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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW (2/13/2009)

The NBE Blogger was swept last night straight-up and ATS as Notre Dame romped past Louisville. All day long, the NBE Blogger attempted to find reasons to take the Irish, but in the end, asked the Irish to give him a reason…and they did!. The NBE Blogger is now 72-19 outright, but is still a mediocre 47-44 ATS this season in Big East conference games.

The Big East gives us a special treat on Friday the 13th with a very important match-up on the schedule. You can follow the links below of the teams to see our preview of the game and a prediction from the NBE Blogger (and, remember to leave your prediction, thoughts and analysis in the comments while there):

Villanova at West Virginia, 9 PM.

(college basketball lines are provided by BetUS.com)

Your home for all of the Big East action for the 2008-2009 season!

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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2008-2009 PREVIEW: BIG EAST TOP TWO-GUARDS

Recently we took a poll among several of the writers and contributors of the NBE Basketball Report asking them to rank the Top 10 returning two-guards as well as listing the Top Five newcomers at the position expected to make an impact this season.

Here is how the voting stacked up, for each of the 10 returning point guard, click on their name and you can see their individual write-up from the team blog sites…let’s rank ‘em:

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2008-2009 PREVIEW: BIG EAST’S TOP POINT GUARDS

Recently we took a poll among several of the writers and contributors of the NBE Basketball Report asking them to rank the Top 10 returning point guards as well as listing the Top Five incoming point guards expected to make an impact this season.

Here is how the voting stacked up, for each of the 10 returning point guard, click on their name and you can see their individual write-up from the team blog sites…let’s rank ‘em:

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NBE BIG EAST MEDIA NOTES, PART III

by Raymond Balter

Key roles for Jordan Theodore, Mike Davis at SHU

As it stands right now, Seton Hall will enter this season thinner than Head Coach Bobby Gonzalez would like. Still, the Pirates skipper feels that his team can expect some reinforcement and improvement at two key areas that should make them a stronger team this year. He spoke about that at length to NBE Report at last Wednesday’s Big East Media Day.

Freshman point guard Jordan Theodore’s commitment to Seton Hall did not bring with it the fanfare that, two years ago, accompanied the arrival of his predecessor, incumbent starter Eugene Harvey. Still, Bobby Gonzalez feels that the addition of Theodore, along with the return of a healthy Paul Gause, can have an impact that’s just as significant – indeed, one that Harvey himself will be the primary beneficiary of.

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NBE BIG EAST MEDIA DAY NOTES, PART II

Rutgers Moving Up

Fred Hill enters his third year as head coach of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, a program that since its arrival in the Big East in 1995 has never finished above .500 in conference play. After listening to him speak at last Wednesday’s Big East Media Day, he’s clearly confident that he has the program headed in the right direction, but still cautions that it’s going to take time to turn Rutgers into a consistent winner in a league that may almost be too big and strong for its own good.

It hasn’t been an easy first two years for Hill at RU. Rutgers has gone 21-39 and twice failed to qualify for the league’s post-season tournament. They’re guaranteed to make it this year, but even if the rule hadn’t been changed, optimism would still abound around the program. That’s because Hill has lived up to his reputation as a strong recruiter, enabling the Scarlet Knights to enter this campaign with more talent and depth than in previous years – even if much of it is still quite young.

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NBE BIG EAST MEDIA DAY NOTES, PART I

by Zach Smart

New York—The media circus hit Madison Square Garden like another New York bus driver strike, with Jim Calhoun and Rick Pitino being cornered by a mob of hungry reporters every which way. Big East media day came with high expectations, hype, hearsay and brought about more questions than an annoying girlfriend. The two lions of the Big East jungle, UConn’s Hasheem Thabeet and Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody, were back in the Madison Square Garden fold. This time, however, they were draped in dapper suits and the only thing they were answering to was a roaring crowd of questions.

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BIG EAST COACHES POLL RESULTS

The beginning of our media day coverage at NBE, here are the results of the coaches poll:

Projected order of finish:

1: Connecticut
2: Louisville
3: Pittsburgh
4: Notre Dame
5: Villanova
6: Marquette
7: Georgetown
8: Syracuse
9: West Virginia
10: Providence
11: Cincinnati
12: Rutgers
13: Seton Hall
14: St. John’s
15: DePaul
16: South Florida

Preseason Player of the Year:
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

Co-Rookies of the Year:
Samardo Samuels, Louisville
Greg Monroe, Georgetown

All-Big East Team:
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame
Deonta VAughn, Cincinnati
AJ Price, UConn
Hasheem Thabeet, UConn
DaJuan Summers, Georgetown
Terrence Williams, Louisville
Jerel McNeal, Marquette
Kyle McAlarney, NOtre Dame
Sam Young, Pittsburgh
Jonny Flynn, Syracuse
Scottie Reynolds, Villanova

Honorable Mentions:
Jeff Adrien, UConn
Earl Clark, Louisville
Dominic James, Marquette

2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: HISTORICAL CONFERENCE RECORDS

The Big East has gone through many changes over the last 28 years. Starting out as a 7-team (Syracuse, Georgetown, St. John’s, Connecticut, Boston College, Seton Hall and Providence) conference with a 6-game schedule in 1980, Villanova joined in 1981, making it an 8-team league and the schedule increased to 14 games. As talk of an Eastern All-Sports league increased, the Big East made a pre-emptive strike against such a formation move by adding Pittsburgh in 1983 and increasing the league schedule to 16 games.

The 9-team, 16-game set-up held stead until another football move was made. This time, Miami was added 1992 and the schedule was increased to a grueling 18-game slate. In 1996 the Big East moved into two conferences (the Big East 7 and the Big East 6) with the addition of Rutgers, Notre Dame and West Virginia, still playing an 18-game conference schedules. In the 1999 conference season, they went back to one division and in 2000 the conference went back to 16-conference games.

The next expansion came in 2001 with the addition of Virginia Tech to the basketball side and the creation of two divisions (East and West) returned to the conference. From there, we all pretty much know the rest of the story with the ACC raid poaching Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech, knocking the Big East to an 11-team conference. In 2005-2006, the Big East welcomed Louisville, Cincinnati, Marquette, DePaul and South Florida to the conference and that is how we have gotten to our current 16-team set-up. The conference returned to an 18-game conference schedule for the 2007-2008 season.

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2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: POTENTIAL BREAK OUT PLAYERS

Every year fans debate what freshman class will make the biggest impact, who has the top NBA prospects returning to their line-up. However, more teams move up in the standings and more games are won because of the improvement made from players within their program. Each year we try to identify players likely to take a big step-up in the season ahead and become Big East break-out performers, will this year’s Sam Young be found on this list (Young was one of our candidates to break out last year), see for yourself…

This year, we are doing it a little different, trying to go position by position. Let’s get started:

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2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: COACHES UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

The competition in the 16-team Big East is daunting. For the first three years of the 16-team set-up, just 12 teams would qualify for the conference tournament, adding pressure on coaches to rebuild quickly and avoid the pitfalls of being among the bottom 25% of the league.

The competition on the court is fierce night in and night out, but that competition in league play just lasts a couple months. Off the court competition in the world of recruiting lasts all year round and sometimes the wins and losses off the court can drive the perception of the momentum of a program, even before the first games are played.

Last year, Tim Welsh of Providence College was the only coach to fall victim to the hot seat beneath him as the Friars and Welsh, who was one of the longest tenured coaches in the conference, parted ways. Will the pressure to win now end the tenure of other Big East coaches this season? Or will this be the year that they begin to turn their programs around…we will see…

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2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: IMPACT FRESHMAN

The 16-team Big East has become a force to be reckoned with on the court and in the year-round game off the court: recruiting. With high profile coaches such as Rick Pitino, Jim Calhoun, Jim Boeheim and others knocking on the door of recruits, competition is fierce year round in the Big East.

The incoming 2008-2009 crop of freshman once again shows the recruiting prowess the Big East with highly touted players galore coming into the conference. Today, we take a look at a point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center in the freshman class that will make the biggest impacts for their new teams during the 2008-2009 season.

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2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: IMPACT TRANSFERS

The transfer phenomenon that has become common throughout college basketball is bringing a new crop of players to the Big East annually. The 2008-2009 season will be no different as several players that were once highly sought after recruits have moved from their original college destinations to try a change of scenery at a Big East school. Normally, the NCAA mandates a player who transfers has to sit out one season at their new school, however, at least one impact transfer received an exception from that rule and will be eligible this year at his new school. At least two other potential impact transfers are also challenging the NCAA rule and could make their presence felt this season.

In addition to those seeking immediate eligibility, four other transfers who have gone the traditional route and have (or are in the middle of) served their one-year of residency at their new school are ready to make an impact on the league. Who are these new faces? Read on as we profile five new players in the Big East and take a look at two other possibilities who could join them as the 2008-2009 Big East impact transfers.

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2008-2009 BIG EAST CONFERENCE SCHEDULE ANALYSIS

Conference releases schedule detail for 2008-2009 season

The much anticipated Big East press release of who plays whom two times this upcoming season has been released, along with the home and away detail for the 2008-2009 18-game conference schedule.

The complete schedule matrix can be found the the conference website and the following press release: BIG EAST Announces 2008-09 Men’s Basketball Schedule Matchups

Here are the home and home match-ups by team:

Cincinnati: Georgetown, Providence, St. John’s
Connecticut: Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall
DePaul: Marquette, Pittsburgh, South Florida
Georgetown: Cincinnati, Marquette, Syracuse
Louisville: Notre Dame, South Florida, West Virginia
Marquette: DePaul, Georgetown, Villanova
Notre Dame: Connecticut, Louisville, St. John’s
Pittsburgh: Connecticut, DePaul, West Virginia
Providence: Cincinnati, Rutgers, Villanova
Rutgers: Providence, Seton Hall, Syracuse
St. John’s: Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Seton Hall
Seton Hall: Connecticut, Rutgers, St. John’s
South Florida: DePaul, Louisville, West Virginia
Syracuse: Georgetown, Rutgers, Villanova
Villanova: Marquette, Providence, Syracuse
West Virginia: Louisville, Pittsburgh, South Florida

So, who has the toughest home, road and overall slate in the Big East conference for 2008-2009? Read on below to get our schedule analysis thoughts…

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