Approximately 22 weeks from now college hoops fans and bettors alike will be crowding around their televisions on Selection Sunday listening to the seeds given to the 65 lucky NCAA men’s basketball teams that will play for the final prize. As many as nine of those 65, nearly 14%, could come from the Big East. And don’t be surprised if two of the No. 1 seeds are from this group.
The Connecticut Huskies and Louisville Cardinals are the betting favorites to be those No. 1 seeds next March. Both teams check in at +250 at TheGreek to grab the top seed in the Big East postseason tournament, with Notre Dame third at +350. UConn is drawing a little more attention on the championship table at NSA at +1000 to Louisville’s +1500. The Irish are +2200 on that board.
There is a lot to like about all three of those teams. At Storrs, the Huskies return all five starters from a year ago when they won 25 in the regular season and four more in the postseason to finish 28-6. At the heart of the roster is the formidable trio of Hasheem Thabeet (7-3, Jr), Jeff Adrien (6-7, Sr.) and A.J. Price (6-2, Sr) who has recovered from offseason ACL surgery.
They also have one of the most respected coaches in the country in Jim Calhoun who snared a top freshman recruit in Kemba Walker.
Speaking of big time coaches, Rick Pitino’s Cardinals won’t have Derrick Caracter or their leading scorer from a year ago, David Padgett. But don’t shed any tears for Pitino and the ‘Ville with a roster that includes Earl Clark (6-9, Jr), Terrance Williams (6-6, Sr) and Edgar Sosa (6-1, Jr). The Cardinals also snared two top freshmen in Terrance Jennings (6-10) and Samardo Samuels (6-8) who should make an immediate impact on this club.
Over in South Bend, the luck o’ the Irish will depend heavily on coach Mike Brey’s returning threesome of Luke Harangody (6-8, Jr), Kyle McAlarney (6-0, Sr) and Tory Jackson (5-11, Jr). They should provide Notre Dame with a lot of offense, but defense could be the trick for this team. Reports are that Luke Zeller (6-11, Sr) worked hard in the summer to improve his rebounding while Zach Hillesland (6-9, Sr) is back and whose job will be to shut down the opposition’s bigger men inside.
The real key on defense however could turn out to be sophomore Carleton Scott (6-7) who can play several inches bigger than his height might indicate at first.
Any of those three could win the conference and Big East postseason tourney to net a No. 1 seed for next March. My pick in the Big East, however, is the Pittsburgh Panthers who sit at +500 to win the conference’s regular season title.
Jamie Dixon will have his top three players from a season ago back on the hardwood at the Petersen Events Center including one of the top frosh from the 2007-08 season, DeJuan Blair (6-7, So), who set one Pitt freshman record after another. He will be complemented by Sam Young (6-6, Sr) and Levance Fields (5-10, Sr). Gilbert Brown (6-6, So) will also play a key role on this club. The backcourt is a bit thin and untested, but Dixon has a couple of freshmen he hopes will help fill some of the void left by Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin.
Ashton Gibbs (6-2) knows how to score, leaving Seton Hall Prep HS as that program's all-time scorer and averaging over 23 per game his senior year. Travon Woodall also came out of New Jersey where he played under Bob Hurley at St. Anthony’s and is described as a “natural floor leader." Woodall was part of the Friars team a year ago that earned a No. 1 ranking and championship from the USA Today polls.
Yet one more to watch at Pitt is freshman Dwight Miller out of St. Pius in Houston. The Bahamian born, 6-8 forward is still just learning to play the game with only four seasons of organized ball under his belt. He will likely be brought along slowly this year, but could be a force by tournament time and one of the nation’s top frontcourt players a year from now.
The Big East’s current conference odds stack up like this at TheGreek:
- Connecticut +250
- Louisville +250
- Notre Dame +350
- Marquette +500
- Pittsburgh +500
- Georgetown +800
- Syracuse +800
- Villanova +1000
- West Virginia +1000
- DePaul +1500
- Providence +1500
- Cincinnati +2200
- Seton Hall +2200
- Rutgers +3000
- St. Johns +5000
- South Florida +5000
And if you really like to look ahead, here are a few TV broadcasts involving Big East matchups you will want to have circled on your calendar for the upcoming season; some tip times have yet to be announced (all times Eastern):
- Nov 24, 5:30 p.m. – Notre Dame at Indiana (Maui Invitational), ESPN2
- Dec 9, 9:00 p.m. – Villanova at Texas (Jimmy V Classic), ESPN
- Dec 13, 2:00 p.m. – Memphis at Georgetown, CBS
- Dec 18 (TBA) – Louisville at Ole Miss (SEC/Big East Invitational), ESPN
- Dec 29, 7:00 p.m. – Georgetown at UConn, ESPN2
- Jan 3, 12:00 p.m. – Pittsburgh at Georgetown, ESPN
- Jan 4, 4:30 p.m. – Kentucky at Louisville, CBS
- Jan 12, 7:00 p.m. – Notre Dame at Louisville, ESPN
- Jan 14, 7:00 p.m. – Syracuse at Georgetown, ESPN2
- Jan 17, 1:30 p.m. – Georgetown at Duke, CBS
- Jan 24, 7:00 p.m. – UConn at Notre Dame, ESPN
- Jan 26, 7:00 p.m. – Marquette at Notre Dame, ESPN
- Jan 31, 12:00 p.m. – Notre Dame at Pittsburgh, ESPN
- Feb 2, 7:00 p.m. – UConn at Louisville, ESPN
- Feb 4, 7:00 p.m. – West Virginia at Syracuse, ESPN
- Feb 7, 1:00 p.m. – Notre Dame at UCLA, CBS
- Feb 9, 7:00 p.m. – West Virginia at Pittsburgh, ESPN
- Feb 13, 9:00 p.m. – Villanova at West Virginia, ESPN
- Feb 16, 7:00 p.m. – Pittsburgh at UConn, ESPN
- Feb 21, 2:00 p.m. – Marquette at Georgetown, ESPN
- Feb 25, 7:00 p.m. – UConn at Marquette, ESPN
- Feb 28, 2:00 p.m. – Notre Dame at UConn, CBS
- Mar 1, 12:00 p.m. – Marquette at Louisville, CBS
- Mar 7, 12:00 p.m. – UConn at Pittsburgh, CBS
- Mar 7, 9:00 p.m. – Louisville at West Virginia, ESPN