2009-2010 Power Poll, Cincinnati News, Connecticut News, DePaul News, Georgetown News, Louisville News, Marquette News, Notre Dame News, Pittsburgh News, Providence News, Rutgers News, Seton Hall News, St. John's News, Syracuse News, USF News, Villanova News, West Virginia News

NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (12/14/2009) & NOTES

It was a very up and down week for the Big East conference last week. While Syracuse and West Virginia continue to roll, Georgetown also proved they will be a force to be reckoned with this year. Seton Hall remained undefeated, but outside of those four, the results were very mixed for the rest of the conference. Villanova, Cincinnati and Marquette lost to local rivals, Pittsburgh, UConn and DePaul lost in made-for-tv match-ups, Louisville, Providence, Notre Dame and South Florida lost head-scratchers at home while St. John’s continues to play solid ball and Rutgers came out of the week unscathed in wins and losses, but suffered a big loss in personnel due to injury.

Eleven NBE writers and contributors tried to sort everything out and with two weeks left until conference play begins, here is the latest Big East Power Poll, along with some team updates from links found this morning on the internet…

Here are the poll results (1st place votes in parenthesis):

1) Syracuse (7), 172 points.
–Vitale: Syracuse Ready to Play Major Role in Big East Race (USA Today)
2) West Virginia (4), 167 points.
–Huggins Team Battling Long Range Woes (Charleston Daily Mail)
3) Georgetown, 155 points.
–A Very Different Hoyas Team (SNY.tv)
4) Villanova, 144 points.
–Voters Knock Villanova to 8th After Stunning Temple Loss (Philadelphia Daily News)
5) Connecticut, 131 points.
–Journey Almost Complete for Majok (New Haven Register)
6) Seton Hall, 116 points.
–Reinforcements on the Way for Seton Hall (ESPN.com)
7) Cincinnati, 113 points.
–Long Wait Ends for 6′11 Cincinnati Transfer (Cincinnati Enquirer)
8] St. John’s, 100 points.
–Bring New York Back (Slam! Online)
9) Pittsburgh, 77 points.
–Turnovers a Problem for Pitt (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
10) Notre Dame, 75 points.
–Loss May Haunt Irish Rest of Season (South Bend Tribune)
11) Marquette, 72 points.
–Maymon Leaving Marquette (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
–Weekly Golden Eagles Report (Journal-Sentinel)
12) Louisville, 54 points.
–U of L’s George Goode has had two concussions (Louisville Courier-Journal)
13) South Florida, 47 points.
–No Gus, No Glory for USF Basketball (St. Pete Times)
14) DePaul, 28 points.
15) Rutgers, 23 points.
–Rutgers vs. Rider Scouting Report (MyCentralJersey.com)
16) Providence, 22 points.
–PC’s Mid-Term ReportCard: Friars Have a Long Way to Go (Providence Journal)

Player of the Week: Greg Monroe, Georgetown

Freshman of the Week: Lance Stephenson, Cincinnati

Here are the poll voters this week:

-NBE Blogger
-Ray Mernagh, College Basketball Editor of Pittsburgh Sports Report and NBE Sports
-Chris Dokish, Contributing editor of Pittsburgh Sports Report & NBE Contributor
-Jeff Borzello, NBE Senior Basketball Analyst and Publisher of March Madness All Season
-Raphielle Johnson, NBE contributor and CollegeHoopsNet.com writer
-Alex Schwartz, President of Northstar Basketball
-Ray Balter, NBE contributor
-Doug Ferguson, NBE Midwest Editor and lead writer at the NBE Association Report
-Alex Jesswein, NBE Contributor/Milwaukee correspondent
-Nathan Wollack, Publisher of Blue Demons Nation
-Michael Pina, NBE Contributor.

===================================================

It might be three months away, but our 2010 Big East Tournament & Tickets page has the links needed for Big East basketball fans to purchase tickets to any or all of the 2010 Big East Tournament sessions. With all the excitement recently at Madison Square Garden, Big East Tournament tickets could make a great holiday gift for any Big East fan on your shopping list. Stub Hub and the Big East conference have teamed up to provide fans with quality tickets and you can get tickets to any Big East conference or non-league game by following this link: StubHub.com – The Safe Way to Buy & Sell Tickets Online
===================================================

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****