ShiftyPowers;2433785 said:
Yeah, I assumed it was the Pac 10 just because I've been asked if it's better than the ACC this year and I thought it was. However I didn't even consider the Big East. Okay, let's compare...
Pac 10: UCLA, USC, Wazzou, Arizona, Oregon, Stanford, Washington, and Cal have a shot at bids.
UCLA and USC are elite. Wazzou, and probably Arizona and Oregon are in the next group (like 8-18ish), and Stanford, Washington, and Cal all have shots at bids. I'd take Washington over the others just because of coach Romar, and Stanford is going to lose some easier non-conference games because I think they're missing a Lopez brother until the second semester.
Big East: Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Syracuse, UConn, Villanova, West Virginia, Pitt, and Notre Dame are all potential NCAA teams, and I would be shocked to see any of them miss out (well, I don't like Nova, but a lot of people seem to). Georgetown is the only elite team in my opinion. Louisville, Marquette, and Syracuse are in that 8-18 range for me. Cuse is unranked in the preseason, and that's a total crime, they return a great team and add Donte Green. Let's just say a backcourt of Devendorf, Harris, and Green should be pretty unstoppable and I can't see how their front court would be much worse than Marquette's. UConn is coming off a terrible year, but they were all sophomores and freshman last season and they'll have a year of experience, plus Jim Calhoun is one of the best coaches out there. There's no way they miss the Tournament, and they should probably be ranked somewhere in the top 25. West Virginia won 25 games last year, returned just about everybody, and they arguably got a coaching upgrade in Bob Huggins over Jim Beilein. Not ranked. I don't like Pitt, don't like Nova, but ND is probably underrated.
So I think they're probably just about even, but the Pac 10 will play more exciting basketball. The Big East also has more bad teams, so the 9 teams above can pad their conference records to get into the Tournament.
EDIT: Here's how I see it right now (yes, this does take into account MSU and OSU's preseason losses, and Kentucky's loss to Garner-Webb last night)
1.Memphis
2.North Carolina
3.Kansas
4.UCLA
5.Georgetown
6.USC
7.Indiana
8.Tennessee
9.Washington State
10.Kansas State
11.Louisville
12.Marquette
13.Arizona
14.Gonzaga
15.Duke
16.Syracuse
17.Oregon
18.Michigan State
19.Ohio State
20.Texas A&M
21.Texas
22.Mississippi State
23.Virginia
24.UConn
25.Southern Illinois
Hey Alex, I had forgotten that Michael Beasley initially committed to Charlotte. Thoughts?
As usual, bro.....a very constructive, well thought out and enjoyable post.
I hope that the PAC-10 is more exciting and up-tempo this year. Most folks impulsively assume that the type of ball played in the PAC is very much akin to the sort of offensive-minded and free flowing type of ball that their football brethren play, but that's not always the case....especially last season, which was one of the most boring that I've ever come across. I mean, the Ducks, Wildcats and Huskies were the exceptions and played good, attacking ball, but the rest were just dreary to watch. Infact, of the big six, the only ones more dreadful to watch than the Pac was probably the Big10(+1), and the BIG-12 to a lesser extent....
The Pac is being buoyed by it's current recruiting class and next year's too, no doubt. And SC has probably its greatest class ever this year with a #!, #10, #26, and #36 coming in, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how Wazzou does the most. They're bringing back virtually their entire squad from last year, man. Also, my Wildcats (I hope that Lute and his family are alright) just got Kevin O'Neil to take care of our critical defensive problems. Bayless, Budinger and McClellan should be fun to watch. I'm also interested in seeing how well the Ducks fair without Brooks. That Porter kid is supposed to fill his shoes and he probably will on the offensive side of the ball, but as far as being a warrior-like vocal leader and playmaker, I'm really not convinced that he can sufficiently handle that aspect of the game, man.
so, this is my PAC rankings
UCLA, USC, ARIZONA (fanboy bias alert), WAZZOU, WASHINGTON, OREGON, STANFORD, ASU(didn't know that Boateng from Duke transferred to this school, also, they've got Nate McMillian's kid), Cal(no legit point guard again), Oregon State.....ASU was a lot better than their record indicated last year, so I'm expecting a contending team out of them this year if they can manage to stay moderately healthy, man.
The Big East is point guard heaven as usual. The league under performed last year, but I think that was mainly due to the influx of youth coming in. There won't be as many cupcake sides in the lower half of the league this season as there were the year before. In my opinion, the conference is legitimately 12 teams deep this year. Also, Louisville (serious Pitino bias alert) and the Hoyas are every bit as elite as any other conference's #1 or 2...I mean it. They've both only gotten stronger and deeper as far as I'm concerned, and they should be serious contenders for the final four when the tourney comes up. Then there's Marquette and the 'Cuse. The Golden Eagles with their trio of McNeal, James and Matthews, and the Orangeman starting I think four Macdonalds All-Americans? Terrible luck that they lost Rautins to that horrendous injury, as that kid was a phenomenal source of offense last year coming off the bench, but I really feel that this team has both the depth and skill necessary to make up for its inexperience. This kid Jonny Flynn is gonna be special, man.
The huskies are in a similar situation. They struggled greatly with that vaunted recruiting class last year after being raped by the NBA for 5 of its key players. Price was utter **** coming back from his off the court issues and injuries. They shot horrendously, Adrien and Dyson underperformed in my opinion and took a lot of dumb fouls in critical situations. To put it plainly, this was far from a Calhoun team. I expect this team to improve greatly from last year considerably. I mean, how can they not with all that talent? They're long, ridiculously athletic and can go with a 9-man rotation easily. Pitt lost three starters from last year's squad, but I feel that they've replenished the team enough to be a solid contender once more. Fields and Ramon should make for an excellent 1-2 punch in the backcourt.
I'm a big Jay Wright fan, but this team lost some key players in Nardi, Sheridan and Sumpter from last season's squad. Scottie Reynolds is probably the best scoring guard not only in the league, but also in the country, and along with Cunningham and Clark, I really feel that this team is gonna be a tournament lock. As per usuall, they recruited really well in the backcourt, so much so, that I can see them running their trademark 3-4 point guard lineup. The two Coreys will be sharing the BE rookie of the year trophy.....you wait and see, man. They're gonna have a tough time matching up on the defensive end as usual, but how can you not cream your pants over the potential of this squad? If that's not GUARD-U for you, then I don't know what is.
Notre Dame and WVU are a bit suspect. ND lost some of its key players from last year's best scoring offense, WVU is getting a coach who's basketball philosophy couldn't be more diametrically opposed to that of the coach he's replacing. They're probably even deeper than they were last season, but this for sure ain't no physically intimidating and bruising Huggins team. It's a largely perimeter squad that doesn't have an ounce of mean streak in 'em and that enjoys taking 30 three pointers a game, man. I just don't know how he'll be able to convert these kids into playing his brand of ball, but we'll see. Depaul lost it's two best players last year. There's no denying that there will be some type of drop off interms of scoring and rebounding, but they've really recruited well, and since they're returning pretty much their entire squad save for the two lost to the League, I think that they should do alright. Gonzalez's Seton Hall should be considerably improved interms of depth this year. There aren't many out there who recruit better than Bobby. They've gotten bigger and longer, and I think they've finally secured the personnel in the front court to match their awesome back court.
So you see, bro. There's no deeper, more competitive league than the BE. It is what the SEC is to football, but only more extravagant and glutted with talent. No other conference can claim to be 10-12 teams deep as genuinely as the BE can, man. It's gonna be tremendously competitive this year, man.
BE rankings
LOUISVILLE-Elite
G-TOWN-Elite
MARQUETTE (have you matriculated yet?)
CONNECTICUT
VILLANOVA
SYRACUSE
PITTSBURG
WEST VIRGINIA
NORTRE DAME
PROVIDENCE
DEPAUL
SETON HALL
ST JOHN'S
RUTGERS
CINCY
USF
Gotta love this time of the year, man. My favorite sport is just getting under way. IMO, NCAAF has got nothing on the NCCAB. I mean, you're gonna witness number ones and twos playing up to 10 top 25 opponents (if not more) this year.....and that's just the norm. I mean, people are going ape**** this year because LSU has played something like 4-5 top 25 teams. Although that's pretty decent for a college football team, all of those games were played in their ******* home. Just look at OSU, the supposed best team in the country.......one ******* lousy top 25 team, man......ONE.....sheesh!
. I'm hoping the very likely announcement of football in the spring will help us join a better conference again.
