3 Team race for Big East Title

[BEX]

2 games in I have to say this Xavier team is fun to watch and they love to attack all over the court. They also look like they are just having a great time out there. The Non-con was built to get all the new guys to gel, and to learn the defense which we are a long way from. Some say X's best guard hasn't even played yet (Sumner). Anyway, lots of depth and sure beats the "where's Semaj" game when everybody can score.

[FriarJ]

The following three teams will make some noise come Tournament time.

Villanova
Georgetown
Xavier

This Xavier team is legit. I knew they had the pieces but until you saw them play I wasn't sure. Bluiett is the real deal!

Hopefully another team can get into the mix. Logical guess would be Providence or Seton Hall if the gel.

Thank you for posting this. I was afraid I was going to have to watch this season to get to know this info. Now after only two games you have freed up a lot of my time.

[Freshjive2103]

I'm not ready to put Georgetown in that top tier yet. They've had two uninspiring performances thus far.

I second this. They basically always have talent, but they underachieve.

[FriarJ]

I'm not ready to put Georgetown in that top tier yet. They've had two uninspiring performances thus far.

I second this. They basically always have talent, but they underachieve.

That is a bunch of hooey, Georgetown has won the BE many times or been in the top 3 many many times when it was a heck of a lot better than it is now. They have underachieved recently in the post season and last year overall but to make it sound like that is a regular occurrence in the regular season is crap.

[R Jay]

Welp, let's just not play the season since we already know that the only competitive teams are going to be Nova, G'Town, and X.

This is what I've been trying to say. Joking of course.

This is only one man's opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. I'm just checking out the depth of quality players on each team's rosters and Nova, G'Town, and Xavier are the top 3 to make some noise.

Providence & Seton Hall are deep enough with talent to make some noise and break the glass. Seton Hall is just very young. Providence would be the most likely with the mix of veterans & youth to jump in the mix

In no specific order:
St. John's will have to paly like Providence last year short rotation and have 0 room for error.
Marquette is lite on the front line even when their big is eligible next semester.
Creighton intrigues me. I don't know this years version can be as dominate without the horses. Competitive yes, Champs no.
Butler has solid pieces with Jones, Dunham & Woods (boards). They are not deep enough throughout the roster.
DePaul is DePaul


Please give me some insight on how others feel and reasons why. Believe me, I may have forgotten something. This should be a great discussion.

Perhaps my sarcasm was a bit too much there. I actually believe that Villanova, Georgetown, and Xavier will be in the top three at the seasons end, but my point was that there are still 28 or so games to be played this year including all 18 conferences games, so it is way too early to dismiss any of the 10 teams. I wouldn't be surprised if any of the other 7 teams found themselves in the top 3. Nor would I be surprised to see any of your top 3 (except Villanova, really) finishing from 4th to 7th. I mean come on, there is a long ways to go until the Conference Tournament, so let's just sit back and enjoy the ride. It's going to be a very entertaining season because of all the parity on the teams not named Villanova.

[FlyJays]

I'm not ready to put Georgetown in that top tier yet. They've had two uninspiring performances thus far.

I second this. They basically always have talent, but they underachieve.

That is a bunch of hooey, Georgetown has won the BE many times or been in the top 3 many many times when it was a heck of a lot better than it is now. They have underachieved recently in the post season and last year overall but to make it sound like that is a regular occurrence in the regular season is crap.

They've underachieved regularly since 1998. Eight NIT berths, and a whole lot of first or second round NCAA Tournament exits. That has to improve going forward if the league wants to be seen as one of the best. Take 2006 out of the mix, and they haven't done anything better than any other team in the league in the last 16 or 17 years.

[micgoG'town]

I don't remember the specifics, but G'town was ranked in the top 10 at some point in the season for 8? straight years. Only Duke and one or two other teams had that kind of streak. A lot of those years they started the season unranked and overachieved during the season. Got a high seed, then came crashing down at tourney time.

[MackNova]

I think Villanova has to be in its own tier until someone else proves otherwise. Last year, Creighton was the only team that beat Nova in the regular season, and we all know what they lost. No other team brought in enough proven talent to be considered on the same tier until proven otherwise. Xavier, Georgetown and others certainly have a chance, but for time being, I think Villanova has to be considered in its own class.

Creighton just did a lot to show it can be a contender by knocking off Oklahoma. Huge win for the league.

[XUFan09]

Nine deep at bare minimum. I promise you, this isn't the normal Georgetown team your use to. Lots of talented interchangeable parts.

Smith
Hopkins
Peak
Trawick
DSR

Copeland
White
Bowen
Campbell

I think you are getting a little excited at your depth (and you do have that for sure). However, for a program who under JTIII has finished in the NCAA bottom 100 for tempo all but one season, setting a minimum of 9 players in the regular rotation is just unrealistic. Just like most college rotations, that rotation is eventually going to get winnowed down, and 9 sounds much more like a maximum than a minimum.

It's true of Xavier too. We have a lot of depth, with the ability to go 12 deep, 10 with significant minutes, but I doubt our rotation will be 10 come January/February.

[Freshjive2103]

I'm not ready to put Georgetown in that top tier yet. They've had two uninspiring performances thus far.

I second this. They basically always have talent, but they underachieve.

That is a bunch of hooey, Georgetown has won the BE many times or been in the top 3 many many times when it was a heck of a lot better than it is now. They have underachieved recently in the post season and last year overall but to make it sound like that is a regular occurrence in the regular season is crap.

2014 - No NCAA (7th in conference standings)
2013- 2 seed - lose to 15th seed FGCU (Round of 64) (tied for 1st in standings)
2012 - 3 seed - lose to 11th seed NC State (Round of 32) (tied for 4th in standings)
2011 - 6 seed - lose to 11th seed VCU (Round of 64) (8th in standings)
2010 - 3 seed - lose to 14th seed Ohio (Round of 64) (tied for 7th in standings)
2009 - No NCAA (tied for 11th in standings)
2008 - 2 seed - lose to 10th seed Davidson (Round of 32) (1st in standings)

That is what I mean by underachieve. So perhaps my comment is a little misguided, because they may do well in conference, but as far as a season, I believe they underachieve considering the talent they get.