On paper MU looks to be as good or better than this year. Anyone plugged into the other conference teams? Who should be making the jump? What do we expect the conference to look like? Will anyone else join us in getting to 13 to 14 wins?
I've had the feeling we will have more conference success this year and more NCAA tournament success next year. I think the Big East as a whole will be better next season so we won't rack up as many wins but the experience from this season and next season will allow us to make a deeper tourney run next year.
It all depends on tournament matchups though.
I looked at this the other day. The whole league should be a lot better next year and back to the level we've been used to over the last few years. Of the top 30 scorers, the vast majority should return.
I think only Villanova (Booth and Paschall) and DePaul (Strus, Cain, Olojubi) will lose multiple contributors and would be expected to take some step back, although Nova has shown its ability to reload and remain competitive.
The only other top 10 senior is Gtown losing Govan, but their frosh guards should keep them pretty strong.
Of course, a few may test NBA waters and there may be a few transfers out. I'm not as in on the recruiting front, but I feel like I've heard that several schools have strong recruiting classes, and there are always grad transfers that might affect things.
Assuming Markus returns, I think MU is a top 10 preseason team next year atop a strong Big East, with good opportunity to make it into the top 5. I'll be excited to see how they schedule in the noncon with such a strong team. Should be a lot of fun.
Quote from: The Lens on February 27, 2019, 11:57:03 AM
On paper MU looks to be as good or better than this year. Anyone plugged into the other conference teams? Who should be making the jump? What do we expect the conference to look like? Will anyone else join us in getting to 13 to 14 wins?
I agree with a lot of what Tall Titan said. We will be better next season but the entire Big East should be trending up.
Don't lose a ton AND have good players coming in:
Butler
Creighton
Marquette
Providence
St. John's (assuming Ponds doesn't go pro)
Lose a ton but have great players coming in:
DePaul
Georgetown
Villanova
Don't lose a ton and has okay players coming in:
Seton Hall (solid defensive transfer in Obiagu and 2 3-stars)
Xavier (good building block class of 5 players, but all ranked outside top 75)
As of this moment, every team should be as good or better than they are this season on paper. Big East will be a bloodbath. I expect Marquette, Villanova, St. John's, and Creighton to be at the top of the conference. Seton Hall, Providence, and Butler could all be right there as well. I expect Georgetown, DePaul, and Xavier will likely need another year to escape the basement but all three should be stronger next season.
On paper MU looks to be as good or better than this year. Anyone plugged into the other conference teams? Who should be making the jump? What do we expect the conference to look like? Will anyone else join us in getting to 13 to 14 wins?
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With the exception of Villanova, this league has very few standout seniors, so I'm expecting every team to make a jump in terms of how well they play. Of course, if everyone gets better at a similar rate, they could cannibalize each other again.
Not sure what to think of Villanova next year. They obviously lose their 2 studs, but they reload with a great freshman class. Maybe Quinerly figures it out over the summer if he stays there. Expect them to finish in the top half of the league but not sure they are a BE title contender.
St. John's will be a major factor if Ponds returns. Seton Hall will be solid again with Powell. I'm looking for Creighton, Xavier and Providence to button things up a bit and make a jump as they all return their core players. Georgetown might still be a year away, but their freshman trio will have them dancing again by the time they're done.
Butler returns most of their guys but I really don't think they're very talented to begin with. They'll need Tucker to make a big jump if they want to finish in the top half next year. Baldwin just not good enough to carry that team.
Depaul will struggle as they lose their 3 best players, but their incoming class/transfer are promising. If they all stick around, they could be a factor in the next few years.