BIG EAST PRESEASON POLL
(first place votes in parenthesis)
1. Pitt (10) 219
2. Georgetown (4) 212
3. Syracuse (1) 181
4. Marquette (1) 181
5. Connecticut 173
6. Louisville 149
7. Villanova 146
8. DePaul 134
9. St. John's 105
10. Providence 102
11. Notre Dame 80
12. West Virginia 72
13. Cincinnati 52
14. Rutgers 49
15. Seton Hall 42
16. USF 22
NEW YORK - For only the third time in conference history, Pittsburgh has been chosen to win the BIG EAST regular season crown in a poll of the league's head coaches. The Panthers received 10 first-place votes, which helped them edge Georgetown in total points, 219 to 212, for the top spot in the poll. The Hoyas were picked second. They had four first-place votes.
Pitt is coming off a 25-8 season in 2005-06 and returns eight of its top 10 players. The Panthers, who are coached by Jamie Dixon, have appeared in the last five NCAA Tournaments. Pitt was the coaches' choice to win the league in 1987-88 and 2002-03. In '02-03, the Panthers were tabbed to win the BIG EAST West Division. In both seasons, the Panthers followed through by capturing the respective regular season titles.
Georgetown is the second-place pick for the first time since 2002-03 when they were also slotted below the Panthers in the West Division. This season, the Hoyas will build around forward Jeff Green and center Roy Hibbert. Both players were named to the 2006-07 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Last year, GU finished 23-10 and advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Championship.
Syracuse was picked for third place with 182 points, just one point ahead of Marquette. The Orange, who have won the last two BIG EAST Championships Presented by Aeropostale, finished 23-12 last season. This year, SU returns four starters but must replace guard Gerry McNamara, who graduated.
Marquette was the most successful of the five new league teams last year. The Golden Eagles compiled an overall record of 20-11 and were 10-6 in the BIG EAST. Coach Tom Crean's squad will feature sophomore guard Dominic James, the 2005-06 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year.
Connecticut was picked for fifth with 173 points. The Huskies, who were the league's regular season co-champions last year, finished 30-4 and advanced to the Elite Eight. UConn received strong backing in the poll despite losing four players in the first round of the 2006 NBA Draft.
Louisville edged Villanova for sixth place. The Cardinals battled through some key injuries last year to finish 21-13. This season, they return four starters, including junior forward Juan Palacios, a Preseason All-BIG EAST pick.
Villanova shared the regular season title with Connecticut last year with a 14-2 BIG EAST record. This season, coach Jay Wright welcomes back two starters and 2004-05 all-conference forward Curtis Sumpter, a senior, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL.
The coaches predicted that DePaul will finish eighth. The Blue Demons are the only league team to return four double-figure scorers. St. John's was picked ninth, just ahead of Providence.
Notre Dame was selected 11th, followed by West Virginia, Cincinnati, Rutgers, Seton Hall and USF.
Honestly, I can't see Marquette ending up as "low" as 4th. I know, it's not a bad place to be - but after the MM reports, and media day interviews my expectations have been raised. This is a team that can do better, and believes they can do better.
But, I suppose I should wait until they play a couple games before I go too far with that prediction :P
Actually .. I'm on the glass half full side. I think MU has gotten caught up in the hype machine.
Losing Novak is huge. Marquette won't sneak up on anyone this year. I'm thinking we will struggle, yet succeed, to be as good as we were last year. 10-6 again, but a deeper run in March. If that puts us 4th, would depend on the rest of the league. It's just so hard getting wins away from the BC, I just can't see us doing better than 4-4 on the road.
I see G'Town & Pitt as the class of the Big East this year. I don't really think Syracuse is better than MU and UConn is gonna be really young. I think we can finish as high as second and as low as fifth. This is gonna be a great year if we can get Lazar cleared.
If we could just get DJ to stay another year, we'd be the preseason pick for 07/ 08 season.
Its interesting to me that folks are counting Novak as a bigger loss to MU than McNamara was to Syracuse. both were great college players -- though Novak was better as a senior. But the buzz about Harris is deafening
Yet MU returns 8 of its top 10 from last season plus some interesting new talent. I'd be surprised if MU finished lower than 5th in the league
It's kind of interesting to look at the preseason predictions versus where the league stands right now. I'd have to put UConn's performance so far as the biggest disappointment, while Notre Dame and West Virginia have well outplayed expectations.