WHO’S HOT ?

Syracuse – Even though the Orange suffered their first loss at ND last weekend, the are still a hot team, rebounding with a win at Cincinnati two days after the crushing defeat. The depth of SU is evident and they are cruising along and anxiously awaiting the return of Fab Melo this Saturday for their game at St. John’s. The Orange still  look like the class of the league but shoould not be too comfortable with Marquette creeping closer with a 7 game win streak of their own. Upcoming games with Georgetown and at Louisville should determine how hot Syracuse really is.

Marquette – The Golden Eagles are on a 7 game win streak and are only one game behind the league leaders. A nice mix of guards like Johnson-Odom and big guys like Jae Crowder have allowed the Eagles to put together a very impressive league record of 8-2. But watch out Marquette…. a visit to ND this weekend might be a trap! Although MU has much more talent than the Irish, so did Syracuse who ran into Purcell Pavillion and limped out. The rest of their upcoming schedule looks very manageable until the last 3 games at WVU, at Cincy and a visit to Georgetown ending the regular season.

Notre Dame – We still can’t figure out how the Irish are doing it.MikeBrey has taken a team without their best player and pieced together  a very successful and surprising run. Three in a row including knocking off the undefeated #1 ranked Orange, and visits to reeling Seton Hall and UConn. The patient slow-down pace and outstanding boardwork of Jack Cooley have put ND into the NCAA tourney talk. The next two games against Marquette and at WVU will go far to show if the Irish are contenders or pretenders.

USF – Winning 6 out of their last 8 has propelled the Bulls into third place in the standings. Stan Heath has preached defense and the young Bulls are listening. Only two opponents have reached 70 points against USF this year and they have outrebounded 8 straight opponents. Freshman point guard Anthony Collins has been steady in leading USF to the left side of the standings.Two upcoming games against the renewed Pitt Panthers and a visit to Georgetown await the defense-minded Bulls.

Louisville – After a tough stretch the Cards have come alive to win 3 in a row. Although none of the wins have come against teams with winning records in the Big East, Kyle Kuric and the Smith boys are putting UL in position to challenge the leaders. A visit to West Virginia and hosting Syracuse will be a show of the Cardinals determination to achieve their preseason predictions.

Pitt – I was one who constantly said that Pitt would turn this around and since the return of Trey Woodall the Panthers have gone ona 3 game winstreak. Impressive wins at Georgetown and West Virginia have highlighted the resurgence of the team. Woodall has been finding players in the right position to score and has been finding his scoring touch again. Ashton Gibbs is the player everyone expected and Nasir Robinson has benefitted from the crisp passes down low. Pitt must now try to get to 9-9 which means they must win 6 of the last 8 games and visits to USF and Louisville await.

WHO’S NOT!

UConn – This team has hit the skids. Calhoun even benched his captains Oriahki and Napier against Georgtown to try to infuse som life into the team. It worked for a few minutes until Ryan Boatright picked up his second foul and then Napier reentered and dribbled away the lead. Losing 4 in a row and struggling to score points, the Huskies still can’t figure out a zone defense as ND and Georgetown have proved recently. If the Huskies don’t figure this out soon they will not be able to defend their title in the NCAA tourney.

Seton Hall – The Pirates were cruising along and then came this 5 game losing streak. They are not scoring points and have forgotten that they have one of the best big men in the league in Herb Pope. Long 3′s create long rebounds and put backs are nowhere to be found. Jordan Theodore has to begin to distribute and forget about hoisting up 25 foot shots. The upcoming schedule is manageable but this weekend’s trip to Storrs should boost one of the teams that is struggling now.

West Virginia – A bad trip to New York eneded in a thrashing at the hands of the Johnnies.Then Syracuse and Pitt joined in the beatdown. WVU has unquestionably the player of the year in Kevin Jones but he can’t do it himself. The Syracuse loss on a bad call seems to have unnerved the Mountaineers but they have to let that go and regroup. They have 2 games vs. ND and a visit from Louisville coming up and WVU has to win these games. Oh, yeah, and they have to travel to Pittsburgh too ! Not easy!

Cincinnati – One should not be surprised at the losses at WVU and to Syracuse. But the Cats were expected to defeat the erratic Rutgers Knights. Losing 3 in a row has interrupted a very good run since the debacle against Xavier. The next five games look winnable with the biggest challenge coming on a trip to Marquette. Sean Kilpatrick has been playing through pain but the rest of the Cincy lineup is ok and they must step up or the season will be lost.

Of course there is a month left in the Big East season and as we all know….. Things change daily in this league!

1. Syracuse is the class of this league. Are they invincible? Not even close. The group behind them are strong though. Although the top 10 ranking aren’t there like they have been in the past, it’s only because the league is so deep. And while no team other than the Orange stands out as a top 10 team, nearly every team could pull an upset of the Orange. so while Syracuse will finish first in the league, don’t sit easily Syracuse fans, because any game could be an upset.

2. Kevin Jones is the frontrunner for MVP. He’s been the best so far, but WVU will have to have continued success in order for him to win the award.

That’s it! Other than that, everything else seems up for grabs, which should make for a crazy stretch run!

MONDAY

The Backyard Brawl is back as the Panthers travel to Morgantown and although Pitt has looked better this week, I’ll take the ‘Neers in this one at home.

TUESDAY

Marquette is quietly having a really good season and they host struggling Seton Hall. I think the Pirates are going to have a tough time turning it around in this one and Marquette should win fairly easily.

WEDNESDAY

What’s going on with UConn? Perhaps the second most talented team in the conference has hit the skids and now they’re facing off with the Hoyas in DC. I know the Huskies have had some troubles recently but I think they pull this one out on the road. Having Boatright back is a plus, and he’ll star in this game.

DePaul hosts St. John’s in a game both teams need in order to have any shot at making a run towards the NCAAs. While neither will likely do that, I’ll take the Blue Demons at home in this game.

Most people have had a terrible time figuring out Rutgers this year and I’m one of those people. Their trip to Providence makes me think they’ll get a road victory. so that probably means they’ll lose. Take the Knights here, but with great caution.

West Virginia @ Syracuse

The Orange rebounded nicely from their loss to ND last weekend with a win over Cincinnati. The Mountaineers were routed by St. John’s at the Garden on Wednesday. Go with the Orange to take this one at home.

Georgetown @ Pitt

Although Pitt was able to pull out their first BigEast win against Providence and look better with Trey Woodall scoring 17, the Hoyas have been very consistent this year and will edge the Panthers in this one. If GTown can force Pitt to be careless with the ball they may have an easy win here.

Louisville @ Seton Hall

The Hall has been determined to fire up too many 3′s and cut Herb Pope out of their offensive plan. Pope seemed to lose interest against Notre Dame Wednesday and fouled out with 3 points. Louisville was able to hang on in a tough game against Villanova. The Cardinals will prevail in this one.

Marquette @ Villanova

Nova has been getting better and gave Louisville all they could handle for 30 plus minutes this past week. They should be tough at home but Marquette is on a roll and should be able to pull this one out. Look for Jouhnson-Odom and Crowder to overpower the Cats in a tight contest.

Cincinnati @ Rutgers Cincinnati is coming off 2 losses in a row but Rutgers lost to DePaul Wednesday night after leading for most of the game. Even though the Knights are tough at home they may not be able to stay with the Bearcats in this one. Look for Yancy Gates to have a monster game against Biruta and Cincinnati to take the victory here.

Notre Dame @ UConn

The Irish are coming off two big wins including the home victory over #1 Syracuse. The game against Seton Hall was ugly and the Irish jumped on the cold-shooting Pirates in the second half. ND has already lost to UConn at home and don’t figure to do much better here. If the Husky guards get into foul trouble the Irish have a chance. If not take the Huskies by 10 or so.

Providence @ USF The Friars are the worst team in the league. USF has been using outstanding defense to gather some wins including 5 of their last 7. USF will have much too much for the hapless Friars in Tampa.

Can Syracuse continue to dominate if Melo is permanently on the shelf? I think that the Cuse can and will still be the top team in the Big East with or without Melo. The word is that he has an academic issue. Does this mean that he is ineligible for the rest of the semester? Or does he need to finish some requirements from the Fall term? The amazing performance of Notre Dame last week cannot be put totally on the shoulders of Melo. After all, the Orange did rebound with a win over Cincinnati, a much more talented team and a hot team right after the loss in South Bend. The reason SU lost at ND is that they shot 30% and were outrebounded and outworked by the gutty Irish. Melo does give Syracuse a force in the middle but isn’t the strength of the Orange in their depth? They will be okay and probably will lose again but not enough to open the door for another team to overtake them. However, keep your eye on the Marquette Golden Eagles, they are playing really well right now.

Has Pitt turned the corner with the victory over Providence? No, but it must feel good for them to know they can hold a lead and finish a game. Trey Woodall scoring 17 points doesn;t hurt either. Now Ashton Gibbs can go back to playing 2 guard and hopefully regain his outsdie shooting touch. But Pitt still commits too many turnovers and plays shoddy defense. I finally made the right choice on TribLive radio yesterday telling DD that I guarantee a Pitt victory. Then he reminded me that I made so many wrong predictions about Pitt recently and wondered if he could trust me. Course not, DD!!! I think Pitt will now begin to win a few games but we have to remember that it was Providence they beat at home.

How does Mike Brey do it? That is one I cannot figure out. He wins year after year with a roster that no coach in the league would trade for. Sorry Calhoun and Boeheim, Brey is the best coach in the Big East. He has his players scrapping and fighting every night. Sure they will lose games but they are fun to watch. Even though last night the game with Seton Hall was painful to watch… they made it to the under 16 timeout at 0-0… the Irish came out in the second half and took a double digit lead and never looked back. And don’t foul Brey’s team at the end of a game…. they drilled free throw after free throw in the final minutes. And remember, Syracuse never lead ND during the game. The Irish went wire to wire in that one.

How could WVU lose to St. John’s? That’s just the Big East. The Mountaineers go into MSG on a  roll and quickly go down 20 to the Johnnies. And they never really recovered. With the Player of the Year Kevin Jones heating up in the second half I thought WVU would take the lead and win in the end it was not to be. Harkless and Harrison kept West Viriginia at an arms length and took the victory. A game I’m sure the ‘Neers had penciled in as a W.

What’s with UConn? Napier and Lamb are tremendous players. But with no presence down low the Huskies continue to struggle scoring points. Alex Oriahki was a bull last year during the tourney run for UConn. He doesn’t seem to have the fire anymore and Drummond is a very talented freshman. And he’s looked like a freshman the last few games. The Huskies will win some games but when you  rely on guards to do all your scoring you are gonna have some bad shooting nights. Roscoe Smith and DeAndre Daniels are forgotten men on the UConn team and with Napier having to play 37-40 minutes a game the Huskies must have a double digit lead late in a game to avoid the fatigue factor.

Is Marquette for real? Without a doubt. Johnson-Odom and Crowder are all-league caliber players and the young guys are stepping up to give the Eagles a real shot at challenging Syracuse for the league regular season title. If Marquette can keep up their great play they will be there at the end.

Any surprises this year? Oh yeah! Pitt going 0-7…. USF becoming a force in the league with their defense…. Cincinnati using a suspension to start a run….. Seton Hall forgetting how good Herb Pope is and making him chase rebounds from 3 point misses…. Nova struggling to get above .500 in league play…. And we still have over a month to go before MSG!

MONDAY

Take Cincinnati at home tonight over Syracuse. No Fab Melo again, and this Cincinnati team can play. I’ll take the upset with great confidence. Cincinnati is this year’s Notre Dame.

TUESDAY

USF is 5-2 and has a chance to be this year’s St. John’s. They’ll earn some serious respect around the league if they can pull off this one on the road. The only problem for the Bulls is that Marquette is 5-2 as well, and I’ll take the Golden Eagles at home.

WEDNESDAY

Louisville hosts Villanova in a game where the winner will be feeling really good and looking to move up to the middle of the conference, and the loser will be really happy that Pitt is so bad this year so that there’s no chance they are last. I’ll take the Cards at home in a close one.

Pitt hosts Providence and the Panthers will get their first win. Let’s be clear about this. PC is 1-6. If Pitt doesn’t win this game, they may not win one the rest of the way.

Rutgers hosts DePaul and should have no trouble winning and moving to 4-4 in conference. If the Scarlet Knights can keep it up, they’ll be a hot bubble team in about a month.

St. John’s plays host to West Virginia and will likely struggle here. As of right now, Kevin Jones looks like the league MVP. He could have another huge night in this game.

Probably the most interesting game of the night is Notre Dame at Seton Hall. Obviously, the Irish are coming off of a monster victory. I think they’ll need to be good to play with the Pirates and I think they’ll be a little flat on the road. Take Seton Hall here.