Which team(s) will become the new villain?

[adoraz]

The old Big East had teams I'm sure most people here disliked. Syracuse, UConn, Louisville, etc. Big public schools that often were involved in scandals. They were primarily defined by one word: winners.

Now, I don't want any of these schools to be involved in scandals but it would be great if this league had a team that was successful in the same way the top teams from other conferences are successful. That's the one thing we lack.

While watching SJU games this year, at points when playing against teams I kind of didn't care if we won. I thought "well, if we lose at least we won't burst this team's bubble, or stop this team from getting a 1 seed". In other words, the league and teams within this league aren't established to a point where we can cheer about teams losing out of conference or during the tournament.

Now, I think it's a whole lot of fun rooting for all 10 teams during the tournament and out of conference. However, at a certain point having a villain is necessary. I didn't care one bit if teams like Syracuse lost out of conference. In fact, I wanted to see them fail. SJU's most memorial victories during the past 2 years were both against Syracuse. Even though we beat better teams beating Syracuse was more significant to the fanbase.

So, my thoughts:

Not in the Big East (yet):
Gonzaga: consistently win, however haven't done much in the tournament. Maybe if they make the Final Four a couple times the Big East will invite them. They'd then be a prime candidate. Even if they eventually joined, though, they're still far away from us and that would hurt the rivalries.
UConn: obvious choice, though I don't see it happening. If they did eventually drop football and join they'd pick right up where they left off and be the team everyone wants to beat.
Dayton: Dayton as a villain would obviously be a mid major feel, so I actually don't ever foresee them being one. However, their rivalry with X and the bitterness between the fans is something we don't see much in the new Big East.

My order of likelihood for the Big East:
1. Nova: they have most of the ingredients. They're not the biggest school but are from Philly, have great academics, and obviously a top tier program that has already dominated the league. The issue is they need to make some deep runs in the tournament first.
2. G'Town: Similar to Nova. Rich, highly successful school in a major market. This isn't the Hoyas of the 80's, however. Like Nova they need to make some noise in March.
3. SJU: Yes, they've been down for a while but Mullin is attracting top tier talent so it's only a matter of time before they are a top 25 team. SJU isn't as good academically as Nova and G'Town, however they are a large school (I think biggest in the Big East, or maybe second to DePaul?) and from NYC. Let's face it, the reason these 3 schools are at the top is in large part because they're in obnoxious cities. It also helps that the cities are close to one another and you often have fans who travel or alumni living in opposing cities. When G'Town, Nova, UConn, and Syracuse visit there's always a lot of fans from those teams at the Garden. Like the top 2 schools, Johnnies need to win, but obviously they need to first win in the regular sseason.
4. Xavier: Unlike the first 3 teams, not a big school in a big city. Not a top tier school academically like Nova and Georgetown. However, they're turning heads this year and the future looks bright. If they make a couple runs in the tournament they would be a prime candidate.

As for the rest of the league, I'm not sure. I'd probably rank Marquette #5. Creighton has been successful but too far away from the rest of the schools. A team like Butler is obviously great, but they're likable. Everyone likes Butler and that's not a bad thing. But the league does need at least one team for everyone to envy. It simply makes for better rivalries and games.

So who will it be?

[thebigeXpress]

I will disagree with your assessment about Xavier not being an institution of excellence. It is, probably, not as acclaimed as Georgetown but it isn't a dumpster fire either offering basket weaving courses to it's student athletes. It is an excellent school which has grown leaps and bounds since I began there as a freshman in the fall of 1984.

[ChestRockwell85]

This was a very good post, but I just don't see any "villains" in the New Big East, mainly because the coaches are classy and they are trying to run clean programs. There are no Caliparis in this league and I don't see anybody having to forfeit a championship anytime soon.

When I was at Villanova, the basketball players were in class, it wasn't even an option not to be. Even if you are just late to class Jay will sit you. I am sure most of the coaches in the Big East follow similar rules. A guy like Bobby Huggins and his DISGUSTING graduation rates are something I still can't stomach. Rooting against that guy is easy. Why he is even allowed to coach is beyond me.

I am not saying that doesn't mean there will not be teams people are gunning for, I am guessing Villanova, Xavier and Providence fit that description this year, but again, knowing the type of academic institutions you have in the Big East, and the coaches in the league, you aren't going to find the cesspools you have in other leagues.

By the way, Creighton, Butler and Xavier, are all Top 10 Regional Universities in the Midwest. The Big East cares about academics, when we were looking for new schools, this mattered.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandrevie ... es-midwest

[cu blujs]

Well, since you brought it up, I will point out that Creighton is the Number 1 rated Regional University in the Midwest for many years running.

[Hall2012]

When I look at these villain schools you mention from the old Big East, I think they get that label more as a result of the fans than the teams. Especially UConn and Syracuse. They have fans/alumni everywhere and they travel the entire east coast so well. They consistently pack other teams arenas with their obnoxious fans. It makes you want to beat them less for the actual win and more for how good it feels to wipe those smug grins off their entitled faces.

Of current Big East teams, Nova fans seem to travel the best, but a lot of that is because they're winning. Even so, they don't travel half as well as uconn and Syracuse fans. Being a league of all private schools, nobody really has those massive alumni bases that the large public schools have, so I'm not sure we'll see that type of villain.

Of course some of it has to do with the teams, for example Syracuse was a breeding ground for grade A dbags (such as Eric Devendorf), but I think it was mostly about how insufferable the fans were.

[adoraz]

I will disagree with your assessment about Xavier not being an institution of excellence. It is, probably, not as acclaimed as Georgetown but it isn't a dumpster fire either offering basket weaving courses to it's student athletes. It is an excellent school which has grown leaps and bounds since I began there as a freshman in the fall of 1984.

I said they're not the same tier as Georgetown and Nova academically. Do you disagree with that?

[ChestRockwell85]

Well, since you brought it up, I will point out that Creighton is the Number 1 rated Regional University in the Midwest for many years running.

Yes sir! I pasted the link in my post showing that. Villanova has been #1 for well over a decade in their region as well. Providence is right up there too. Very good academic schools in the Big East, not basketball factories like some other colleges in other conferences where attending class is optional for players.

[adoraz]

None of the schools in the Big East are bad academically. I'm saying there's an obvious difference in academics between Georgetown and SJU, Creighton or Xavier. Georgetown (and Nova to a lesser degree) are elite universities nationally.

Also, Nova just was upgraded to a national University a few days ago. So they won't be listed in region next year in the rankings.

[DudeAnon]

None of the schools in the Big East are bad academically. I'm saying there's an obvious difference in academics between Georgetown and SJU, Creighton or Xavier. Georgetown (and Nova to a lesser degree) are elite universities nationally.

Also, Nova just was upgraded to a national University a few days ago. So they won't be listed in region next year in the rankings.

A lot of it is geography. The Cincinnati area simply can't compete with the D.C. area. So while Georgetown is indisputably a more prestigious school, X is doing about as good as it can for the area.

[NJRedman]

Villains? Thats easy!

1. Nova
2. GTown
3. X