins may elevate teams to byes in March.

Strange, but this is similar to the post “Winning on the Road” i wrote on Jan 22 last year!

Categories: Coach O, Commentary
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This has nothing to do with Big East basketball, but is just astounding. So read on.

Ever watch MTV Cribs? There’s this episode where Shaq shows off his house in LA and you’re like, “damn.” You might wonder how much it costs to live like Shaq. Well, thanks to the financial affidavit of his divorce papers, we know. Matt Watson of the AOL Fanhouse puts it beautifully:

Try to wrap your head around these numbers — on a monthly basis, Shaq spends:

• $24,300 at the gas station filling up (dude, buy a Prius)
• $17,220 on clothes
• $6,730 on laundry and dry cleaning
• $2,305 on pet care
• $1,620 on music and magazines
• $1,495 on cable television.

You want to know my favorite? The $114,946 that’s listed as “miscellaneous (personal)” — you know, walking around money, pocket change so you’re never left without something to feed the meter or, I don’t know, buy a new car or two without writing a check.

I do have to give him credit, though. His monthly net income is $1.3M, and he ends up spending $875K of that — so he does save $450K. All I have to say is this: rich people make shitloads of money.

Categories: Commentary
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This won’t be news to the guys over at Cuse Country, Orange 44, or Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician, but it was news to me: Etan Thomas, former Syracuse Orangemen and two-time Big East defensive player of the year is a blogger for the Huffington Post, the best political blog out there, at least according to the 2006 Webby awards.

Etan writes on a handful of political topics — why terrorists hate us (not because of our freedom, but because of our foreign policy), the death policy (which he is vehemently against), and Giuliani’s exploitation of 9/11.

Color me impressed. This warrants the very first web cartoon for Big East Hoops:

Best of luck to Etan, who had open heart surgery earlier this year and is trying to come back from it to play NBA ball.

Categories: Commentary, donald, Nostalgia, Syracuse
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Four games tonight, great night for watching Big East hoops. Here’s some points I’m taking from tonight’s action:

1. I’ve been flipping channels all night, and I’ll admit it, the game I’ve watched the least of the quartet has been USF-Seton Hall. And apparently, I’m not the only one. Where the hell is everyone at that game? If Seton Hall can’t get people out to watch their games, they need to find a new conference. I’m very much a traditionalist and still even consider Rutgers, WVU and ND expansion teams to the conference, and I seem to lean in the favor of the old school Big East teams, but come on. That crowd was ridiculous. And if they can’t find fans, get rid of them (I know this can’t happen BTW) There are many other schools in “Mid-Major Conferences” who have a much better followings. Seton Hall, I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

2. Marquette isn’t winning anything this year. Oh, they look great! Ew, they look terrible! It’s been back and forth for the Eagles again this year, and while they should cruise to a top 3 or 4 finish league play this year, I don’t see them winning three games at MSG in March. Too much inconsistency from their team. I have not yet checked out the injury report on James, but hopefully he’s alright. Without James, the Eagles are not a threat to the other top tier teams. One positive for Marquette – the Uniforms. I love those Baby Blue unis.

3. Shooting is fairly important in this game. If you watched the PC-UConn game, you witnessed Exhibit A in this theory. As I hoped before the year, Providence is finally playing well. Their perimeter game was incredible, and their zone was good as well. Of course, UConn’s horrible shooting made PC’s zone look better than it was. The Huskies would be a GREAT team, if they could shoot well from the outside. They would be a very good team if they could at least be competent from the perimeter. But tonight, they were simply pathetic from three, and therefore, they stink.

4. West Virginia is decent, St. John’s is not. West Virginia is a middle of the road team in this conference, and they took care of business. SJU is better than Rutgers, but not better than many other teams. By the way, what’s the deal with Rutgers? I think they may be the worst Big East team I’ve seen since those old Constantine Popa Miami teams.

5. Louisville is the best team in this league. If they play like they did tonight, they are one of the best 5 teams in the country. This is a very good team, and they are certainly more talented than either Georgetown or Marquette (2 teams that most include in that top tier with Louisville). The Cardinals may not be the top seeded team going into the Big East tournament in March, but they’ll be the favorites. Just wait, you’ll see. They were very impressive tonight, and as they were back in November, they’re still my pick to win the conference.

P.S. To all you Pitt fans out there, DuJuan Blair is quite a player, much better than I though he would be, as I stated back in November. I was very impressed by their win against G’town, and with a weak upcoming schedule, the Panthers have a chance to make a move towards the top of the league. Jamie Dixon has my vote for Coach of the Year so far.

Categories: Commentary
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