Fri 11/29 BE Game Thread (6 Games)

[Lavinwood]

That's it. That's the one. Forget all the other wins and losses - this is the win the conference needed and was waiting for. Unranked Nova taking out #2 Kansas is the win of the year in the NCAA, not just the Big East. Great job by the Wildcats. And if the announcers could have willed a Kansas win they would have. The entire final six minutes is them talking about Kansas and how they can win it. Just a great game.

Hah, I was thinking exactly the same. Instead of congratulating a much underrated (by the national media, not by us…we knew Nova could do it) Nova team on their huge win over the #2 Kansas team including the poster boy ESPN drools over every day (Wiggins), they immediately say "Remember! Kansas is so young!". Hah. Really? If I were the network boss I'd give the announcers a little ring and ask them to remove their Jayhawk hats in the booth.

When Kansas, Duke, UNC, or Kentucky lose, ESPN cries.

[ChiBall4]

That's it. That's the one. Forget all the other wins and losses - this is the win the conference needed and was waiting for. Unranked Nova taking out #2 Kansas is the win of the year in the NCAA, not just the Big East. Great job by the Wildcats. And if the announcers could have willed a Kansas win they would have. The entire final six minutes is them talking about Kansas and how they can win it. Just a great game.

When are people going to stop extrapolating individual wins by individual teams and interpreting it as a grandiose and overgeneralized reflection of an ENTIRE CONFERENCE? Villanova won this game, not the Big East. Basketball is all about MATCH UPS between two teams, not two conferences. There is no transitive property or application of one team's individual success to the greatness or shittyness of another conference. Please have a little bit more perspective.

[MUBoxer]

Nova will be ranked regardless of whether they win or lose to Iowa. If they lose to Iowa they will be 6-1 with a win over the number two ranked team and a lose against number 23. They will be ranked - the Iowa game will just tell us where. Creighton may still be ranked, especially if Iowa drops out. I think Marquette is out.

I'd wait till the SDSU game to pass judgement @ASU by 2pts isn't a bad loss, if we come go 3-1 on the week with a win over an SDSU team that just beat Creighton we likely stay in. Though much of it depends on what the teams behind and ahead do rather than what we do.

[stever20]

That's it. That's the one. Forget all the other wins and losses - this is the win the conference needed and was waiting for. Unranked Nova taking out #2 Kansas is the win of the year in the NCAA, not just the Big East. Great job by the Wildcats. And if the announcers could have willed a Kansas win they would have. The entire final six minutes is them talking about Kansas and how they can win it. Just a great game.

When are people going to stop extrapolating individual wins by individual teams and interpreting it as a grandiose and overgeneralized reflection of an ENTIRE CONFERENCE? Villanova won this game, not the Big East. Basketball is all about MATCH UPS between two teams, not two conferences. There is no transitive property or application of one team's individual success to the greatness or shittyness of another conference. Please have a little bit more perspective.

OOC play has a huge impact on the entire conference. If Everyone in the conference had 5 losses going into conference play- beating those teams in conference play won't help you out that much. But, if everyone in the conference has 1-2 losses going into conference play- those wins in conference would mean that much more. It definitely translates.

[Lavinwood]

That's it. That's the one. Forget all the other wins and losses - this is the win the conference needed and was waiting for. Unranked Nova taking out #2 Kansas is the win of the year in the NCAA, not just the Big East. Great job by the Wildcats. And if the announcers could have willed a Kansas win they would have. The entire final six minutes is them talking about Kansas and how they can win it. Just a great game.

When are people going to stop extrapolating individual wins by individual teams and interpreting it as a grandiose and overgeneralized reflection of an ENTIRE CONFERENCE? Villanova won this game, not the Big East. Basketball is all about MATCH UPS between two teams, not two conferences. There is no transitive property or application of one team's individual success to the greatness or shittyness of another conference. Please have a little bit more perspective.

I will agree with you after the conference is 5 years old. What you aren't understanding is that the new Big East is a baby. We have newcomers and some major losses. It's completely different than the old Big East which was the gold standard in college hoops. Once we lost Cuse, L'Ville, UConn, Cincy, ND, Pitt, WVU, etc. the national sports media essentially said "Hmm…is the Big East now mid major? They lost a ton…they may not be a great conference anymore". So to counteract that, we NEED these wins like tonight whether they come from DePaul or Nova. It shows that there are still Big East teams that can break into the national radar and slay the dragons. That's why it's a total Big East victory as well. The Big East has been dragged through the mud and back with the shocking departures in the middle of the night with not even a note left behind by Cuse or Pitt…or anyone else. Many people said we'd be the next A-10. Games like these prove that theory false. Get it now?

[stever20]

That's it. That's the one. Forget all the other wins and losses - this is the win the conference needed and was waiting for. Unranked Nova taking out #2 Kansas is the win of the year in the NCAA, not just the Big East. Great job by the Wildcats. And if the announcers could have willed a Kansas win they would have. The entire final six minutes is them talking about Kansas and how they can win it. Just a great game.

When are people going to stop extrapolating individual wins by individual teams and interpreting it as a grandiose and overgeneralized reflection of an ENTIRE CONFERENCE? Villanova won this game, not the Big East. Basketball is all about MATCH UPS between two teams, not two conferences. There is no transitive property or application of one team's individual success to the greatness or shittyness of another conference. Please have a little bit more perspective.

I will agree with you after the conference is 5 years old. What you aren't understanding is that the new Big East is a baby. We have newcomers and some major losses. It's completely different than the old Big East which was the gold standard in college hoops. Once we lost Cuse, L'Ville, UConn, Cincy, ND, Pitt, WVU, etc. the national sports media essentially said "Hmm…is the Big East now mid major? They lost a ton…they may not be a great conference anymore". So to counteract that, we NEED these wins like tonight whether they come from DePaul or Nova. It shows that there are still Big East teams that can break into the national radar and slay the dragons. That's why it's a total Big East victory as well. The Big East has been dragged through the mud and back with the shocking departures in the middle of the night with not even a note left behind by Cuse or Pitt…or anyone else. Many people said we'd be the next A-10. Games like these prove that theory false. Get it now?

To kind of add to that- if Nova had lost this game, coupled with the Creighton game just tonight- not to mention St John's and Xavier earlier in the day- it would not have been a very pretty day- with half the conference losing. You have too many days with a 10 team conference where you go 2-5 OOC, or weeks like this where since Monday we would have gone 7-10 with a Nova loss- where the conference as a whole starts to get dinged.

[redmen9194]

Any good out of conference win is good for the conference. It effects RPI, perception, etc. In 2011 the Big East got 11 teams in the tournament. There were two very related reasons for that. The first was that the conference was outstanding in the non-conference schedule. We won a huge number of the November tournies and had great non-conference wins outside of the tournies as well. That fact led to the perception and well as a conference RPI ranking and national rankings that made it so every team had a stretch of four or five games in a row where they would be playing a ranked opponent. Its how a ninth place UCONN at 9-9 in the conference goes on to win the Big East and NCAA tournies. It all matters.

[Westbrook36]

And people say I overreact, everybody take a deep breathe.

The Big East is no different then it was 3 or 4 days ago, or for that matter 3 or 4 weeks ago. It seemed half this board was ready to crown Creighton last night, now Nova is the favor of the day. Relax Creighton is still really damn good, Butler isn't missing Stevens it seems, Providence is a definite tourney team, Marquette and Georgetown are Marquette and Georgetown they are more than fine. Xavier is very dangerous and lurking, and St. John's is still ridiculously talented.

I still think 6 teams are making the tourney out of this league, that's why everyone is bitching about being predicted to finish anything lower than 3rd. This league is that good, one win or loss in November isn't changing much. Now if someone goes into a prolonged funk that's different. As much as I like to give some people a hard time, there isn't a program in this league that isn't capable of being a threat to make the 2nd weekend of the dance.

[Lavinwood]

And people say I overreact, everybody take a deep breathe.

The Big East is no different then it was 3 or 4 days ago, or for that matter 3 or 4 weeks ago. It seemed half this board was ready to crown Creighton last night, now Nova is the favor of the day. Relax Creighton is still really damn good, Butler isn't missing Stevens it seems, Providence is a definite tourney team, Marquette and Georgetown are Marquette and Georgetown they are more than fine. Xavier is very dangerous and lurking, and St. John's is still ridiculously talented.

I still think 6 teams are making the tourney out of this league, that's why everyone is bitching about being predicted to finish anything lower than 3rd. This league is that good, one win or loss in November isn't changing much. Now if someone goes into a prolonged funk that's different. As much as I like to give some people a hard time, there isn't a program in this league that isn't capable of being a threat to make the 2nd weekend of the dance.

6? That's reaching to be honest. We should be happy with 4, thrilled with 5. PC is a good team, but let's wait and see what they do against Kentucky and UMass. SJ is finished…we are the same exact team as last year losing the same ways with the same issues. Ontop of that, it looks like Jordan is transferring. He has had a very rough time adjusting to college having already been suspended, his mother is sick at home, his best friend died over the summer, and Lavin is not giving him any playing time. As a 5 star recruit many said could be a 1 and done, getting 6 minutes in a game vs. PSU will not cut it. Lavin busted his butt to get a recruit of that caliber, only to have him pour gatorade on the sidelines.

[stever20]

And people say I overreact, everybody take a deep breathe.

The Big East is no different then it was 3 or 4 days ago, or for that matter 3 or 4 weeks ago. It seemed half this board was ready to crown Creighton last night, now Nova is the favor of the day. Relax Creighton is still really damn good, Butler isn't missing Stevens it seems, Providence is a definite tourney team, Marquette and Georgetown are Marquette and Georgetown they are more than fine. Xavier is very dangerous and lurking, and St. John's is still ridiculously talented.

I still think 6 teams are making the tourney out of this league, that's why everyone is bitching about being predicted to finish anything lower than 3rd. This league is that good, one win or loss in November isn't changing much. Now if someone goes into a prolonged funk that's different. As much as I like to give some people a hard time, there isn't a program in this league that isn't capable of being a threat to make the 2nd weekend of the dance.

With all the losses we've picked up OOC even already- and with some of the tougher OOC games to come even- it's going to be hard for a 6th place team to get into the tourney. I just don't know if a 9-9 team makes the tourney. That's why the OOC matters so much- pretty much for some teams to have any shot making it if they go 9-9- they can't lose the rest of OOC. 8-10 I just don't see getting in.

And 3-11 in RPI top 50- that's a real number. Good leagues don't do that. And- really only 1 of Seton Hall's losses are one's that are in top 50 now that won't be later. The other 10 are ones that should stick. And 1 of our wins won't be- Seton Hall over Kent St.