THE BIG EAST CONFERENCE

[clenz]

Nova #2 seed in 2015 Bracketology!!! Here's to hoping they finally get an easy road to the Final. Losing to the eventual champ in 4 of the last few years is getting old.

Still only 3 teams from the BE though....with 2 as double digit seeds and 1 being in a play in game, Hardly a top 5 showing.

Columbus
1WISCONSIN
16MONTANA / 16SOUTHERN U

8Clemson
9San Diego St

5Texas
12GEORGIA ST
4Connecticut

13GREEN BAY

6Nebraska
11Arkansas / 11UCLA

3Louisville
14AMERICAN U

7Oklahoma St
10Xavier

2KENTUCKY
15BELMONT

SOUTH (Houston)
1KANSAS
16WOFFORD

8Oregon
9NEW MEXICO

5Michigan St
12LOUISIANA TECH

4SOUTHERN METHODIST
13NEW MEXICO ST

6Baylor
11Tulsa

3WICHITA ST
14UC IRVINE

7Syracuse
10George Washington

2DUKE
15COASTAL CAROLINA

West
1ARIZONA
16STONY BROOK

8Minnesota
9Florida St

5VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH
12Georgetown / 12Brigham Young

4Florida
13IONA

6Ohio St
11Stanford

3Oklahoma
14STEPHEN F. AUSTIN

7GONZAGA
10Massachusetts

2Virginia
15FLORIDA GULF COAST

EAST
1Michigan
16NORTHEASTERN / 16ST. FRANCIS (NY)

8Maryland
9Utah

5Iowa St
12HARVARD

4Pittsburgh
13TOLEDO

6Iowa
11West Virginia

3North Carolina
14North Carolina Central

7Dayton
10Colorado

2VILLANOVA
15DENVER

[GannonFan]

Nova #2 seed in 2015 Bracketology!!! Here's to hoping they finally get an easy road to the Final. Losing to the eventual champ in 4 of the last few years is getting old.

Still only 3 teams from the BE though....with 2 as double digit seeds and 1 being in a play in game, Hardly a top 5 showing.

Columbus
1WISCONSIN
16MONTANA / 16SOUTHERN U

8Clemson
9San Diego St

5Texas
12GEORGIA ST
4Connecticut

13GREEN BAY

6Nebraska
11Arkansas / 11UCLA

3Louisville
14AMERICAN U

7Oklahoma St
10Xavier

2KENTUCKY
15BELMONT

SOUTH (Houston)
1KANSAS
16WOFFORD

8Oregon
9NEW MEXICO

5Michigan St
12LOUISIANA TECH

4SOUTHERN METHODIST
13NEW MEXICO ST

6Baylor
11Tulsa

3WICHITA ST
14UC IRVINE

7Syracuse
10George Washington

2DUKE
15COASTAL CAROLINA

West
1ARIZONA
16STONY BROOK

8Minnesota
9Florida St

5VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH
12Georgetown / 12Brigham Young

4Florida
13IONA

6Ohio St
11Stanford

3Oklahoma
14STEPHEN F. AUSTIN

7GONZAGA
10Massachusetts

2Virginia
15FLORIDA GULF COAST

EAST
1Michigan
16NORTHEASTERN / 16ST. FRANCIS (NY)

8Maryland
9Utah

5Iowa St
12HARVARD

4Pittsburgh
13TOLEDO

6Iowa
11West Virginia

3North Carolina
14North Carolina Central

7Dayton
10Colorado

2VILLANOVA
15DENVER

No way nova makes it past the S16 in that bracket, heck, they'd be lucky to reach the second weekend. Again the lack of enough competition at the top of the Big East will be a big problem going forward. The hardest games nova will play will again be around Thanksgiving. Hard to be battle-tested with that kind of a layoff between important games.

On the bright side, Temple can't possibly be as bad again as they were this year so at least that game might be a decent win next year.

[clenz]

The potential of a ISU/Iowa S16 game in that bracket is quite intriguing though.

[BlueHen86]

Villanova didn't deserve a 2 seed this year. They flame out early, and they're gonna be a two again next year?

[vutomcat]

Big East and Big Ten Conferences announcing a challenge today to launch in 2015-16

An announcement was sent out on a media list yesterday inviting all comers to Madison Square Garden for a press conference held with representatives from both the Big East and Big Ten conferences.


The old Big East never had a basketball 'challenge' series that reached the hearts and minds like the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Big Ten, meanwhile, has been a longtime participant in that epic made-for-television rivalry with the ACC. Both conferences, however, have been searching for an opportunity to strengthen schedules and boost the profiles of their members in basketball.

This morning, the Big East and Big Ten conferences will announce a basketball challenge series that will be played in the first full week of the 2015-16 regular season -- forming a grand "season tip-off" type of event. The partnership will consist of eight games and will be run annually through the 2020 season. The two leagues have decided to name the event after Big East founder Dave Gavitt, calling it the Gavitt Tipoff Games.

Both leagues are also connected through Fox Sports, whose network, FS1, owns the media rights for the Big East and who partner with the Big Ten on their conference's cable network. FS1 will carry the four Big East home games while the Big Ten Network will televise the other games.

Each Big East team will play in the tip-off a minimum of six times during the eight-year deal while Big Ten schools will participate at least four times each. The individual match-ups will be announced next Spring, and will be based on competitive parity, rather than geography or random pairings.

"These match-ups won't always be geographic; we're going to do them based on competitive parity," Big East commissioner Val Ackerman told ESPN. "We'll look at who are expected to be the strongest teams in each league and pair them against each other and sort of tier it, so we get the best match-ups."

So, while Georgetown and Maryland or Villanova and Penn State may be compelling for some locals, those games will not be scheduled under this agreement unless they make sense competitively on the hardwood. The challenge offers the Big East coaches a chance to schedule tougher games and improve their strength of schedule before the league season starts -- a move that could work to boost RPI and the league's tournament profile.

The two leagues are promoting the event as a high-profile means of kicking off the basketball season, to try and draw attention at a time of year where football remains in full-swing. It is also a means for the Big Ten to continue to expand it's eastward reach by pairing up with a conference that has a strong presence in those markets.

The leagues will make the announcement official at 12:30pm today at Madison Square Garden.

[EPJr]

BIG EAST
The conference has announced the formation of the BIG EAST Digital Network, a conference-specific, year-round HD digital channel offering free live streaming of 80-100 sporting events annually, in addition to the authenticated live streaming of BIG EAST events on FOX Sports networks.

Welcome to the new BIG EAST Digital Network!

http://www.bigeast.com/genrel/090514aaa.html

[vutomcat]

Jalen Brunson #1 point guard in the 2015 recruiting class to announce at 5:30 pm. Between Illinois and Nova. Would be one of Jay's highest recruits ever.

[vutomcat]

Jalen Brunson to Nova. Chooses Big East over Big 10!

[BlueHen86]

Jalen Brunson to Nova. Chooses Big East over Big 10!

Nice!

[vutomcat]

The Big EAST adds more stellar recruits!!

Power forward Henry Ellenson, ranked No. 4 in the ESPN 100, has committed to Marquette over finalists Michigan State and Kentucky, he told ESPN.

Power forward Henry Ellenson turned down Michigan State and Kentucky to stay close to home and play for Steve Wojciechowski, Adam Finkelstein writes.

Ellenson will join brother Wally on the Golden Eagles' roster and will give coach Steve Wojciechowski his first five-star recruit since taking over the program last April.

"I felt Marquette was a place where I could make an immediate impact," he said. "I feel that I will have an opportunity to play multiple positions and show my versatility. Also, I was the most comfortable with the coaching staff, and a chance to play with my brother was something that was always big to me."

Ellenson joins three four-star prospects in the Golden Eagles' 2015 recruiting class: point guard Nick Noskowiak, shooting guard Haanif Cheatham and center Matt Heldt.

Wojciechowski, off to a tremendous start in Year 1 on the recruiting trail, has made his presence felt in a big way in the home state of Wisconsin.

[vutomcat]

BIG EAST Ranked third best conference for upcoming year!!

Ranking College Basketball Conferences by Projected 2015 NCAA Tournament Bids
By Kerry Miller , College Basketball National Columnist Oct 3, 2014

3. Big East

Locks: Villanova

Should Dance: Georgetown, Xavier

Might Dance: Seton Hall, St. John's

Outside Shot: Butler, Creighton, Providence

Score: 42.5

Even more than the A-10 down in 10th place, seeing the Big East in third place on this list surprised me the most.

Granted, the Big East is less than one point ahead of both the ACC and Pac-12, and no one would have much issue with it being in fifth place. Still, it's a testament to how much of a bounce-back year this conference should have after comfortably sending only two teams to last year's tournament.

Villanova is a surefire tourney team, and Georgetown wasn't far from making the cut as a lock. The Hoyas lost a pretty big piece of last year's puzzle with the graduation of Markel Starks, but they will be better than last year thanks in large part to the addition of four 4-star recruits—most notably among them, Isaac Copeland.

Xavier also adds a quartet of 4-star players and should have enough strength to reach the tournament for the 13th time in the last 15 seasons.

Seton Hall and St. John's each have just one tournament berth in the past decade, but neither has been all that far from going dancing in recent seasons.

Were it not for a two-point loss to DePaul in mid-January, St. John's almost certainly would have had the computer profile to make the tournament last year. And that was without Rysheed Jordan even remotely reaching his full potential as a freshman.

The Pirates of Seton Hall weren't quite that close last season, but they should be much improved after adding Isaiah Whitehead and Angel Delgado.

Though there are three teams listed as having an outside shot, we're not naive enough to think the Big East could actually send eight teams to the tournament. However, if you could get 3-1 odds on each of Butler, Creighton and Providence to make the tournament, you'd be silly not to bet on all three with the expectation of hitting one.

[Seahawks08]

BIG EAST Ranked third best conference for upcoming year!!

Ranking College Basketball Conferences by Projected 2015 NCAA Tournament Bids
By Kerry Miller , College Basketball National Columnist Oct 3, 2014

3. Big East

Locks: Villanova

Should Dance: Georgetown, Xavier

Might Dance: Seton Hall, St. John's

Outside Shot: Butler, Creighton, Providence

Score: 42.5

Even more than the A-10 down in 10th place, seeing the Big East in third place on this list surprised me the most.

Granted, the Big East is less than one point ahead of both the ACC and Pac-12, and no one would have much issue with it being in fifth place. Still, it's a testament to how much of a bounce-back year this conference should have after comfortably sending only two teams to last year's tournament.

Villanova is a surefire tourney team, and Georgetown wasn't far from making the cut as a lock. The Hoyas lost a pretty big piece of last year's puzzle with the graduation of Markel Starks, but they will be better than last year thanks in large part to the addition of four 4-star recruits—most notably among them, Isaac Copeland.

Xavier also adds a quartet of 4-star players and should have enough strength to reach the tournament for the 13th time in the last 15 seasons.

Seton Hall and St. John's each have just one tournament berth in the past decade, but neither has been all that far from going dancing in recent seasons.

Were it not for a two-point loss to DePaul in mid-January, St. John's almost certainly would have had the computer profile to make the tournament last year. And that was without Rysheed Jordan even remotely reaching his full potential as a freshman.

The Pirates of Seton Hall weren't quite that close last season, but they should be much improved after adding Isaiah Whitehead and Angel Delgado.

Though there are three teams listed as having an outside shot, we're not naive enough to think the Big East could actually send eight teams to the tournament. However, if you could get 3-1 odds on each of Butler, Creighton and Providence to make the tournament, you'd be silly not to bet on all three with the expectation of hitting one.

lolwut? First, the BE sent 4 teams not 2 last year. Providence and Xavier fanbases won't be happy to read that.
Second, I wouldn't take the 3-1 odds on Butler, Creighton, or Providence making the NCAA tourney. I just don't see where those teams get the firepower to even compete with the top 5 projected teams in the BE. I would be very surprised if any of those three exceed expectations this year.

[vutomcat]

BIG EAST Ranked third best conference for upcoming year!!

Ranking College Basketball Conferences by Projected 2015 NCAA Tournament Bids
By Kerry Miller , College Basketball National Columnist Oct 3, 2014

3. Big East

Locks: Villanova

Should Dance: Georgetown, Xavier

Might Dance: Seton Hall, St. John's

Outside Shot: Butler, Creighton, Providence

Score: 42.5

Even more than the A-10 down in 10th place, seeing the Big East in third place on this list surprised me the most.

Granted, the Big East is less than one point ahead of both the ACC and Pac-12, and no one would have much issue with it being in fifth place. Still, it's a testament to how much of a bounce-back year this conference should have after comfortably sending only two teams to last year's tournament.

Villanova is a surefire tourney team, and Georgetown wasn't far from making the cut as a lock. The Hoyas lost a pretty big piece of last year's puzzle with the graduation of Markel Starks, but they will be better than last year thanks in large part to the addition of four 4-star recruits—most notably among them, Isaac Copeland.

Xavier also adds a quartet of 4-star players and should have enough strength to reach the tournament for the 13th time in the last 15 seasons.

Seton Hall and St. John's each have just one tournament berth in the past decade, but neither has been all that far from going dancing in recent seasons.

Were it not for a two-point loss to DePaul in mid-January, St. John's almost certainly would have had the computer profile to make the tournament last year. And that was without Rysheed Jordan even remotely reaching his full potential as a freshman.

The Pirates of Seton Hall weren't quite that close last season, but they should be much improved after adding Isaiah Whitehead and Angel Delgado.

Though there are three teams listed as having an outside shot, we're not naive enough to think the Big East could actually send eight teams to the tournament. However, if you could get 3-1 odds on each of Butler, Creighton and Providence to make the tournament, you'd be silly not to bet on all three with the expectation of hitting one.

lolwut? First, the BE sent 4 teams not 2 last year. Providence and Xavier fanbases won't be happy to read that.
Second, I wouldn't take the 3-1 odds on Butler, Creighton, or Providence making the NCAA tourney. I just don't see where those teams get the firepower to even compete with the top 5 projected teams in the BE. I would be very surprised if any of those three exceed expectations this year.

I think they were trying to say the other two teams were barely in, poorly worded though.

[GannonFan]

Granted, the Big East is less than one point ahead of both the ACC

Yeah, I stopped reading after that. Any write-up that has what's left of the Big East better than the ACC is just fraudulent in my book.

[BlueHen86]

Granted, the Big East is less than one point ahead of both the ACC

Yeah, I stopped reading after that. Any write-up that has what's left of the Big East better than the ACC is just fraudulent in my book.

[Seahawks08]

How they were ranked:

Based on projected bids for the 2015 NCAA tournament, the Big 12 enters the 2014-15 college basketball season as the best conference in the nation.

Quantifying a qualitative statistic like "best" conference is hardly an exact science, but we gave it a shot anyway.

Simply ranking the strength of conferences by the number of teams projected for the tournament doesn't make sense. For starters, not all conferences are created equal—the ACC has 15 teams while the Big East and Big 12 have only 10. Also, not all projected bids are created equal—title contenders like Kentucky and Arizona shouldn't count the same as borderline teams like Cincinnati and Seton Hall.

Taking those things into consideration, a formula was created.

We see a total of 10 conferences potentially sending multiple teams to the 2015 NCAA tournament—sorry, WCC fans—and we ranked those 10 conferences based on the following formula.

Locks for the tournament count as 100 points each. Teams with a better than 50 percent chance but less than 100 percent chance of dancing are worth 75 points each. Bubble teams count for 50 points while long shots are given 25 points apiece. Each conference's total was summed up then divided by the number of teams in the conference, rating each conference on a scale from 0-100.

[vutomcat]

That makes sense. Obvously, the ACC top 3 teams are better than the Big East's or at least it looks that way going into the year. BC, Wake, Miami, Ga. Tech, ND, Clemson and Va Tech could all define success this year with an NIT invite. Not a good bottom to a very tough conference at the top.

[GannonFan]

That makes sense. Obvously, the ACC top 3 teams are better than the Big East's or at least it looks that way going into the year. BC, Wake, Miami, Ga. Tech, ND, Clemson and Va Tech could all define success this year with an NIT invite. Not a good bottom to a very tough conference at the top.

So the Big East's claim to fame, with only 1 team in the top 25, is that their bottom teams are slightly better than the bottom teams in other conferences? The bottom of the Big East is still bad even if it could be argued that it's marginally better than the bad bottoms of other conferences. The difference is, there are a ton of more good teams so the good ACC teams end up playing at least 10 tough conference games per year. Last year nova had two tough in-conference games, both against Creighton, who ended up being a fraud come March. There are 4 ACC teams ranked higher than nova (Duke, UNC, UVA, Louisville) - that means a lot. The ACC's going to get 7-9 bids to the Dance, just like the Big East did when it was the best conference in basketball prior to the big boys leaving for the ACC.

[vutomcat]

That makes sense. Obvously, the ACC top 3 teams are better than the Big East's or at least it looks that way going into the year. BC, Wake, Miami, Ga. Tech, ND, Clemson and Va Tech could all define success this year with an NIT invite. Not a good bottom to a very tough conference at the top.

There are 4 ACC teams ranked higher than nova (Duke, UNC, UVA, Louisville) - that means a lot. The ACC's going to get 7-9 bids to the Dance, just like the Big East did when it was the best conference in basketball prior to the big boys leaving for the ACC.

I agree with most of that.

On another subject, what kind of penalty do you expect UNC to get ? I know the NCAA got killed with the penalty it levied on Penn State but can they just let this go with a slap on the wrist? And, what will UNC do to Williams and the other coaches involved? Will the Deandome get renamed since he was there while this was going on?

[GannonFan]

There are 4 ACC teams ranked higher than nova (Duke, UNC, UVA, Louisville) - that means a lot. The ACC's going to get 7-9 bids to the Dance, just like the Big East did when it was the best conference in basketball prior to the big boys leaving for the ACC.

I agree with most of that.

On another subject, what kind of penalty do you expect UNC to get ? I know the NCAA got killed with the penalty it levied on Penn State but can they just let this go with a slap on the wrist? And, what will UNC do to Williams and the other coaches involved? Will the Deandome get renamed since he was there while this was going on?

I wouldn't expect much to happen to UNC, and I don't think too many schools will be rushing to penalize them, as what UNC did is probably very similar to what the vast majority of schools do, they just got caught. Maybe UNC went a little further than other schools, but every school has courses set up that allow athletes to coast through - it's the norm unfortunately.

[bluehenbillk]

Granted, the Big East is less than one point ahead of both the ACC

Yeah, I stopped reading after that. Any write-up that has what's left of the Big East better than the ACC is just fraudulent in my book.

Agreed - ACC is much, much better. Not in same stratosphere even.

[vutomcat]

I agree with most of that.

On another subject, what kind of penalty do you expect UNC to get ? I know the NCAA got killed with the penalty it levied on Penn State but can they just let this go with a slap on the wrist? And, what will UNC do to Williams and the other coaches involved? Will the Deandome get renamed since he was there while this was going on?

I wouldn't expect much to happen to UNC, and I don't think too many schools will be rushing to penalize them, as what UNC did is probably very similar to what the vast majority of schools do, they just got caught. Maybe UNC went a little further than other schools, but every school has courses set up that allow athletes to coast through - it's the norm unfortunately.

I'm getting old. When I went to Nova I had plenty of the basketball and football players in my classes including science and foreign language classes.

I just can't believe that what I have read about the NC phantom classes is the norm .

[GannonFan]

I wouldn't expect much to happen to UNC, and I don't think too many schools will be rushing to penalize them, as what UNC did is probably very similar to what the vast majority of schools do, they just got caught. Maybe UNC went a little further than other schools, but every school has courses set up that allow athletes to coast through - it's the norm unfortunately.

I'm getting old. When I went to Nova I had plenty of the basketball and football players in my classes including science and foreign language classes.

I just can't believe that what I have read about the NC phantom classes is the norm .

Come on, nova is no different. My wife went to nova as well and her stories about guys like Lawson and his team aren't vastly different than UNC. Again, maybe UNC went a little further than others, but the concept is hardly new.

[vutomcat]

I'm getting old. When I went to Nova I had plenty of the basketball and football players in my classes including science and foreign language classes.

I just can't believe that what I have read about the NC phantom classes is the norm .

Come on, nova is no different. My wife went to nova as well and her stories about guys like Lawson and his team aren't vastly different than UNC. Again, maybe UNC went a little further than others, but the concept is hardly new.

Well, she is much younger than me. I had the likes of Whitey RIgsby, Joe Rodgers, Reggie Robinson, Chubby Cos and John Mastronardo in my classes. They attended and participated. Chubby a little less than most.

I really doubt that Nova, Delaware, St. Joe's, Penn, and like colleges did anything remotely like what was reported in NC. It's one thing to guide a student athlete to teachers who are easy graders. But, to give out grades and credits for phantom classes? I would be very surprised if any of those schools I mentioned did anything that ridiculous.

[bluehenbillk]

There were classes at UD that everyone, not just athletes knew, were easy A's. Don't get me wrong I know VU is an excellent academic university but Tim Thomas, Chuck Kornegay & Jason Lawson.....

Every school in America I'm sure has classes &/or professors that the kids know are the "ones to take"...