THE BIG EAST CONFERENCE

[vutomcat]

The Big East is the only conference that had all teams invited to a post season tournament. A good reflection on the improvement of the bottom of the conference. Four of the teams invited to the NCAA tourney. Xavier's new coach, Travis Steele looks like a good fit. His team's improvement toward the end of the year bodes well for that program (recruiting class 20) . Look for them to be near the top of the conference for years to come. Nova's incoming class (3 in nation) gives hope to another championship run in the next year or two. DePaul surprisingly has a top recruiting class as well.

[GannonFan]

You're touting the CBI now? For shame. You do realize that teams pay to be in that tournament, correct? Most teams don't even bother. At least DePaul has company in dipping down to play in the CBI as that rugged West Virginia team (12-19 on the year, 4-14 in Big 12 play) decided to write a check to keep playing too. First time there's been a team from the Power 5 or the Big East in that tournament since 2015.

[vutomcat]

Touting the Big East.

What tourney is Delaware playing in?

[GannonFan]

Touting the Big East.

What tourney is Delaware playing in?

Does Delaware even play basketball?

At least they're not burning money to play in a tournament like some young kids travel team.

[GannonFan]

One round and more than half of the Big East is homeward bound. 1-3 so far in the NCAA, 2-3 in the NIT, and 1-0 in the tournament where you pay to play. Purdue is a tough matchup for nova this year (nova has gotten better, but still isn't a great defensive team) so we'll see how that goes.

[dbackjon]

This is too funny. DePaul wins again. Ken Pomeroy is a little slow but eventually he catches up.

Big East so far:

NCAA tourney: 1-3 (only Nova wins)
NIT: 2-3 (Xavier and Creighton won)
CBI: 1-0 (DePaul)

Stellar performance so far!

[GannonFan]

One round and more than half of the Big East is homeward bound. 1-3 so far in the NCAA, 2-3 in the NIT, and 1-0 in the tournament where you pay to play. Purdue is a tough matchup for nova this year (nova has gotten better, but still isn't a great defensive team) so we'll see how that goes.

The fear was realized - nova was a bad defensive team to start the year, but once they got into the safety net of the new Big East it looked like they were getting better. Ended up being a mirage, though, as Purdue, granted, a good offensive team, did whatever they wanted to do for 40 minutes. nova has become feast or famine - only 2 out of 10 times this decade did nova reach the Sweet Sixteen - both in the title years. The titles are great, but the other 8 years of not getting out of the first weekend are a bit troubling too.

[vutomcat]

Tough year for the conference. I agree. There were some bright spots, but overall, a disappointing year.

But, you don't really want to pretend this loss was troubling, do you? The loss was expected. Purdue was the favorite and the Cats just weren't one of the top 16 teams this year. Let's keep it real.

Jay's post season record is excellent. He has a couple years where his team was upset but, any troubling thoughts were totally dispelled after the TWO championships. He is 20-7 in the post season 2009-2019. I'm not going to do the searching, your troubled soul can do it, but there aren't many programs with that many wins from 2009 forward.

And, prior to that, the run in 2006 losing in the elite eight to the eventual champ Florida, the sweet 16 run in 2005 losing to NC by a point on a BS call. He has been extremely successful over a long period of time.

There are over 300 coaches in the NCAA's. Jay is on a very short list of the elite.

[GannonFan]

Tough year for the conference. I agree. There were some bright spots, but overall, a disappointing year.

But, you don't really want to pretend this loss was troubling, do you? The loss was expected. Purdue was the favorite and the Cats just weren't one of the top 16 teams this year. Let's keep it real.

Jay's post season record is excellent. He has a couple years where his team was upset but, any troubling thoughts were totally dispelled after the TWO championships. He is 20-7 in the post season 2009-2019. I'm not going to do the searching, your troubled soul can do it, but there aren't many programs with that many wins from 2009 forward.

And, prior to that, the run in 2006 losing in the elite eight to the eventual champ Florida, the sweet 16 run in 2005 losing to NC by a point on a BS call. He has been extremely successful over a long period of time.

There are over 300 coaches in the NCAA's. Jay is on a very short list of the elite.

I agree that the loss was expected, the severity of the loss though, you have to admit, was awful. That looked like the cats did in December when they got exposed by Penn. The defense was a glaring problem all year and the offense was too spotty. Booth was an issue with the spotty shooting so if someone can step in for him then losing him may not be as big of an issue as it could be.

As for Jay, of course he's secure in his job. He can retire from nova whenever he wants. There are still people that remember the disaster of the Lappas years so no one would ever want to go back to that again. But as good as Jay Wright is, and he's great, even the most rose-colored fan like yourself has to admit that a decade, 2010-2019, with just two Sweet 16 appearances (so 8 out of 10 years not making it to the Sweet 16) is less than what one would hope for such a secure program.

[vutomcat]

Lappas! Now there's a coach that couldn't win in the tournament. His team with Williams, Kittles, Lawson and Kornegay was as talented as any.

Makes you appreciate Rollie and Jay's successes. Good time to be a Villanovan. Now, if we can just get Ferrante to follow in Andy Talley's footsteps, things will be back to normal. The last two years have been very frustrating.

[GannonFan]

Lappas! Now there's a coach that couldn't win in the tournament. His team with Williams, Kittles, Lawson and Kornegay was as talented as any.

Makes you appreciate Rollie and Jay's successes. Good time to be a Villanovan. Now, if we can just get Ferrante to follow in Andy Talley's footsteps, things will be back to normal. The last two years have been very frustrating.

Although truth be told, I only really remember Kittles showing up in that 3OT loss to ODU. Lawson was notorious for not showing up in big games.

As for Ferrante, apparently Talley was working magic because winning football at nova is apparently much harder than at first glance. Ferrante lost both his coordinators from last year so you have to figure he's the next to go if they don't win, and the end for him could even be as soon as this year.

[vutomcat]

Report: Rick Pitino Reached Out to St. John's About Head Coaching Job

Former Louisville coach Rick Pitino reportedly expressed interest in coaching St. John's if the head-coaching position was to open, according to the New York Post.

According to the Post, St. John's coach Chris Mullin has reportedly stepped down following a four-year stint at his alma mater. St. John's has yet to publicly make any statements regarding Mullin's status.

In the meantime, Pitino has presented a case as for why the the two-time national championship winner should be considered for St. John's potential opening.

Pitino reportedly told the New York Times' Adam Zagoria via text that he "would bring St. John's to the Elite level not seen since Louie (Lou Carnesecca) roamed the sidelines."

[GannonFan]

Report: Rick Pitino Reached Out to St. John's About Head Coaching Job

Former Louisville coach Rick Pitino reportedly expressed interest in coaching St. John's if the head-coaching position was to open, according to the New York Post.

According to the Post, St. John's coach Chris Mullin has reportedly stepped down following a four-year stint at his alma mater. St. John's has yet to publicly make any statements regarding Mullin's status.

In the meantime, Pitino has presented a case as for why the the two-time national championship winner should be considered for St. John's potential opening.

Pitino reportedly told the New York Times' Adam Zagoria via text that he "would bring St. John's to the Elite level not seen since Louie (Lou Carnesecca) roamed the sidelines."

I'm sure Pitino would bring some success. He's also a piece of crap as a person so he'd be bringing that as well.

[UNI88]

UConn coming home?
https://sports.yahoo.com/uconn-returnin ... 54658.html

UConn is back where it belongs.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[vutomcat]

Not totally sure this is all good news. UCONN has a different profile than the rest of the conference. But, my first thought was that it is good news. Certainly for Women's Bball it is.

It will be interesting to see how the TV money goes from here. I heard it might give the Big East an opportunity to re-negotiate with Fox though. The article pointed to a clause adding new members re-opens the negotiations.

They have outperformed their contract. Just look at the contract the AAC just signed as proof. A 12 year billion dollar contract makes the Big East's 12 year 500 million dollar contract look paltry.

[clenz]

It's been far too long so.....


Fuck sCUm

[vutomcat]

This is too funny. DePaul wins again. Ken Pomeroy is a little slow but eventually he catches up.

DePaul over Iowa

[vutomcat]

BIg East Conference record overall

22-1 with the only loss coming from Creighton. Another fast start for the conference. We will see if the post season goes as well.

Where's Clenz? it's been 5 months since his last Creighton bashing.

[tribe_pride]

BIg East Conference record overall

22-1 with the only loss coming from Creighton. Another fast start for the conference. We will see if the post season goes as well.

Where's Clenz? it's been 5 months since his last Creighton bashing.

Way to jinx that one. Now 22-5 with only one of the 5 losses being a good loss when you look at the competition and final score
Georgetown loses by 15 at home to unranked Penn State
Providence lost at Northwestern (a team that lost to Merrimack)
Seton Hall lost by 3 to #3 Michigan State (that is a "good" loss)
Crieghton lost by 10 to unranked Michigan
Villanova lost big to 16 Ohio State (while finished at 15 point loss was 26 down with 10 minutes to go)

Best wins are against unranked Missouri and Purdue. Need to play better against the tougher competition.

[vutomcat]

--it happens.

[vutomcat]

Did you check out their wins last year? IU Northwest , Delaware State, Portland, Youngstown State, Central Ct., UIC, Alabama A&M, Miami (OH not FL) , and 4 Big East games. They played the weakest non-conference schedule in the Big East last year as well.

This year they already have 3 Big East wins including a sweep of Seton Hall and a BIG 10 win.
Their SOS is 122 overall this year. Last year it was 124.

Their offense was pitiful last year. KenPom had them at 181. This year they are in top 100.

It wasn't lost on me that you ignored the excellent recruiting class either. I stand by my comment that DePaul has made some progress toward respectability this year. It is a fact, not a hope or dream.

Depaul has an 8-0 start with two wins over Big 10 opponents. If they win tomorrow over Texas Tech, they have to be ranked. The recruiting class that was touted highly last year has blended well for the Blue Demons. Nice to see the Big East grab some attention in Chicago. Good for the conference.

[GannonFan]

The Big East needs some distractions. nova hasn't been the headliner they've been in previous years, Providence has been a dumpster fire losing to both Long Beach St and Charleston in the Thanksgiving tourney after losing to Penn in the leadup, Seton Hall is probably the best team in the BE but has come up short so far in the two marquee games they've had (Oregon and Michigan St) - no shame, those are good teams and they played well, but still losses, and now Georgetown is all over the news with the criminal activities of 3 current players.

[vutomcat]

Did you check out their wins last year? IU Northwest , Delaware State, Portland, Youngstown State, Central Ct., UIC, Alabama A&M, Miami (OH not FL) , and 4 Big East games. They played the weakest non-conference schedule in the Big East last year as well.

This year they already have 3 Big East wins including a sweep of Seton Hall and a BIG 10 win.
Their SOS is 122 overall this year. Last year it was 124.

Their offense was pitiful last year. KenPom had them at 181. This year they are in top 100.

It wasn't lost on me that you ignored the excellent recruiting class either. I stand by my comment that DePaul has made some progress toward respectability this year. It is a fact, not a hope or dream.

Depaul has an 8-0 start with two wins over Big 10 opponents. If they win tomorrow over Texas Tech, they have to be ranked. The recruiting class that was touted highly last year has blended well for the Blue Demons. Nice to see the Big East grab some attention in Chicago. Good for the conference.

I tried to tell you that Depaul's program was improving. You just don't listen.

[GannonFan]

Depaul has an 8-0 start with two wins over Big 10 opponents. If they win tomorrow over Texas Tech, they have to be ranked. The recruiting class that was touted highly last year has blended well for the Blue Demons. Nice to see the Big East grab some attention in Chicago. Good for the conference.

I tried to tell you that Depaul's program was improving. You just don't listen.

How could they not get better, they were god-awful, anything is better than that. Bold prediction there, self-appointed Kreskin. SOS of 223 for DePaul is not exactly blowing people away though. Of course, with the Big East down a little this year they could make some noise in conference. You've been touting the emergence of St John's for several years now and we're still waiting on that. SOS for the Johnnies of 332, and have found ways to lose to Vermont this year even with that crappy schedule so we could still be a few years away from that prediction finally coming true. Heck, we could go all the way back on how you predicted greatness for Kris Dunn - his 16% from 3pt range this year while riding the bench for a listless Bulls team certainly has him poised on the brink of greatness. Any day now, right?

[vutomcat]

No, they were better last year and even better again this year. That's what I told you in the original post and you took exception. Just to remind you, I said their program had taken a step forward last year because of their improving record and a very respectable recruiting class. You said they had taken a step backward. Not a strong stance given what has transpired since then. But, like always, GF, you never let the facts get in the way of a spin.

(The post had nothing to do with the #5 pick in the draft Kris Dunn. But, I can see why you would want to deflect off topic).

In other news, Depaul extended it's unbeaten streak (9-0) last night over Texas tech. Now that's worthy of an emoji. Take your pick!

Give it up brother. Enjoy the Delaware basketball success like I enjoyed watching my football Cats dismantle the cluckers once again.