Top 144 Countdown

[Bill Marsh]

Thought I'd bring this back up as Providence has entered the rankings at #60 (personally I think they are at least 20 spots higher than that, but whatever). Interestingly, despite them being #60 the author has them in the NIT again. That's a bit of a head scratcher. I believe that is the first 2 of our 10 in with Providence at 60 and Seton Hall at 109. DePaul, I'm assuming, will not be on this list. It's also pretty clear that the list does not have up-to-date facts.

Xavier is at #76.

I agree that #60 is too low for Providence. I'll be very surprised I'd they don't finish in the top half of the Big East and make the tournament. The article does say that they expect the Friars to make a serious run at a tournament spot. Sounds like they see them as more or less a bubble team.

[Bill Marsh]

St. John's has shown up today at #50 on the list, 6th in the Big East and missing the NCAA tournament but headed to the NIT. Classic bubble team.

[Bill Marsh]

Te BignEast comes up with another bubble team as Butler is ranked #49, 5th in the conference, and headed to the NIT. Looks like only 4 Big East teams going to the tournament in their opinion.

I think that this list has Vutlere overrated and St. John's and Profidence underrated.

[billyjack]

Looking forward to the Big East biting some asses, as Ed Cooley likes to say...

[Bill Marsh]

Looking forward to the Big East biting some asses, as Ed Cooley likes to say...

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This is one staff's opinion. Meanwhile, Scott Gleeson is publishing a daily countdown of the 68 teams that the USA Today staff is projecting to make the tournament. On Friday they got down to #36, Oregon, and not a single Big East team has shown up yet.

We know from the revised pre-season top 25 that USA Today published in June that the BE has 2 on that list - Creighton at 17 and Marquette at #22 - unless they've revised it again. So, the question that has me on the edge of my seat is whether they have 4 in the tournament as College Sports Madness does or do they have more? The next 10 announcements will tell the tale over the coming 2 weeks as the fill in numbers 26 - 35.

Since we're down to the last 35, I'm tending to think that it's 4 and that USA Today also sees our emerging teams falling on the wrong side of the bubble - or at least not being willing to put them in yet until they've actually proven something on the court. So, I 'm suspecting that we'll see Georgetown and Villanova showing up in the next 10.

The consensus seems to be that we'll se 4 Big East teams seeded between 5 - 9. What could change that is the conference building up its RPI OOC and the bubble teams exceeding expectations.

I'm still holding out hope that they will have either St. John's or Providence on their list, but those hopes are fading. Given the way they finished the season, Providence seems like a lock to me to have a big year. I have more faith in them making the tournament than some of the leahue's bigger names. I think that St. John's has a higher ceiling but they're Al's a higher risk pick because they really didn't show that they had it together at any point last year. But, man, they sure do have a lot of talent!

These early lists are pretty conservative and lean heavily on what teams did last year or on whether they had a mega recruiting year and brought in one or more super stars. Doing that, they're bound to overrate some teams and underrate some emerging teams that were young last year and are still growing.

The Big East seems very volatile to me with a lot of moving parts. I don't see anyone being a sure thing in this conference. A team picked to finish at the top could end up in the bottom half and vice versa. Should be a very interesting year.

[Dave]

The Big East seems very volatile to me with a lot of moving parts. I don't see anyone being a sure thing in this conference. A team picked to finish at the top could end up in the bottom half and vice versa.

Except for DePaul

[Bill Marsh]

The Big East seems very volatile to me with a lot of moving parts. I don't see anyone being a sure thing in this conference. A team picked to finish at the top could end up in the bottom half and vice versa.

Except for DePaul

I'm not expecting it, but DePaul could surprise and finish higher than we expect. DePaul started out the season last year 9-3 and had wins over Providence, Rutgers, Auburn, and Arizona State. The old Big East schedule was so brutal that it made teams look worse than they were - even DePaul.

[Dave]

The Big East seems very volatile to me with a lot of moving parts. I don't see anyone being a sure thing in this conference. A team picked to finish at the top could end up in the bottom half and vice versa.

Except for DePaul

I'm not expecting it, but DePaul could surprise and finish higher than we expect. DePaul started out the season last year 9-3 and had wins over Providence, Rutgers, Auburn, and Arizona State. The old Big East schedule was so brutal that it made teams look worse than they were -even DePaul.

True, but not the top half. I hope they show some life. Especially ooc.

[TheHall]

The predictions of the order the league finishes in indeed appears volatile, but not the perceived quality of the league. The BE solidly appears to be a 5-7 NCAA bid league in 2014 regardless of the order. Nova could actually finish 1st through 7th but they still are likely to be dancing in March regardless.

[Bill Marsh]

The predictions of the order the league finishes in indeed appears volatile, but not the perceived quality of the league. The BE solidly appears to be a 5-7 NCAA bid league in 2014 regardless of the order. Nova could actually finish 1st through 7th but they still are likely to be dancing in March regardless.

College Sports Madness is predicting 4 bids and it seems likely that USA Today is heading in the same direction. The consensus seems to be that there will be 2-3 bubble teams who could change the picture if they perform a little stronger than predicted, but so far, the doubts about them appear to outweigh any optimism for them.

I agree with you that 5-7 seems to be more likely, but it will take some good performances early in the season to build the momentum to support this view.