2008-2009 Power Poll

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (3/2/2009) & NBE POWER POLL

Here is a detailed recap of the four Big East games from yesterday and a look at the post-season implications each had with the outcomes. Also, today, we have our weekly NBE Big East Power Poll available at the end of the post. It is crunch time…

We also updated out 2009 Big East Tournament Page with the latest projections from www.kenpom.com on how the match-ups will be set for the event in Madison Square Garden. It also also your place to purchase tickets to each individual session or the whole event (and purchase goes a long way in helping support the NBE efforts).

Thanks for visiting this season!!

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NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (2/23/2009)

After a one-week hiatus, the NBE Big East Power Poll is back! It is hard to believe the Big East regular season is already down to the final two weeks and four teams look to be making their case for the conference title.

This week, eight NBE contributors and writers cast their ballots, voting on the teams 1-16 and also selecting a Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week. Let’s see how they voted (first place votes in parenthesis):

1) Pittsburgh (8): 128 points.
2) Connecticut: 120 points.
3) Louisville: 108 points.
4) Marquette: 106 points.
5) Villanova: 98 points.
6) West Virginia: 88 points.
7) Syracuse: 80 points.
8: Cincinnati: 67 points.
9) Notre Dame: 62 points.
10) Providence: 58 points.
11) Georgetown: 53 points.
12) Seton Hall: 38 points.
13) St. John’s: 32 points.
14) South Florida: 26 points.
15) Rutgers: 16 points.
16) DePaul: 8 points.

Player of the Week: DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh

Freshman of the Week: Devin Ebanks, West Virginia

This week’s voting contributors:

NBE Blogger
Matt Whitfield
Jeff Borzello
Ray Balter
Ray Mernagh
Chris Dokish
Nathan Wollack
Doug Ferguson

NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (2/9/2009)

We are now fully into the later half of conference play in the Big East season. NBE writers and contributors cast their ballots for the weekly power poll earlier today and ranked the Big East teams 1-16. After their resounding win at Louisville last Monday night, Connecticut takes clear possession of the #1 spot in the rankings, garnering all 8 first place votes. Here are the results (1st place votes in parenthesis):

1) Connecticut (8): 128 points.
2) Louisville: 115 points.
3) Pittsburgh: 114 points.
4) Marquette: 106 points.
5) Villanova: 97 points.
6) Syracuse: 86 points.
7) West Virginia: 77 points.
8: Cincinnati: 74 points.
9) Providence: 61 points.
10) Georgetown: 57 points.
11) Seton Hall: 47 points.
12) Notre Dame: 42 points.
13) South Florida: 33 points.
14) St. John’s: 26 points.
15) Rutgers: 17 points.
16) DePaul: 8 points.

Player of the Week: DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh

Freshman of the Week: Yancy Gates, Cincinnati

This week’s voters:

NBE Blogger
Chris Dokish
Anthony Jaskulski
Ron Bailey
Doug Ferguson
Matt Whitfield
Nathan Wollack
Ray Mernagh

NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (2/2/2009) & NOTEBOOK

Once again it is time for the NBE Basketball Report’s writers and contributors to rank the Big East team’s from 1 to 16 and produce this week’s NBE Power Poll. As an added bonus, we go through the latest News & Notes from around the league, touching on the latest happenings of each of the 16 Big East teams.

Here is this week’s poll:

1: Connecticut (7) 154 points.

The Huskies enter tonight’s Big Monday showdown with Louisville as the nation’s new #1 team in the country. Over the weekend, the UConn Frontcourt Stands and Delivers (Journal Inquirer) in a 94-61 demolition of Providence. Stanley Robinson scored a season high 18 points, Hasheem Thabeet registered a triple-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks and Jeff Adrien, who saw his six-game double-double streak snapped, added 12 points and 6 rebounds. AJ Price led the Huskies with 19 points, matching his average over the last five games.

Jim Calhoun’s squad is #1 in the land according to the voters, as well as the Big East Power Poll, Now They’ve Got to Prove It (The Day.com) by winning on the road at Louisville, something previous #1 Pittsburgh was unable to do and it was also how other recent #1’s (Duke and Wake Forest) saw their brief runs at #1 end.

Here is the NBE Big East Game Preview on UConn/UL from our Connecticut Team Blog site.

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NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (1/26/2009)

Here is the NBE Basketball Report Power Poll for January 26, 2009. Each week, writers and contributors of the NBE Basketball Report cast their ballots and rank the Big East teams 1-16 and votes are tallied in the same manner of the AP and Coaches polls. Everyone also submits a vote on the Player and Freshman of the Week and those results are below as well.

Here is this week’s poll (with first place votes in parenthesis):

1) Connecticut (4): 122 pts.
2) Pittsburgh (1): 118 pts.
3) Louisville (2): 116 pts.
4) Marquette (1): 108 pts.
5) Syracuse: 93 pts.
6) Georgetown: 80 pts.
7) West Virginia: 76 pts.
8: Villanova: 75 pts.
9) Notre Dame: 66 pts.
10) Providence: 65 pts.
11) Cincinnati: 47 pts.
12) St. John’s: 39 pts.
13) Seton Hall: 32 pts.
14) South Florida: 26 pts.
15) Rutgers: 16 pts.
16) DePaul: 9 pts.

Here are the contributors:

NBE Blogger
Nathan Wollack
Chris Dokish
Matt Whitfield
Doug Ferguson
Ray Mernagh
Anthony Jaskulski

Jeff Borzello

PlayerS of the Week: Terrence Williams, Louisville and Jeremy Hazell, Seton Hall

Freshman of the Week: Augustus Gilchrist, South Florida

Here is the NBE BIG East Power Poll from 1/19/2009.

NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (1/19/2009) & NEWS & NOTES

Here is the NBE Basketball Report Power Poll for January 19, 2009. Each week, writers and contributors of the NBE Basketball Report cast their ballots and rank the Big East teams 1-16 and votes are tallied in the same manner of the AP and Coaches polls. Everyone also submits a vote on the Player and Freshman of the Week and those results are below as well.

Here is this week’s poll (with first place votes in parenthesis):

1) Connecticut (4): 105 pts.
2) Pittsburgh (1): 103 pts.
3) Marquette (1): 93 pts.
4) Louisville (1): 91 pts.
5) Syracuse: 88 pts.
6) Georgetown: 83 pts.
7) Notre Dame: 68 pts.
8: Villanova: 63 pts.
9) West Virginia: 56 pts.
10) Providence: 54 pts.
11) Cincinnati: 41 pts.
12) St. John’s: 33 pts.
13) Seton Hall: 24 pts.
14) Rutgers: 21 pts (tie).
South Florida: 21 pts (tie).
16) DePaul: 7 pts.

With Matt Whitfield out covering tonight’s Freedom Fighters Challenge at Paterson Catholic (look for his Dann Finn Recap tonight on NBE), Zach Smart at the Big Apple Basketball Invitational (see live blog below for updates) and Jeff Borzello at the Spalding HoopHall Classic (again, see live blog below), it was a small creww participating in this week’s poll. Here are the contributors:

NBE Blogger
Nathan Wollack
Chris Dokish
Ron Bailey
Doug Ferguson
Ray Mernagh
Anthony Jaskulski

Player of the Week: Terrence Williams, Louisville

Freshman of the Week: Kemba Walker, Connecticut

Here is the NBE BIG East Power Poll from 1/12/2009.

Here are the Daily Big East News & Notes for 1/19/2009:

On Sunday, Connecticut hosted Seton Hall in a Big East conference match-up in front of 15,572 at the XL Center.

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NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (1/12/09) & NOTEBOOK

The NBE Basketball Report writers and contributors have submitted their weekly power poll ballots and the votes have been tallied. Here is how they rank the Big East as we are set to begin week #3 of conference play tonight (first place votes in parenthesis):

1) Pittsburgh (9): 144 points
2) Connecticut: 130 points
3) Syracuse: 127 points
4) Marquette: 113 points
5) Notre Dame: 104 points
6) Georgetown: 102 points
7) Louisville: 93 points
8: Villanova: 80 points
9) West Virginia: 79 points
10) Providence: 60 points
11) St. John’s: 52 points
12) Cincinnati: 45 points
13) Seton Hall: 36 points
14) Rutgers: 27 points
15) South Florida: 19 points
16) DePaul: 13 points

Player of the Week: Luke Harangody (Notre Dame)

Freshman of the Week: Greg Monroe (Georgetown)

Contributing to this week’s voting was:
NBE Blogger
Ray Mernagh
Ray Balter
Matt Whitfield
Chris Dokish
Zach Smart
Jeff Borzello
Doug Ferguson
Nathan Wollack

Below is an abbreviated version of our Daily News & Notes (1/12/2009):

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NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (1/5/2009) & STOCK REPORT

Well, the 2008-2009 college basketball regular season is upon us and now it is time for conference play. The Big East conference completed one full week of action and a few teams made early statements. The action continues tonight with Big Monday on ESPN.

NBE Basketball Report writers and contributors cast their ballots this week to vote on the weekly conference power poll as well as a Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week. Here are the results (with 1st place votes in parenthesis):

NBE Basketball Big East Power Poll:

1) Pittsburgh (7): 128 points.
2) Connecticut: 113 points.
3) Georgetown: 106 points.
4) Syracuse: 105 points.
5) Marquette: 99 points.
6) West Virginia: 92 points.
7) Notre Dame: 76 points.
8: Villanova: 75 points.
9) Louisville: 69 points.
10) Providence: 51 points.
11) St. John’s: 44 points.
12) Cincinnati: 42 points.
13) Rutgers: 31 points.
14) Seton Hall: 28 points.
15) DePaul: 15 points.
16) South Florida: 14 points.

Player of the Week: Jerel McNeal (Marquette)

Freshman of the Week: Greg Monroe (Georgetown)

Here is a look at a Big East stock report, courtesy of Anthony Jaskulski:

Big East Stock Report: Week One
By Anthony Jaskulski

1. Pittsburgh 14-0, 2-0, Stock: UP

National ranking: 1
Last game: W 70-54, at Georgetown
Next game: Jan. 11 vs. St. Johns

Strong Point: The Panthers are in the top-five in the conference in every rebounding category, including a league-best, +10.9 margin on the glass.

Area of Improvement: When Center DeJuan Blair is on the bench, or in foul trouble, Pitt needs somebody to step up in the paint. Center Gary McGhee has proven not to be that guy thus far.

Overall Analysis: There is not much more Pitt can do to improve as a team right now. They have tackled every challenge that has been thrown their way, and Saturday’s win at Georgetown has proved to the rest of the conference that the Panthers will remain the team to beat until somebody, if anybody can knock them off.

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NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (12/29/2008) & CONFERENCE PREVIEW

Well, the 2008-2009 college basketball regular season is upon us and now it is time for conference play. The Big East conference tips off tonight with Georgetown and Connecticut (see our UConn Team Blog Site for a report from Zach Smart who is in Hartford for tonight’s game as well as the NBE Blogger’s game preview and prediction) squaring off on ESPN2 at 7 PM live from the XL Center in downtown Hartford.

NBE Basketball Report writers and contributors cast their ballots this week to vote on the weekly conference power poll as well as a Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week. Here are the results (with 1st place votes in parenthesis):

NBE Basketball Big East Power Poll:

1) Connecticut (7): 142 points.
2) Pittsburgh (2): 137 points.
3) Georgetown: 122 points.
4) Syracuse: 115 points.
5) Notre Dame: 98 points.
6) Villanova: 97 points.
7) Louisville: 90 points.
8: West Virginia: 89 points.
9) Marquette: 82 points.
10) Cincinnati: 58 points.
11) Seton Hall: 50 points.
12) Providence: 43 points.
13) St. John’s: 42 points.
14) Rutgers: 28 points.
15) DePaul: 21 points.
16) South Florida: 10 points.

Player of the Week: Alex Ruoff (West Virginia)

Freshman of the Week: Mike Rosario (Rutgers)

Your home for ALL the Big East action this week!

Here is a look at the Big East through the pre-conference schedule, courtesy of Chris Dokish (note – stats and records are through games of 12/27/2008 and do not inlcude games of 12/28):

It’s not quite the halfway point of the season. In fact, it’s more like a third of the way through the season. But the out of conference schedule is over for the most part and on December 29th, the first conference game of the season will be played. With that in mind, it’s a good time to see how things are shaping up so far this season, and who has the early lead for some very big honors.

Player of the Year: Luke Harangody, Notre Dame- The junior won the award last year and if he wins it again this year, he has the chance to go down as one of the top Big East players of all-time. Did anybody see that coming when he signed with the Irish? With UConn and Pittsburgh possibly fighting it out for the championship, though, UConn’s Hasheem Thabeet, as well Pitt’s Sam Young and DeJuan Blair, may give him a run for his money.

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NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (12/22/2008)

Well, the 2008-2009 college basketball regular season is upon us. NBE Basketball Report writers and contributors cast their ballots this week to vote on the weekly conference power poll as well as a Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week. Here are the results (with 1st place votes in parenthesis):

NBE Basketball Big East Power Poll:

1) Connecticut (6): 111 points.
2) Pittsburgh (1): 106 points.
3) Georgetown: 92 points.
4) Syracuse: 90 points.
5) Villanova: 77 points.
6) Louisville: 76 points.
7) Notre Dame: 74 points.
8: West Virginia: 66 points.
9) Marquette: 64 points.
10) Cincinnati: 47 points.
11) Seton Hall: 43 points.
12) St. John’s: 31 points.
13) Providence: 30 points.
14) Rutgers: 20 points.
15) DePaul: 17points.
16) South Florida: 8 points.

Player of the Week: Jonny Flynn (Syracuse)

Freshman of the Week: Darryl Bryant (West Virginia)

Here is our link to last week’s poll: NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (12/15/2008)

Here is the list of participants in the voting:

NBE Blogger, Publisher of the NBE Basketball Report.

Ray Mernagh, College Basketball Editor of the Pittsburgh Sports Report and Publisher of Hoop Wise.

Nathan Wollack, Publisher/Founder of BlueDemonsNation.com and helps out as co-Publisher of our DePaul Team Blog Site.

Matt Whitfield, NBE Reporter and co-Publisher of our West Virginia Team Blog Site

Jeff Borzello, Publisher of March Madness All Season.

Ron Bailey, publisher of i95Ballerz.com.

Chris Dokish, Contributing editor of the Pittsburgh Sports Report and author of the NBE Basketball’s Big East All-Time Top 50 Players. Chris is also co-Publisher of our Pittsburgh Team Blog Site.

NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (12/15/2008)

Well, the 2008-2009 college basketball regular season is upon us. NBE Basketball Report writers and contributors cast their ballots this week to vote on the weekly conference power poll as well as a Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week. Here are the results (with 1st place votes in parenthesis):

NBE Basketball Big East Power Poll:

1) Connecticut (6): 126 points.
2) Pittsburgh (2): 121 points.
3) Syracuse: 110 points.
4) Georgetown: 100 points.
5) Louisville: 97 points.
6) Villanova: 88 points.
7) Notre Dame: 79 points.
8: Marquette: 78 points.
9) West Virginia: 62 points.
10) Seton Hall: 55 points.
11) Cincinnati: 47 points.
12) St. John’s: 40 points.
13) Providence: 35 points.
14) Rutgers: 20 points.
15) DePaul: 16 points.
16) South Florida: 14 points.

Player of the Week: Luke Harangody (Notre Dame)

Freshman of the Week: Devin Ebanks (West Virginia)

Here is our link to last week’s poll: NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (12/8/2008)

Here is the list of participants in the voting:

NBE Blogger, Publisher of the NBE Basketball Report.

Ray Mernagh, College Basketball Editor of the Pittsburgh Sports Report and Publisher of Hoop Wise.

Nathan Wollack, Publisher/Founder of BlueDemonsNation.com and helps out as co-Publisher of our DePaul Team Blog Site.

Chris Dokish, Contributing editor of the Pittsburgh Sports Report and author of the NBE Basketball’s Big East All-Time Top 50 Players. Chris is also co-Publisher of our Pittsburgh Team Blog Site.

Doug Ferguson, Midwest Editor and NBA Analyst for NBE Basketball Report.

Matt Whitfield, NBE Reporter and co-Publisher of our West Virginia Team Blog Site

Ray Balter, who also writes for StateofRutgers.com and works as co-Publisher of our Seton Hall and Rutgers Team Blog Sites

Jeff Borzello, Publisher of March Madness All Season.

NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (12/8/2008)

Well, the 2008-2009 college basketball regular season is upon us. NBE Basketball Report writers and contributors cast their ballots this week to vote on the weekly conference power poll as well as a Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week. Here are the results (with 1st place votes in parenthesis):

NBE Basketball Big East Power Poll:

1) Connecticut (4): 79 points.
2) Pittsburgh (1): 75 points.
3) Syracuse: 69 points.
4) Louisville: 63 points.
5) Georgetown: 57 points.
6) Villanova: 55 points.
7) Notre Dame: 54 points.
8: Marquette: 48 points.
9) West Virginia: 39 points.
10) Seton Hall: 34 points.
11) Cincinnati: 29 points.
12) Providence: 23 points.
13) St. John’s: 21 points.
14) DePaul: 18 points.
15) South Florida: 10 points.
16) Rutgers: 6 points.

Player of the Week: Hasheem Thabeet (Connecticut)

Freshman of the Week: Mike Rosario (Rutgers)

Here is the list of participants in the voting:

NBE Blogger, Publisher of the NBE Basketball Report.

Nathan Wollack, Publisher/Founder of BlueDemonsNation.com and helps out as co-Publisher of our DePaul Team Blog Site.

Chris Dokish, Contributing editor of the Pittsburgh Sports Report and author of the NBE Basketball’s Big East All-Time Top 50 Players. Chris is also co-Publisher of our Pittsburgh Team Blog Site.

Doug Ferguson, Midwest Editor and NBA Analyst for NBE Basketball Report.

Matt Whitfield, NBE Reporter and co-Publisher of our West Virginia Team Blog Site

NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (12/1/2008)

Well, the 2008-2009 college basketball regular season is upon us. NBE Basketball Report writers and contributors cast their ballots this week to vote on the weekly conference power poll as well as a Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week. Here are the results (with 1st place votes in parenthesis):

NBE Basketball Big East Power Poll:

1) Connecticut (9): 144 points.
2) Pittsburgh: 135 points.
3) Syracuse: 117 points.
4) Notre Dame: 115 points.
5) Louisville: 109 points.
6) Georgetown: 100 points.
7) Villanova: 94 points.
8: Marquette: 78 points.
9) West Virginia: 74 points.
10) Seton Hall: 60 points.
11) Cincinnati: 53 points.
12) DePaul: 38 points.
13) Providence: 35 points.
14) South Florida: 27 points.
15) St. John’s: 23 points.
16) Rutgers: 22 points.

Player of the Week: Kyle McAlarney (Notre Dame)

Freshman of the Week: Greg Monroe (Georgetown)

Also, here is an article on our 12/1/2008 Big East Team of the Week: Big East Team of the Week: Syracuse (12/1/2008).

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NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (11/24/2008)

The 2009-2009 season is underway and the action has already been exciting this season. Here are the results of our first in-season weekly power poll as voted by NBE staff and contributors (with 1st place votes in parenthesis):

2008-2009 Big East Pre-season Power Poll:

1) Connecticut (6): 96 points.
2) Louisville: 89 points.
3) Pittsburgh: 85 points.
4) Notre Dame: 71 points.
5) Marquette: 67 points.
6) Villanova: 66 points.
7) Georgetown: 65 points.
8: Syracuse: 53 points.
9) Seton Hall: 50 points.
10) West Virginia: 48 points.
11) Cincinnati: 32 points.
12) Providence: 28 points.
13) DePaul: 20 points.
14) Rutgers: 18 points.
15) St. John’s: 14 points.
16) South Florida: 13 points.

Beginning Monday, November 24th, we will be releasing our weekly Big East Power Poll and conference notebook that will run throughout the season through the Big East Tournament in March. Read on to see who was selected the NBE Player of the Week, Freshman of the Week and our first Team of the Week.

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NBE PRE-SEASON BIG EAST POWER POLL & ALL-LEAGUE TEAMS

Well, the 2008-2009 college basketball regular season is upon us. NBE Basketball Report writers and contributors cast their ballots this week to vote on a Pre-season Big East Power Poll and on the 2008-2009 Big East Pre-season Player Awards. Here are the results (with 1st place votes in parenthesis):

2008-2009 Big East Pre-season Power Poll:

1) Connecticut (5): 139 points.
2) Louisville (4): 134 points.
3) Pittsburgh: 124 points.
4) Notre Dame: 112 points.
5) Marquette: 107 points.
6) Villanova: 97 points.
7) Georgetown: 95 points.
Syracuse: 88 points.
9) West Virginia: 74 points.
10) Providence: 59 points.
11) Cincinnati: 54 points.
12) Rutgers: 46 points.
13) Seton Hall: 32 points.
14) DePaul: 22 points.
15) St. John’s: 21 points.
16) South Florida: 20 points.

Beginning Monday, November 24th, we will be releasing our weekly Big East Power Poll and conference notebook that will run throughout the season through the Big East Tournament in March.

Read on to see the Pre-season all-league teams

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