Big East prediction from SNY. MU picked 12th

[ChicosBailBonds]

http://web.sny.tv/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090615&content_id=5342118&oid=2&vkey=21

[reinko]

12. Marquette (25-10, 12-6)
Key Losses: Patrick Hazel (Transfer), Dominic James, Wesley Matthews, Jerel McNeal
Key Additions: Dwight Buycks, Junior Cadougan, Jeronne Maymon, Youssoupha Mbao, Erik Williams
Bottom line: Buzz Williams lost three of the best players in the league in James, Matthews and McNeal but brought in a seven-man recruiting class that is probably second only to Villanova's in the league. It should be a rebuilding year at Marquette, but the Eagles have the talent to contend in the future.

Apparently, Hazel is more of a loss than Burke   And I also think it's kinda tough to predict without the schedule, but what the crap do I know.

[VegasWarrior77]

Wasn't MU picked to finish twelfth their first year in the BEast when they were going to be so young three freshman were going to start?  Wasn't Georgetown ranked in the top ten to start last season?  Preseason rankings (in any sport) are worthless!

[Markusquette]

patrick hazel key loss?  how about dwight burke instead.  losing hazel is almost like an improvement.

[NYWarrior]

patrick hazel key loss?  how about dwight burke instead.  losing hazel is almost like an improvement.

Agreed.......listing Hazel was comical, especially when u notice Zagoria didn't list Hillesland (33 starts) or Zeller (7 starts, 36 games played) for ND as key losses.

[denverMU]

I agree that pre-season ratings/polls, especially in June, are ridiculous.  Having said that, I will guarantee we finish ahead of St. Johns (6-12), Seton Hall      (7-11), Cincinnati (8-10) and probably ahead of Goergetown, N.D., and Pitt.

[mviale]

granted we lost a lot of quality players, but so did Pitt and Syracuse.  No respect!

[TJ]

I agree that pre-season ratings/polls, especially in June, are ridiculous.  Having said that, I will guarantee we finish ahead of St. Johns (6-12), Seton Hall      (7-11), Cincinnati (8-10) and probably ahead of Goergetown, N.D., and Pitt.

Thus having us finish somewhere between 10th and 12th - not too far off of this article's prediction.

Although I would be sad if we couldn't beat out DePaul and USF.  Maybe not USF - they had some talent and could be improved next year.  Definitely DePaul.

[bilsu]

The only team we are definitly better than is DePaul. We would have been better than Notre Dame, if Harangody did not come back. They are overrated again this year. I am expecting us to go 6-12 in conference and 1-1 in conference tournament. The two JC guards will have to be really good for us to do better than this.

[Daniel]

Wow - this will be a tough year for us.... wow.  I hope somehow we are better than expected

[denverMU]

TJ, of course I think we will finish ahead of the teams they rate below us!!!  I was speaking of the teams they rated ahead of MU.  I think we will finish #6 or above.

[PE8983]

I know WV will be pretty good, but personally, I'll be shocked if they finish 2nd in the league.

[NYWarrior]

I know WV will be pretty good, but personally, I'll be shocked if they finish 2nd in the league.

don't be.......they were very good last year with a freshman PG -- this year Mazzulla is back and they have a nice group of recruits to fill in too.

[Tugg Speedman]

Wasn't Georgetown ranked in the top ten to start last season?

Just compare last year's preseason and results and you'll see how useful such rankings are.



Last year's preseason rankings (league coaches poll)

School Points
1. Connecticut (9) 214
2. Louisville (3) 205
3. Pittsburgh (3) 200
4. Notre Dame (1) 195
5. Villanova 153
6. Marquette 146
7. Georgetown 141
8. Syracuse 139
9. West Virginia 121
10. Providence 99
11. Cincinnati 91
12. Rutgers 53
13. Seton Hall 50
14. St. John's 44
15. DePaul 43
16. South Florida 26


Last year's results

2008–09 Big East men's basketball standings
                             Conf   Overall
Team                    W L PCT W L PCT
#1 Louisville†        16 2 .889 31 5 .861
#4 Pittsburgh        15 3 .833 31 4 .886
#5Connecticut      15 3 .833 30 4 .882
#11 Villanova        13 5 .722 29 7 .806
#23 Marquette      12 6 .667 25 10 .714
#13 Syracuse       11 7 .611 28 10 .737
West Virginia        10 8 .556 23 12 .657
Providence           10 8 .556 19 14 .576
Notre Dame           8 10 .444 20 14 .588
Cincinnati              8 10 .444 18 14 .563
Seton Hall             7  11 .389 17 15 .531
Georgetown           7 11 .389 16 15 .516
St. John's              6 12 .333 16 18 .471
South Florida         4 14 .222 9 22 .290
Rutgers                2 16 .111 11 21 .344
DePaul                 0 18 .000 9 24 .273

[bma725]

don't be.......they were very good last year with a freshman PG -- this year Mazzulla is back and they have a nice group of recruits to fill in too.

There's a very good chance Mazzulla won't be back.  He was suspended in April after getting arrested again, this for supposedly choking a women in a Morgantown bar, and the rumor is that the athletic department will be going over Huggins head to get rid of the kid.  

Even if he is still on the team, he's coming back from surgery and his recovery is behind schedule.  So he may not be the same player when he returns.

[muarmy81]

Even if he is still on the team, he's coming back from surgery and his recovery is behind schedule.  So he may not be the same player when he returns.

I've often found that choking women impedes my rehabilitation as well. 

[ATWizJr]

Mazzula probably gave Thuggins those shiners.

[ATWizJr]

Mazzula probably gave Thuggins those shiners.

oops. should have been in teal.

[rocky_warrior]

Just compare last year's preseason and results and you'll see how useful such rankings are.

Looking over the list - they really only "missed big" on ND, and Georgetown.  Other than those two, everyone came in close to the predicted order (and those two mess up everyone else's spots. 

Though, 4 years ago we were in a similar situation and vastly exceeded expectations.  I don't expect that again, but I'd like it

[79Warrior]

TJ, of course I think we will finish ahead of the teams they rate below us!!!  I was speaking of the teams they rated ahead of MU.  I think we will finish #6 or above.

Wow, six or above with virtually an untested team. Either the BE is really weak or you are overstating the contributions from the newcomers. I would be shocked if we finished in line with your predictions.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Just compare last year's preseason and results and you'll see how useful such rankings are.



Last year's preseason rankings (league coaches poll)

School Points
1. Connecticut (9) 214
2. Louisville (3) 205
3. Pittsburgh (3) 200
4. Notre Dame (1) 195
5. Villanova 153
6. Marquette 146
7. Georgetown 141
8. Syracuse 139
9. West Virginia 121
10. Providence 99
11. Cincinnati 91
12. Rutgers 53
13. Seton Hall 50
14. St. John's 44
15. DePaul 43
16. South Florida 26


Last year's results

2008–09 Big East men's basketball standings
                             Conf   Overall
Team                    W L PCT W L PCT
#1 Louisville†        16 2 .889 31 5 .861
#4 Pittsburgh        15 3 .833 31 4 .886
#5Connecticut      15 3 .833 30 4 .882
#11 Villanova        13 5 .722 29 7 .806
#23 Marquette      12 6 .667 25 10 .714
#13 Syracuse       11 7 .611 28 10 .737
West Virginia        10 8 .556 23 12 .657
Providence           10 8 .556 19 14 .576
Notre Dame           8 10 .444 20 14 .588
Cincinnati              8 10 .444 18 14 .563
Seton Hall             7  11 .389 17 15 .531
Georgetown           7 11 .389 16 15 .516
St. John's              6 12 .333 16 18 .471
South Florida         4 14 .222 9 22 .290
Rutgers                2 16 .111 11 21 .344
DePaul                 0 18 .000 9 24 .273

Actually, I'd say the predictions were pretty darn good compared to the results.  Especially at the top.  They missed by one spot on most of the top 6 teams.  Notre Dame's collapse bumped everyone else down, that's where they got it wrong.  But out of the 16 teams, if you normalize it for the aberration of Notre Dame's finish and slot everyone else up one, they damn near nailed the vast majority of the teamswith a +/- of 1 spot.

[MarquetteDano]

12. Marquette (25-10, 12-6)

And I also think it's kinda tough to predict without the schedule, but what the crap do I know.

Without the Big East schedule, predicting is really tough.  Given the lopsided schedule, it can make 1-2 wins... losses; or vice versa.  And 1-2 games can move someone 4-5 spots.  Hard to predict without the schedule.  I will wait until we see our schedule.

If you put a gun to my head and demanded answers, I would say between #8-#11 at this point.

[ChicosBailBonds]

If you put a gun to my head and demanded answers, I would say between #8-#11 at this point.

Agree, and that's generally what I would say for this coming year 8 - 11 or maybe 8 - 10.  The good news is that the Big East won't be as good this year so we have a better competitive chance considering how young we are.  The bad news is that the Big East isn't as good this year....meaning probably not seeing 8 bids this year.

[dsfire]

Of the 8-11 teams from last year (and admittedly, the Big East will be weaker this year), I think two made the NIT and it doesn't look like the other two had postseasons, though I want to say Cincy turned down one of the pay-in tournaments.  That's about my level of expectation for next year - a non-NCAA tourney.  I'd be pleasantly surprised with an NCAA bid.

Then again, I'm not quite sure why Pitt would be picked as far ahead of us as they are considering how much they're losing.

[Ellenson Guerrero]

We are an impossible team to predict right now. Alot of our newcomers aren't even on campus yet so it truly is waaaaaaay too early to try and predict the Big East right now. As much as I've tried to learn about our recruits and their style of play and abilities there is no way to know how these guys will transfer to the college game and gel together. We could get off to a rocky start and a need a couple years of development, or these guys could just bust out, we really have no idea.

Honestly there are two things I know for sure about the Big East. 1 Villanova will be far and away the best team in the league, no doubt. 2 Depaul will struggle to get a win again this season. As for us we could end up being at the lower end of the pack with the Providences, Cincinatti's and Rutgers, or we could really hit the ground running and end up being better than the perennial powers who lost alot of firepower last season (UConn, Pitt, Louisvilles). Impossible to say until the fall comes.