Team Previews

2008-2009 PREVIEW: 1) LOUISVILLE

When Rick Pitino publicly says this could be his most talented team since coming to Louisville, you tend to take notice. After all, he has already had a Final Four team and last year’s club reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament before falling to North Carolina in the Regional Final since taking over as head coach of the Cards.

So, after reviewing fifteen other Big East teams for the 2008-2009 season, we have settled in on Louisville as our preseason #1 club. The Cards edge out Connecticut for the designation as the team to beat in the country’s toughest conference, but the teams really could be titled #1 and #1-A.

Rick Pitino has a squad with an NBA caliber frontcourt and an interesting mix in the backcourt. If a point guard emerges willing to take control of the team and make those around him better, then this Card squad should have a little bit of everything needed to challenge nationally for a title.

With point guard the biggest question mark heading into the season, the health of Terrence Williams had many around the program holding their breath when he crumpled to the floor this preseason with a knee injury. Original fears of a torn ACL were quelled after an MRI revealed a lesser tear. Williams returned to practice this week and should easily be at 100% in plenty of time for Big East battles.

Read rest of article here: 2008-2009 Louisville Preview

2008-2009 PREVIEW: 2) CONNECTICUT

It is pretty difficult to differentiate #1 from #2 and #2 from #1 this year as we prepare for the 2008-2009 Big East campaign. While most of the country has anointed Jim Calhoun’s Connecticut Huskies as the Big East’s top dog this year, I am going to tread just a tad bit cautiously on UConn at this point in time.

Things could change my view, especially between now and mid-December when it is expected they will get Stanley Robinson back in the line-up and for Ater Majok to officially join their program As of today, however, neither is on the team and, while odds are 90% they will, until it actually takes place we have learned nothing is guaranteed.

The other major point of caution with UConn for me is the knee of AJ Price. While the knee might be physically 100%, anything less than a year from surgery makes me a little nervous. The mental recovery is said to take up to a year and he has already been slowed by extra soreness in the preseason due to his ‘favoring’ of the knee.

While there are questions in my mind about the Huskies, there are still plenty of reasons why they are considered a top five team nationally by just about everyone, myself included, and we will look at those reasons and more in our preview.

Read rest of article here: 2008-2009 Connecticut Preview.

2008-2009 PREVIEW: 3) PITTSBURGH

Jamie Dixon and his Pittsburgh Panthers enter the 2008-2009 college basketball season with lofty expectations of a preseason top five caliber ball club. Year in and year out the Pitt program has developed in a nationally recognized club that continues to churn out successful seasons, owning a Big East conference best seven year streak of NCAA Tournament appearances.

The only thing missing from their resume of the last seven seasons is a deep run in the NCAA Tournament and fans, players and coaches are very anxious to breakthrough the perceived glass ceiling of their program, while national media and pundits hold off on bestowing the Panther program as a member of the elite in college basketball.

It has still been an impressive seven-year run, five of which has been led by Jamie Dixon. The Panthers have reached four Sweet 16’s, six Big East Conference Tournament Finals, winning two of them and have a winning percentage in regular season contests among the top few in the country. Will this be the season a deep run in the NCAA Tournament puts that final stamp of approval on the Pittsburgh program?

Read Rest of article here: 2008-2009 Pittsburgh Preview

2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 4) NOTRE DAME

Much has been said this season of Notre Dame entering the 2008-2009 season with expectations at levels much higher than the previous two seasons. The Irish finished in the top four of the Big East in both the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons, joining Louisville and Georgetown as repeat teams earning a 1st Round Bye in the Big East Conference Tournament. Each season, the Irish were picked middle of the pack, or lower, entering the campaign and that has changed this year.

The Irish are widely regarded as a challenger for conference supremacy this year and a pre-season top 10 ballclub. However, around the Big East, things are rather quiet in South Bend. While teams projected ahead of them seem to be adding additional question marks as the season nears, Notre Dame is going about their business with a veteran ball club that got a head start this summer with a team trip to Ireland. The Irish are healthy, they are together and they are preparing for a big season.

With the spotlight seemingly shining brightly on a few other conference rivals, Mike Brey still has his team slightly removed from the bright lights that other teams are operating under. Notre Dame also has a home court advantage that has become a major weapon and will be a target for opponents this season. The Irish have won 17 straight games at the Joyce Center in conference play and 37 overall. With a strong team expected for this year, it does bring a tougher in-conference slate, meaning the win streak will definitely be put in jeopardy with the likes of Connecticut, Louisville, Marquette, Villanova and Georgetown visiting South Bend. This is a team that can handle the schedule and will be ready to face it this year.

Read rest of article here: 2008-2009 Notre Dame Preview.

2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 5) MARQUETTE

Marquette fans and players were rocked April 1st of 2008 with the news that Tom Crean was leaving the Golden Eagles to take over the head coaching position at Indiana University. What seemed like a cruel April Fool’s joke was real, and it left the Marquette fan base reeling.

With the Final Four coming just days after Crean’s departure, the Marquette administration got the wheels in motion quickly to find Crean’s replacement. After a couple flirtations with some of the bigger names that many speculated would be available, Marquette decided to look within and Brent Williams, better known as Buzz, was promoted to the head coaching position.

Williams had spent just one season on the MU staff under Crean, but he quickly established himself as a top recruiter with strong ties to Texas from his days as an assistant at Texas A&M and other Lonestar State stops. Prior to his season at MU as an assistant, Williams was the head coach for one season at New Orleans, trying to help the program recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina that wet their program back. After a 14-17 season at UNO (9-9 in the Sun Belt), Williams resigned as the task to rebuild the Privateers had many factors working against him. Tom Crean was glad to add him to his staff shortly after.

Williams walks into a pretty good situation with the Golden Eagles as they return four starters from last season’s 25-win club that advanced to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. It is the last go-round for the ‘Three Amigos’ in the MU backcourt, they will look to make it work with a new head coach.

Read rest of article here: 2008-2009 Marquette Preview.

2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 6) SYRACUSE

If you have not noticed, Jim Boeheim has not been overly excited about the New Big East (NBE) and what has transpired for his Orange since the league expanded to 16 teams. Syracuse has found themselves on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble the last two seasons and it has been four years since the Orange have last won a game in the Big Dance. Since joining the Big East, not since the 1980-1981 and 1982-1983 had the Orange gone back to back seasons without an NCAA Tournament win, so this is unprecedented territory for Jim Boeheim.

Last year also marked the first time since those seasons in the early 80’s that SU missed the tournament back to back seasons. All told, SU has been in the NIT three times in seven years and save for one season with Carmelo Anthony, the ‘Cuse has only won an NCAA Tournament game once in the last six non-‘Melo seasons. Has Jim Boeheim lost his touch?

Boeheim has been quite cranky the last few years. Whether it was defending Big East All-Time Top 50 Player Gerry McNamara, complaining about television dictating game times or his general whining about cloudy weather in Syracuse and a tough conference to play in, the Hall of Fame coach has not been overly cheery of late. Maybe some new gold bling from his stint with the Gold Medal winning USA basketball team this past summer will brighten up the mood, if the gold has not helped, maybe the prospects of a healthy Orange squad in 2008-2009 that should break at least one of the NCAA droughts for SU. If that does not work either…well, coach Boeheim is just one that will not cheer up!

Read rest of article here: 2008-2009 Syracuse Team Preview.

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2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 7) VILLANOVA

There will not be much different this season from last when you tune in to check out Jay Wright’s Villanova Wildcat squad. ‘Nova returns their top seven scorers and their top nine players in terms of minutes per game from a squad that reached the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16. At one time last year, the Wildcats were virtually left for dead with a 3-6 conference record and they were coming off a 22-point blow out loss to rival St. Joseph’s (PA), ending their record-setting Big 5 win streak.

However, the Wildcats clawed back, got to 9-9 in the conference and beat Syracuse in a first round Big East Tournament match-up and were granted with a bid to the NCAA Tournament, which surprised some. Villanova took advantage of their opportunity as the young squad staged an incredible comeback to upend Clemson in the opening round and then beat upset-minded Siena in the second round. Eventual national champion Kansas ended the VU run in the Sweet 16.

Now, a veteran ‘Nova club will took for more in 2008-2009.

Read rest of article here: 2008-2009 Villanova Preview

2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 8) GEORGETOWN

It is transition time for coach John Thompson III and the Georgetown Hoyas, but do not feel to sorry for the Hoyas, this is not a rebuilding time, but clearly a time to re-load. After back-to-back regular season Big East championships, the Hoyas say good-bye to approximately 52% of their scoring and rebounding from a year ago and are forced to replace their starting point guard and leading scorer. Always tough tasks in the Big East, and this year will be no exception with the multitude of returning stars in the conference.

The Hoya frontcourt was decimated by personnel losses this offseason of graduation and transfer, but another fine recruiting effort by Thompson and his staff will have the Hoyas not conceding anything in their quest for another Big East championship and trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Read rest of article here: 2008-2009 Georgetown Team Preview.

2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 9) WEST VIRGINIA

The toughest position to place a team in the Big East preview is ninth place. Every team from here on out is a legit top 25 caliber team with realistic NCAA aspirations. An argument can be certainly made for any team placed here to be several spots higher, but when it came down do it, with every team here on out returning top players, bringing in high quality recruits, the difference for me comes down to new starters at point guard and a loss of their go-to top scorer from the previous year.

West Virginia is just one of two teams in the top nine that graduated their starting point guard from last season as three-year starter Darris Nichols has moved through the program. Also, Joe Alexander developed into their go-to offensive threat under Bob Huggins and he has moved on to the NBA after his break-out season. Now, coach Huggins, in his second season at his alma mater, must break in a new point guard and find a new source of consistent offense, there are quality options at his disposal to get the job done, we will watch closely this season to see how those options develop to new roles.

Read rest of team preview here: 2008-2009 West Virginia Team Preview.

2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 10) PROVIDENCE

The Keno Davis era kicks off in Providence this season. The new, young and energetic Friar head coach has brought a sense of optimism to the program that had not been able to find a consistent place in the top half of the conference under Tim Welsh. While Welsh’s teams had shown some glimpses of being primed to breakout, they never were able to build a consistent winner in the city where the Big East was founded.

Davis inherits a veteran ball club that many believe could very well be NCAA-caliber if it were not for the menacing Big East line-up that awaits them. With five seniors and three juniors all expected to be in the regular rotation, experience is not an issue for PC. Adjusting to a new system that is heavy on the three-point shot and spreading the floor might take some getting used to, especially for the big men, but there are some pieces on the perimeter that should flourish playing under Keno Davis this season.

Read rest of article here: 2008-2009 Providence Team Preview

2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 11) CINCINNATI

Quietly and under the radar, the Cincinnati Bearcats go about their business preparing for the 2008-2009 season. All-Big East performer Deonta Vaughn returns to lead Mick Cronin into the all-important third year of a coaching tenure and the Bearcats could be a team ready to surprise in the Big East.

Last season, UC was starting to make some noise as they reached 8-5 in the Big East, but the bottom fell out from there as they lost their last seven games of the season to fall back to 13-19 overall and 8-10 in the Big East. This year another infusion of new talent and hopeful progress of their sophomores to team with Vaughn could make the Bearcats a team on the prowl this season.

Read rest of article here: 2008-2009 Cincinnati Team Preview

2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 12) SETON HALL

Seton Hall…hmmmm…

When ranking this year’s teams, a long pause begun when I got to Seton Hall. The first issue, and today is October 3rd, is we still do not know the make-up of this year’s team. There is the eligibility question of freshman Melvyn Oliver, the ongoing battle of Michael Glover’s eligibility, which is now being played out in courts, and now the hardship waiver cases opened by Herb Pope and Keon Lawrence as they attempt to be eligible immediately after transferring into Seton Hall. So, Bobby Gonzalez could have as little as eight players available to tackle the brutal Big East, or they could have a very interesting team of eleven or more.

A realistic look at the situation and you might believe that Oliver is granted eligibility and he adds needed depth to their frontcourt. Maybe Keon Lawrence gets a hardship waiver, but since he is short on credits, he would not be eligible to compete until the second semester while Pope and Glover seem to be somewhat unrealistic at this point. It will be a tough order for the Pirates to improve this season, and with a roster of eight, well, that is nearly an impossible task in this conference. Still, there is some hope with some intriguing talent on this club, that if the pieces fall into place with the NCAA, this team could be on a fun roller coaster for fans.

Read Rest of Preview Here: 2008-2009 Seton Hall Preview.

2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 13) RUTGERS

It is a long way up from the bottom of this Big East conference and that is exactly where Rutgers is starting from. This is the third season under Fred Hill Jr and the first two have not gone well. With a head coaching record that now sits at 21-39 and a Big East record of 6-28, Hill enters an important year #3. While we are not likely going to see Ben Howland (Pitt), John Thompson III (Georgetown) or John Beilein (WVU) third year bump, this is the season that progress needs to be shown at Rutgers and, from where we sit, we think it will be coming.

However, you can not expect miracles. In the Big East, you need to have talent and you need that talent to be mixed with experience. On paper, Rutgers seems to have that with three seniors that have all played key roles since they came to Rutgers, but as you can tell from the records, that has not brought along any success. Now, two of those seniors (Jaron Griffin and JR Inman) could be suspended well into the out of conference portion of their schedule, meaning the youngsters might be called on earlier than anticipated, which could be both good and bad.

Read rest of article here: 2008-2009 Rutgers Preview

2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 14) ST. JOHN’S

After (finally) qualifying for their first Big East Tournament under Norm Roberts in the 2006-2007 season, it was back to the ‘norm’ for St. John’s in 2007-2008 as their young and inexperienced squad again missed out on participating in the conference’s year-end party at Madison Square Garden. A team dominated by freshman struggled to a 5-13 Big East record and finished 11-19 on the season. Not exactly what fans had in mind, a rebuilding season in year four without any postseason appearances in the NCAA or even NIT to this point.

Roberts now enters his fifth season at the helm of the Redstorm and owns a career mark of 48-67 as the head coach with St. John’s and a 20-46 record in regular season Big East action. Despite the poor results on the court, there is some hope that inroads are being made off the court as a revamped staff has given SJU some strong local recruiting ties in the New York City area. Already one highly coveted area player, Omari Lawrence, has committed for the class of 2009. The hope for the future might be getting slightly brighter, but this season’s outlook remains somewhat gloomy.

Read rest of article here: 2008-2009 St. John’s Preview

2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 15) DEPAUL

For the second time in his three years as the head coach of DePaul, Jerry Wainwright failed to lead the Blue Demons into the Big East Tournament. The once proud and powerful DePaul program, which utilized the deep talent pool of the local Chicago-land area, seems to be a shadow of its former self and this upcoming season looks like another challenging year for the Blue Demon faithful.

The 2007-2008 Big East conference schedule started out with some hope, as DePaul won four of its first six contests against Big East teams. However, the team that lost on their home floor in the out of conference schedule to North Carolina A&T and University of Illinois-Chicago returned and the Blue Demons slumped down the home stretch losing 10 of their last 12 games.

Read rest of the article here: 2008-2009 DePaul Preview.

2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 16) SOUTH FLORIDA

Stan Heath’s introduction to the Big East conference was not a pleasant one as his South Florida Bulls finished just 3-15 in the conference and 12-19 on the season. For the third consecutive season since joining the Big East from Conference USA, the Bulls did not qualify as one of the 12 teams for the Big East Conference Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

There was a first in 2007-2008 for the Bulls as USF won their first Big East road game, a 54-52 triumph at Rutgers, in their three seasons as a conference member. Now, in his second year at the helm, coach Heath will try to piece together a roster that has had several comings and goings over recent months in hopes of moving up the conference ladder.

Read the rest of our article here: 2008-2009 South Florida Preview