Early conference rankings ... Big East #1

[Pakuni]

1. BIG EAST 
NCAA TEAMS LAST SEASON: 11
TOTAL NCAA TEAMS, PAST FIVE SEASONS: 40
LAST SEASON'S RPI: 1st
OVERALL RPI, PAST FIVE SEASONS: 2nd (average of 2.4)
BUZZ: The league isn't going to be as strong as it was last season, but it once again will be crowded near the top of the standings and Syracuse has legit national title hopes. Pittsburgh received a huge boost when G Ashton Gibbs decided to stay in school. Connecticut is going to slip some without Kemba Walker, but the thought here is that the Huskies will finish better than ninth in the league, which is where they wound up last season. Louisville, West Virginia, Villanova, Cincinnati and Marquette will be looking for finishes in the top half of the league, and Rutgers and St. John's are bringing in highly touted recruiting classes. 

http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1220912

[Skatastrophy]

The league isn't going to be as strong as it was last season.

I've got the feeling that we're going to hear this every year

[tower912]

And yet, magically, somehow it always is.