Why the Recruits for Next Year could save Lav + us

[bamafan]

Yes polee was top 100. Coming out of his senior year of high school he was the #1 player in the state of California.

If Los Angeles is a state than you are right!

 

[Class of 72]

The conference will be better next year here's why.

Georgetown will be back to being Georgetown with a top 10 recruiting class coming in. They also bring back trawick, smith-Rivera, josh smith, Hopkins, Cameron, and Bradley Hayes who is 7 feet tall hasn't played much , but all big men always get better in the gtown program. They will be a deep and much improved team.

Nova brings back everyone except for James bell. Well at Least they have two 4 stars recruits coming in To replace bell and add more depth to an already deep team. Nova will be preseason top 15 next year.

Xavier will be much better next year. The loss of semaj Christon hurts along with Philmore graduating, but Mack is bringing in a top 15 recruiting class with all the players he's bringing in being in the top 100. You add the freshmen,with everyone else coming back, Xavier will be a tough out and much improved.

Providence looses cotton and batts but that's it. They get kris Dunn back, (who was a McDonald's all American 2 years ago) they return Harris, fortune , Henton, all whom gotten better as the year went on and who should get even better next year. Cooley is also bringing in a 4 man top 20 recruiting class that features 7'2 shot blocking machine paschal chukwu, 6'8 bruiser Ben betil, and top 50 player jaylen Lindsey. Desrosiers also comes back which might make the friars the biggest team in the country. Providence should be a force.

Marquette looses otule, Gardner , wilson, Thomas, but brings back everyone else. 6'11 Indiana transfer Luke Fischer will be a huge boost for them along with getting Duane wilson back who was one of their best freshmen that had to red shirt this year. Wojo should not have a problem recruiting esp after helping coach k land top 100 recruits the years that he was there. I gotta believe wojo wi still have all the connections that he has made with his time at duke. There freshmen class this year will all be sophs next year with mayo being the senior leader .

Seton hall looses alot of players but there bringing in a top 10 recruiting class to replace them all an then some. Those kids along with mobley, auda, Gibbs, sina should make hall pretty solid. With all the guards they have look for them to play a nova style of play. This team might be the surprise of the conference.

Creighton will fall off, DePaul will be DePaul again, butler might improve a little, but these 3 should be the weak 3 in our conference.

Then there's us! We will make the tourney next year.

I think this is a too simplified way of looking at things.

The conference lost the national POY and Cotton. You're putting a lot of emphasis on entering freshmen around the conference who rarely tend to make a dent. Mack could be out the door any day now and the "most talented team in the Big East" had as many defections as any team in D1.

Nova and Creighton carried the conference this year as far as OOC goes. Creighton will be a non-factor next year.

I'd be very surprised if the conference was better next year than it was this year.

Can't agree or disagree on next year yet until all recruiting is complete and the OOC schedules are finalized. May not be better but will definitely not be worse. I am hoping our invisible conference commissioner starts earning her paycheck. The conference needs to target two more teams to increase exposure and Big East Tourney fan base. This conference needs a national power to push it to the next level of fan interest. That power has not been coming fast enough on Union Turnpike but a new president may help now. Last year's national champion came from the AAC not the ACC so anything is possible.

 

[TonyinFairfield]

The conference will be better next year here's why.

Georgetown will be back to being Georgetown with a top 10 recruiting class coming in. They also bring back trawick, smith-Rivera, josh smith, Hopkins, Cameron, and Bradley Hayes who is 7 feet tall hasn't played much , but all big men always get better in the gtown program. They will be a deep and much improved team.

Nova brings back everyone except for James bell. Well at Least they have two 4 stars recruits coming in To replace bell and add more depth to an already deep team. Nova will be preseason top 15 next year.

Xavier will be much better next year. The loss of semaj Christon hurts along with Philmore graduating, but Mack is bringing in a top 15 recruiting class with all the players he's bringing in being in the top 100. You add the freshmen,with everyone else coming back, Xavier will be a tough out and much improved.

Providence looses cotton and batts but that's it. They get kris Dunn back, (who was a McDonald's all American 2 years ago) they return Harris, fortune , Henton, all whom gotten better as the year went on and who should get even better next year. Cooley is also bringing in a 4 man top 20 recruiting class that features 7'2 shot blocking machine paschal chukwu, 6'8 bruiser Ben betil, and top 50 player jaylen Lindsey. Desrosiers also comes back which might make the friars the biggest team in the country. Providence should be a force.

Marquette looses otule, Gardner , wilson, Thomas, but brings back everyone else. 6'11 Indiana transfer Luke Fischer will be a huge boost for them along with getting Duane wilson back who was one of their best freshmen that had to red shirt this year. Wojo should not have a problem recruiting esp after helping coach k land top 100 recruits the years that he was there. I gotta believe wojo wi still have all the connections that he has made with his time at duke. There freshmen class this year will all be sophs next year with mayo being the senior leader .

Seton hall looses alot of players but there bringing in a top 10 recruiting class to replace them all an then some. Those kids along with mobley, auda, Gibbs, sina should make hall pretty solid. With all the guards they have look for them to play a nova style of play. This team might be the surprise of the conference.

Creighton will fall off, DePaul will be DePaul again, butler might improve a little, but these 3 should be the weak 3 in our conference.

Then there's us! We will make the tourney next year.

I think this is a too simplified way of looking at things.

The conference lost the national POY and Cotton. You're putting a lot of emphasis on entering freshmen around the conference who rarely tend to make a dent. Mack could be out the door any day now and the "most talented team in the Big East" had as many defections as any team in D1.

Nova and Creighton carried the conference this year as far as OOC goes. Creighton will be a non-factor next year.

I'd be very surprised if the conference was better next year than it was this year.

Between the two of you, I hope you, SJUalum98, are wrong.

 

[redfazed]

The conference will be better next year here's why.

Georgetown will be back to being Georgetown with a top 10 recruiting class coming in. They also bring back trawick, smith-Rivera, josh smith, Hopkins, Cameron, and Bradley Hayes who is 7 feet tall hasn't played much , but all big men always get better in the gtown program. They will be a deep and much improved team.

Nova brings back everyone except for James bell. Well at Least they have two 4 stars recruits coming in To replace bell and add more depth to an already deep team. Nova will be preseason top 15 next year.

Xavier will be much better next year. The loss of semaj Christon hurts along with Philmore graduating, but Mack is bringing in a top 15 recruiting class with all the players he's bringing in being in the top 100. You add the freshmen,with everyone else coming back, Xavier will be a tough out and much improved.

Providence looses cotton and batts but that's it. They get kris Dunn back, (who was a McDonald's all American 2 years ago) they return Harris, fortune , Henton, all whom gotten better as the year went on and who should get even better next year. Cooley is also bringing in a 4 man top 20 recruiting class that features 7'2 shot blocking machine paschal chukwu, 6'8 bruiser Ben betil, and top 50 player jaylen Lindsey. Desrosiers also comes back which might make the friars the biggest team in the country. Providence should be a force.

Marquette looses otule, Gardner , wilson, Thomas, but brings back everyone else. 6'11 Indiana transfer Luke Fischer will be a huge boost for them along with getting Duane wilson back who was one of their best freshmen that had to red shirt this year. Wojo should not have a problem recruiting esp after helping coach k land top 100 recruits the years that he was there. I gotta believe wojo wi still have all the connections that he has made with his time at duke. There freshmen class this year will all be sophs next year with mayo being the senior leader .

Seton hall looses alot of players but there bringing in a top 10 recruiting class to replace them all an then some. Those kids along with mobley, auda, Gibbs, sina should make hall pretty solid. With all the guards they have look for them to play a nova style of play. This team might be the surprise of the conference.

Creighton will fall off, DePaul will be DePaul again, butler might improve a little, but these 3 should be the weak 3 in our conference.

Then there's us! We will make the tourney next year.

I think this is a too simplified way of looking at things.

The conference lost the national POY and Cotton. You're putting a lot of emphasis on entering freshmen around the conference who rarely tend to make a dent. Mack could be out the door any day now and the "most talented team in the Big East" had as many defections as any team in D1.

Nova and Creighton carried the conference this year as far as OOC goes. Creighton will be a non-factor next year.

I'd be very surprised if the conference was better next year than it was this year.

Can't agree or disagree on next year yet until all recruiting is complete and the OOC schedules are finalized. May not be better but will definitely not be worse. I am hoping our invisible conference commissioner starts earning her paycheck. The conference needs to target two more teams to increase exposure and Big East Tourney fan base. This conference needs a national power to push it to the next level of fan interest. That power has not been coming fast enough on Union Turnpike but a new president may help now. Last year's national champion came from the AAC not the ACC so anything is possible.

A strong Georgetown is crucial to the future of the new Big East --much more so than us, IMO. People expect them to be good. They look like they are in good position to bounce back this year, with their returning guys plus extremely strong incoming class for 2014.

 

[MarkRedman]

The conference will be better next year here's why.

Georgetown will be back to being Georgetown with a top 10 recruiting class coming in. They also bring back trawick, smith-Rivera, josh smith, Hopkins, Cameron, and Bradley Hayes who is 7 feet tall hasn't played much , but all big men always get better in the gtown program. They will be a deep and much improved team.

Nova brings back everyone except for James bell. Well at Least they have two 4 stars recruits coming in To replace bell and add more depth to an already deep team. Nova will be preseason top 15 next year.

Xavier will be much better next year. The loss of semaj Christon hurts along with Philmore graduating, but Mack is bringing in a top 15 recruiting class with all the players he's bringing in being in the top 100. You add the freshmen,with everyone else coming back, Xavier will be a tough out and much improved.

Providence looses cotton and batts but that's it. They get kris Dunn back, (who was a McDonald's all American 2 years ago) they return Harris, fortune , Henton, all whom gotten better as the year went on and who should get even better next year. Cooley is also bringing in a 4 man top 20 recruiting class that features 7'2 shot blocking machine paschal chukwu, 6'8 bruiser Ben betil, and top 50 player jaylen Lindsey. Desrosiers also comes back which might make the friars the biggest team in the country. Providence should be a force.

Marquette looses otule, Gardner , wilson, Thomas, but brings back everyone else. 6'11 Indiana transfer Luke Fischer will be a huge boost for them along with getting Duane wilson back who was one of their best freshmen that had to red shirt this year. Wojo should not have a problem recruiting esp after helping coach k land top 100 recruits the years that he was there. I gotta believe wojo wi still have all the connections that he has made with his time at duke. There freshmen class this year will all be sophs next year with mayo being the senior leader .

Seton hall looses alot of players but there bringing in a top 10 recruiting class to replace them all an then some. Those kids along with mobley, auda, Gibbs, sina should make hall pretty solid. With all the guards they have look for them to play a nova style of play. This team might be the surprise of the conference.

Creighton will fall off, DePaul will be DePaul again, butler might improve a little, but these 3 should be the weak 3 in our conference.

Then there's us! We will make the tourney next year.

Which tourney?

CBI with an outside shot at the NIT

 

[Avon Barksdale]

The days of the Big East being a "high major" are over.
That's the dose of reality a lot of you don't want to hear.
Look at the pre-season polls- Villanova is the only top 25 team. GTown cracks the top-40.
The two best players from the conference last year (Doug McD & Cotton) are gone. Xavier lost their two top scorers.
I do not subscribe to the idea that "great recruiting classes" for Seton Hall Georgetown and Xavier will be sufficient enough to make this conference relevant in 14-15. Unless the freshmen are like the Kentucky players, Parker, Wiggins, Kevin Durrant when he was at Texas....then it will be a lot of the same mediocre basketball we got to watch on FS1 all season this year.
Maybe Villanova will get a good draw in the NCAAs and make a regional final, or maybe a team like Georgetown or Marquette can string together a few wins, but the days of us placing 5 teams in the Sweet 16 and 3 or 4 legit National Title Contenders are over....
Dave Gavitt is turning over in his grave.

 

[Class of 72]

The days of the Big East being a "high major" are over.
That's the dose of reality a lot of you don't want to hear.
Look at the pre-season polls- Villanova is the only top 25 team. GTown cracks the top-40.
The two best players from the conference last year (Doug McD & Cotton) are gone. Xavier lost their two top scorers.
I do not subscribe to the idea that "great recruiting classes" for Seton Hall Georgetown and Xavier will be sufficient enough to make this conference relevant in 14-15. Unless the freshmen are like the Kentucky players, Parker, Wiggins, Kevin Durrant when he was at Texas....then it will be a lot of the same mediocre basketball we got to watch on FS1 all season this year.
Maybe Villanova will get a good draw in the NCAAs and make a regional final, or maybe a team like Georgetown or Marquette can string together a few wins, but the days of us placing 5 teams in the Sweet 16 and 3 or 4 legit National Title Contenders are over....
Dave Gavitt is turning over in his grave.

Nice to see the old "positive thinking" Hit back! So now we will be a failure if we are not a "high major" conference, whatever that is! :dry:
The days of most conferences placing 5 teams in the sweet 16 may be over. This year only the Big came close. The ACC, the self-described best conference that money could buy (from the Big East) had One, UNO, 1 team in the sweet 16. No UNC, Duke, Syracuse. However, there were basketball powerhouses with long college basketball traditions like San Diego State, Iowa State and Baylor there. Dayton was there as was Stanford. Good basketball teams make it to the sweet 16 not high major conference affiliation. The SEC regularly places just 2 teams, UK and Florida with this year being an exception with Tenn. The conference that won it ALL was the AAC, a "new" conference, like the new Big East.
The early years of the Big East were just average but a couple of teams kept it high profile. That can happen in any conference like the UNLV days or the A10 this year. As for strenght of conference, for a new conference, I would check the rankings out if I were you. Being good, top to bottom, is better than just following UK and Florida in the "high major" SEC.
Thanks for your positivity, as usual.

 

[Avon Barksdale]

The days of the Big East being a "high major" are over.
That's the dose of reality a lot of you don't want to hear.
Look at the pre-season polls- Villanova is the only top 25 team. GTown cracks the top-40.
The two best players from the conference last year (Doug McD & Cotton) are gone. Xavier lost their two top scorers.
I do not subscribe to the idea that "great recruiting classes" for Seton Hall Georgetown and Xavier will be sufficient enough to make this conference relevant in 14-15. Unless the freshmen are like the Kentucky players, Parker, Wiggins, Kevin Durrant when he was at Texas....then it will be a lot of the same mediocre basketball we got to watch on FS1 all season this year.
Maybe Villanova will get a good draw in the NCAAs and make a regional final, or maybe a team like Georgetown or Marquette can string together a few wins, but the days of us placing 5 teams in the Sweet 16 and 3 or 4 legit National Title Contenders are over....
Dave Gavitt is turning over in his grave.

Nice to see the old "positive thinking" Hit back! So now we will be a failure if we are not a "high major" conference, whatever that is! :dry:
The days of most conferences placing 5 teams in the sweet 16 may be over. This year only the Big came close. The ACC, the self-described best conference that money could buy (from the Big East) had One, UNO, 1 team in the sweet 16. No UNC, Duke, Syracuse. However, there were basketball powerhouses with long college basketball traditions like San Diego State, Iowa State and Baylor there. Dayton was there as was Stanford. Good basketball teams make it to the sweet 16 not high major conference affiliation. The SEC regularly places just 2 teams, UK and Florida with this year being an exception with Tenn. The conference that won it ALL was the AAC, a "new" conference, like the new Big East.
The early years of the Big East were just average but a couple of teams kept it high profile. That can happen in any conference like the UNLV days or the A10 this year. As for strenght of conference, for a new conference, I would check the rankings out if I were you. Being good, top to bottom, is better than just following UK and Florida in the "high major" SEC.
Thanks for your positivity, as usual.

You can call me "positive thinking" HTGS, i like to think of it as realistic. I do not live in the Land of Make-Believe like so many other St. John's fans do, albeit, it isnt as bad as the Norm era.
I never once said anything about the ACC being the best conference in basketball, in fact, none of the conferences this year came close to what the old Big East was before realignment.

Define "being good top to bottom". I hope this season for the Big East doesnt fit that description, because no team made it out of the first weekend of the Tournament. Nova won 29 games and was manhandled by UConn. Baylor embarrassed Creighton. Xavier was a no-show in the play in game and our Tournament champion got an 11-Seed in the NCAAs. That is a poor showing if you ask me. And also placing SJU and GT into the NIT means zilch to the conference too. More lipstick on the pig. And you are correct that "good" teams make the sweet 16, despite their conference affiliation, but you also cannot argue that the high majority of Sweet 16 teams over the last 30 years have come from the "high major" conferences. For every VCU and Gonzaga and George Mason, you have 10 Big Boys advancing. And this year Dayton was the only non football school in the Sweet 16.

In the early days of the Big East, the NCAA field was not as large as it was now - I believe it was 48 teams, so having three or four teams teams represent the league well in the NCAA's then was different because the field was smaller. Also, the old Big East had the Ewing/Mullin/Pickney freshmen class - if we were ever lucky enough to get players that good, they would stay four years to help us establish our footing in the landscape of college bball. By the time those guys were seniors we had three teams in the Final 4. The greatest showing for a conference...EVER in the NCAA's.

Replacing rivalries with UConn , Pitt and Syracuse with Creighton, Xavier and Butler have all but put the nail in the coffin for the Big East. If you disagree with me, then just look at the Big East Tournament at MSG this year. Every other year before this year, the Garden was sold-out on the day of the Quarters & Semis...and we had about 12,000 this year for our game on Thursday with Providence which was really a play in game. The juice isnt there anymore. The combination of good Catholic programs plus good football programs is what made the Big East great. Entering next year, there is no way anyone can argue that this conference as good as the A-10.

I will repeat we have 1 (one) top 25 team and another team that is around # 40. 2 (Two) Top 40 teams makes this a mid-major league next season. That means that we are looking at placing two teams into next season's field of 68. I am also a huge believer that the deal we have with Fox Sports 1 is debilitating for us because there is only one ESPN - PLUS we dont get weekend games on CBS either!!!!

No one wishes the Big East is a success more than me (and my dad) and we would love to see us be able to "stick it to" the BCS conferences, but if what we have seen so far is a sign of things to come, we are in enormous trouble.

Youre welcome for my "positivity"

 

[doodyny33]

Nobody could realistically expect the combination of Creighton, Xavier, and Butler could offset the loss of Syracuse, UConn, Pitt, Louisville, Cincinnati, and Notre Dame. The "Catholic 7" were in a crap situation and tried to make the best of it. They picked up 3 solid basketball schools and secured a big time TV rights deal from Fox Sports. Now, it's up to the schools' leadership to make it work.

What will they do? I haven't the slightest idea. Maybe they'll aggressively expand (Dayton is looking pretty good these days). Maybe they'll form alliances with other conferences (would be nice to see St. John's play against Big 10 and ACC schools like they did this past season). There are a lot of ways they can go. I heard Dave Gavitt say in the Requiem For The Big East that he didn't expect things to really get rolling for about 6 years (obviously it ended up being much shorter). But I think it's a little short sighted and impatient to throw up your hands after year one and say "Well, geez this conference is doomed." Rivalries will build over time and I'm sure Fox Sports will get more and more aggressive in terms of growing their product.

 

[redfazed]

The days of the Big East being a "high major" are over.
That's the dose of reality a lot of you don't want to hear.
Look at the pre-season polls- Villanova is the only top 25 team. GTown cracks the top-40.
The two best players from the conference last year (Doug McD & Cotton) are gone. Xavier lost their two top scorers.
I do not subscribe to the idea that "great recruiting classes" for Seton Hall Georgetown and Xavier will be sufficient enough to make this conference relevant in 14-15. Unless the freshmen are like the Kentucky players, Parker, Wiggins, Kevin Durrant when he was at Texas....then it will be a lot of the same mediocre basketball we got to watch on FS1 all season this year.
Maybe Villanova will get a good draw in the NCAAs and make a regional final, or maybe a team like Georgetown or Marquette can string together a few wins, but the days of us placing 5 teams in the Sweet 16 and 3 or 4 legit National Title Contenders are over....
Dave Gavitt is turning over in his grave.

Nice to see the old "positive thinking" Hit back! So now we will be a failure if we are not a "high major" conference, whatever that is! :dry:
The days of most conferences placing 5 teams in the sweet 16 may be over. This year only the Big came close. The ACC, the self-described best conference that money could buy (from the Big East) had One, UNO, 1 team in the sweet 16. No UNC, Duke, Syracuse. However, there were basketball powerhouses with long college basketball traditions like San Diego State, Iowa State and Baylor there. Dayton was there as was Stanford. Good basketball teams make it to the sweet 16 not high major conference affiliation. The SEC regularly places just 2 teams, UK and Florida with this year being an exception with Tenn. The conference that won it ALL was the AAC, a "new" conference, like the new Big East.
The early years of the Big East were just average but a couple of teams kept it high profile. That can happen in any conference like the UNLV days or the A10 this year. As for strenght of conference, for a new conference, I would check the rankings out if I were you. Being good, top to bottom, is better than just following UK and Florida in the "high major" SEC.
Thanks for your positivity, as usual.

You can call me "positive thinking" HTGS, i like to think of it as realistic. I do not live in the Land of Make-Believe like so many other St. John's fans do, albeit, it isnt as bad as the Norm era.
I never once said anything about the ACC being the best conference in basketball, in fact, none of the conferences this year came close to what the old Big East was before realignment.

Define "being good top to bottom". I hope this season for the Big East doesnt fit that description, because no team made it out of the first weekend of the Tournament. Nova won 29 games and was manhandled by UConn. Baylor embarrassed Creighton. Xavier was a no-show in the play in game and our Tournament champion got an 11-Seed in the NCAAs. That is a poor showing if you ask me. And also placing SJU and GT into the NIT means zilch to the conference too. More lipstick on the pig. And you are correct that "good" teams make the sweet 16, despite their conference affiliation, but you also cannot argue that the high majority of Sweet 16 teams over the last 30 years have come from the "high major" conferences. For every VCU and Gonzaga and George Mason, you have 10 Big Boys advancing. And this year Dayton was the only non football school in the Sweet 16.

In the early days of the Big East, the NCAA field was not as large as it was now - I believe it was 48 teams, so having three or four teams teams represent the league well in the NCAA's then was different because the field was smaller. Also, the old Big East had the Ewing/Mullin/Pickney freshmen class - if we were ever lucky enough to get players that good, they would stay four years to help us establish our footing in the landscape of college bball. By the time those guys were seniors we had three teams in the Final 4. The greatest showing for a conference...EVER in the NCAA's.

Replacing rivalries with UConn , Pitt and Syracuse with Creighton, Xavier and Butler have all but put the nail in the coffin for the Big East. If you disagree with me, then just look at the Big East Tournament at MSG this year. Every other year before this year, the Garden was sold-out on the day of the Quarters & Semis...and we had about 12,000 this year for our game on Thursday with Providence which was really a play in game. The juice isnt there anymore. The combination of good Catholic programs plus good football programs is what made the Big East great. Entering next year, there is no way anyone can argue that this conference as good as the A-10.

I will repeat we have 1 (one) top 25 team and another team that is around # 40. 2 (Two) Top 40 teams makes this a mid-major league next season. That means that we are looking at placing two teams into next season's field of 68. I am also a huge believer that the deal we have with Fox Sports 1 is debilitating for us because there is only one ESPN - PLUS we dont get weekend games on CBS either!!!!

No one wishes the Big East is a success more than me (and my dad) and we would love to see us be able to "stick it to" the BCS conferences, but if what we have seen so far is a sign of things to come, we are in enormous trouble.

Youre welcome for my "positivity"

If you go back over the past 5 or 6 years, Georgetown and Marquette have routinely cracked the Top 25. If they can get their acts together --and it looks like G'town will-- and Villanova can keep things on track, then the league won't be as nearly as bad off as many think. If those 3 flounder, then it's a different story.

 

[Class of 72]

The days of the Big East being a "high major" are over.
That's the dose of reality a lot of you don't want to hear.
Look at the pre-season polls- Villanova is the only top 25 team. GTown cracks the top-40.
The two best players from the conference last year (Doug McD & Cotton) are gone. Xavier lost their two top scorers.
I do not subscribe to the idea that "great recruiting classes" for Seton Hall Georgetown and Xavier will be sufficient enough to make this conference relevant in 14-15. Unless the freshmen are like the Kentucky players, Parker, Wiggins, Kevin Durrant when he was at Texas....then it will be a lot of the same mediocre basketball we got to watch on FS1 all season this year.
Maybe Villanova will get a good draw in the NCAAs and make a regional final, or maybe a team like Georgetown or Marquette can string together a few wins, but the days of us placing 5 teams in the Sweet 16 and 3 or 4 legit National Title Contenders are over....
Dave Gavitt is turning over in his grave.

Nice to see the old "positive thinking" Hit back! So now we will be a failure if we are not a "high major" conference, whatever that is! :dry:
The days of most conferences placing 5 teams in the sweet 16 may be over. This year only the Big came close. The ACC, the self-described best conference that money could buy (from the Big East) had One, UNO, 1 team in the sweet 16. No UNC, Duke, Syracuse. However, there were basketball powerhouses with long college basketball traditions like San Diego State, Iowa State and Baylor there. Dayton was there as was Stanford. Good basketball teams make it to the sweet 16 not high major conference affiliation. The SEC regularly places just 2 teams, UK and Florida with this year being an exception with Tenn. The conference that won it ALL was the AAC, a "new" conference, like the new Big East.
The early years of the Big East were just average but a couple of teams kept it high profile. That can happen in any conference like the UNLV days or the A10 this year. As for strenght of conference, for a new conference, I would check the rankings out if I were you. Being good, top to bottom, is better than just following UK and Florida in the "high major" SEC.
Thanks for your positivity, as usual.

You can call me "positive thinking" HTGS, i like to think of it as realistic. I do not live in the Land of Make-Believe like so many other St. John's fans do, albeit, it isnt as bad as the Norm era.
I never once said anything about the ACC being the best conference in basketball, in fact, none of the conferences this year came close to what the old Big East was before realignment.

Define "being good top to bottom". I hope this season for the Big East doesnt fit that description, because no team made it out of the first weekend of the Tournament. Nova won 29 games and was manhandled by UConn. Baylor embarrassed Creighton. Xavier was a no-show in the play in game and our Tournament champion got an 11-Seed in the NCAAs. That is a poor showing if you ask me. And also placing SJU and GT into the NIT means zilch to the conference too. More lipstick on the pig. And you are correct that "good" teams make the sweet 16, despite their conference affiliation, but you also cannot argue that the high majority of Sweet 16 teams over the last 30 years have come from the "high major" conferences. For every VCU and Gonzaga and George Mason, you have 10 Big Boys advancing. And this year Dayton was the only non football school in the Sweet 16.

In the early days of the Big East, the NCAA field was not as large as it was now - I believe it was 48 teams, so having three or four teams teams represent the league well in the NCAA's then was different because the field was smaller. Also, the old Big East had the Ewing/Mullin/Pickney freshmen class - if we were ever lucky enough to get players that good, they would stay four years to help us establish our footing in the landscape of college bball. By the time those guys were seniors we had three teams in the Final 4. The greatest showing for a conference...EVER in the NCAA's.

Replacing rivalries with UConn , Pitt and Syracuse with Creighton, Xavier and Butler have all but put the nail in the coffin for the Big East. If you disagree with me, then just look at the Big East Tournament at MSG this year. Every other year before this year, the Garden was sold-out on the day of the Quarters & Semis...and we had about 12,000 this year for our game on Thursday with Providence which was really a play in game. The juice isnt there anymore. The combination of good Catholic programs plus good football programs is what made the Big East great. Entering next year, there is no way anyone can argue that this conference as good as the A-10.

I will repeat we have 1 (one) top 25 team and another team that is around # 40. 2 (Two) Top 40 teams makes this a mid-major league next season. That means that we are looking at placing two teams into next season's field of 68. I am also a huge believer that the deal we have with Fox Sports 1 is debilitating for us because there is only one ESPN - PLUS we dont get weekend games on CBS either!!!!

No one wishes the Big East is a success more than me (and my dad) and we would love to see us be able to "stick it to" the BCS conferences, but if what we have seen so far is a sign of things to come, we are in enormous trouble.

Youre welcome for my "positivity"

I appreciate your frankness but dwelling in the past glory of the Big East is self defeating. It was a conference created for basketball and destroyed by the $$ seeking football members. The only reason it struggled in its first year is because Georgetown, Marquette and your favorite team struggled. You are equating high-major with football Hit but college basketball is a different animal so no need to pollute an otherwise good analysis. By your definition your dad's favorite coach is king in a mid-major basketball conference. Over the past 10 years or more the SEC has been about Kentucky and Florida. Before Billy Donovan it was basically UK. It is a conference swimming in football money yet only two teams are ever candidates for the sweet 16 and ironically the team that keeps the SEC relevant in basketball sucks at football.
Now, if you want to create a super duper high major basketball conference, merge the best 6 A10 teams with the new Big East and you have a pure basketball conference unspoiled by BCS wannabes.

 

[TonyinFairfield]

The days of the Big East being a "high major" are over.
That's the dose of reality a lot of you don't want to hear.
Look at the pre-season polls- Villanova is the only top 25 team. GTown cracks the top-40.
The two best players from the conference last year (Doug McD & Cotton) are gone. Xavier lost their two top scorers.
I do not subscribe to the idea that "great recruiting classes" for Seton Hall Georgetown and Xavier will be sufficient enough to make this conference relevant in 14-15. Unless the freshmen are like the Kentucky players, Parker, Wiggins, Kevin Durrant when he was at Texas....then it will be a lot of the same mediocre basketball we got to watch on FS1 all season this year.
Maybe Villanova will get a good draw in the NCAAs and make a regional final, or maybe a team like Georgetown or Marquette can string together a few wins, but the days of us placing 5 teams in the Sweet 16 and 3 or 4 legit National Title Contenders are over....
Dave Gavitt is turning over in his grave.

If the Big East could talk, it would paraphrase Mark Twain and say something like, "Reports of my demise are somewhat premature."

Have faith, son. Have faith.

 

[Avon Barksdale]

The days of the Big East being a "high major" are over.
That's the dose of reality a lot of you don't want to hear.
Look at the pre-season polls- Villanova is the only top 25 team. GTown cracks the top-40.
The two best players from the conference last year (Doug McD & Cotton) are gone. Xavier lost their two top scorers.
I do not subscribe to the idea that "great recruiting classes" for Seton Hall Georgetown and Xavier will be sufficient enough to make this conference relevant in 14-15. Unless the freshmen are like the Kentucky players, Parker, Wiggins, Kevin Durrant when he was at Texas....then it will be a lot of the same mediocre basketball we got to watch on FS1 all season this year.
Maybe Villanova will get a good draw in the NCAAs and make a regional final, or maybe a team like Georgetown or Marquette can string together a few wins, but the days of us placing 5 teams in the Sweet 16 and 3 or 4 legit National Title Contenders are over....
Dave Gavitt is turning over in his grave.

Nice to see the old "positive thinking" Hit back! So now we will be a failure if we are not a "high major" conference, whatever that is! :dry:
The days of most conferences placing 5 teams in the sweet 16 may be over. This year only the Big came close. The ACC, the self-described best conference that money could buy (from the Big East) had One, UNO, 1 team in the sweet 16. No UNC, Duke, Syracuse. However, there were basketball powerhouses with long college basketball traditions like San Diego State, Iowa State and Baylor there. Dayton was there as was Stanford. Good basketball teams make it to the sweet 16 not high major conference affiliation. The SEC regularly places just 2 teams, UK and Florida with this year being an exception with Tenn. The conference that won it ALL was the AAC, a "new" conference, like the new Big East.
The early years of the Big East were just average but a couple of teams kept it high profile. That can happen in any conference like the UNLV days or the A10 this year. As for strenght of conference, for a new conference, I would check the rankings out if I were you. Being good, top to bottom, is better than just following UK and Florida in the "high major" SEC.
Thanks for your positivity, as usual.

You can call me "positive thinking" HTGS, i like to think of it as realistic. I do not live in the Land of Make-Believe like so many other St. John's fans do, albeit, it isnt as bad as the Norm era.
I never once said anything about the ACC being the best conference in basketball, in fact, none of the conferences this year came close to what the old Big East was before realignment.

Define "being good top to bottom". I hope this season for the Big East doesnt fit that description, because no team made it out of the first weekend of the Tournament. Nova won 29 games and was manhandled by UConn. Baylor embarrassed Creighton. Xavier was a no-show in the play in game and our Tournament champion got an 11-Seed in the NCAAs. That is a poor showing if you ask me. And also placing SJU and GT into the NIT means zilch to the conference too. More lipstick on the pig. And you are correct that "good" teams make the sweet 16, despite their conference affiliation, but you also cannot argue that the high majority of Sweet 16 teams over the last 30 years have come from the "high major" conferences. For every VCU and Gonzaga and George Mason, you have 10 Big Boys advancing. And this year Dayton was the only non football school in the Sweet 16.

In the early days of the Big East, the NCAA field was not as large as it was now - I believe it was 48 teams, so having three or four teams teams represent the league well in the NCAA's then was different because the field was smaller. Also, the old Big East had the Ewing/Mullin/Pickney freshmen class - if we were ever lucky enough to get players that good, they would stay four years to help us establish our footing in the landscape of college bball. By the time those guys were seniors we had three teams in the Final 4. The greatest showing for a conference...EVER in the NCAA's.

Replacing rivalries with UConn , Pitt and Syracuse with Creighton, Xavier and Butler have all but put the nail in the coffin for the Big East. If you disagree with me, then just look at the Big East Tournament at MSG this year. Every other year before this year, the Garden was sold-out on the day of the Quarters & Semis...and we had about 12,000 this year for our game on Thursday with Providence which was really a play in game. The juice isnt there anymore. The combination of good Catholic programs plus good football programs is what made the Big East great. Entering next year, there is no way anyone can argue that this conference as good as the A-10.

I will repeat we have 1 (one) top 25 team and another team that is around # 40. 2 (Two) Top 40 teams makes this a mid-major league next season. That means that we are looking at placing two teams into next season's field of 68. I am also a huge believer that the deal we have with Fox Sports 1 is debilitating for us because there is only one ESPN - PLUS we dont get weekend games on CBS either!!!!

No one wishes the Big East is a success more than me (and my dad) and we would love to see us be able to "stick it to" the BCS conferences, but if what we have seen so far is a sign of things to come, we are in enormous trouble.

Youre welcome for my "positivity"

I appreciate your frankness but dwelling in the past glory of the Big East is self defeating. It was a conference created for basketball and destroyed by the $$ seeking football members. The only reason it struggled in its first year is because Georgetown, Marquette and your favorite team struggled. You are equating high-major with football Hit but college basketball is a different animal so no need to pollute an otherwise good analysis. By your definition your dad's favorite coach is king in a mid-major basketball conference. Over the past 10 years or more the SEC has been about Kentucky and Florida. Before Billy Donovan it was basically UK. It is a conference swimming in football money yet only two teams are ever candidates for the sweet 16 and ironically the team that keeps the SEC relevant in basketball sucks at football.
Now, if you want to create a super duper high major basketball conference, merge the best 6 A10 teams with the new Big East and you have a pure basketball conference unspoiled by BCS wannabes.

2014 NCAA Tournament records:
Big East 2-4
SEC 12-3 and two Final 4 teams.
The mid major league St John's plays in can only dream of going 12-3 in the Tournament.

 

[ras]

Regrettably, if the BE wasn't dismantled, we would have had another national champ.

 

[Class of 72]

The days of the Big East being a "high major" are over.
That's the dose of reality a lot of you don't want to hear.
Look at the pre-season polls- Villanova is the only top 25 team. GTown cracks the top-40.
The two best players from the conference last year (Doug McD & Cotton) are gone. Xavier lost their two top scorers.
I do not subscribe to the idea that "great recruiting classes" for Seton Hall Georgetown and Xavier will be sufficient enough to make this conference relevant in 14-15. Unless the freshmen are like the Kentucky players, Parker, Wiggins, Kevin Durrant when he was at Texas....then it will be a lot of the same mediocre basketball we got to watch on FS1 all season this year.
Maybe Villanova will get a good draw in the NCAAs and make a regional final, or maybe a team like Georgetown or Marquette can string together a few wins, but the days of us placing 5 teams in the Sweet 16 and 3 or 4 legit National Title Contenders are over....
Dave Gavitt is turning over in his grave.

Nice to see the old "positive thinking" Hit back! So now we will be a failure if we are not a "high major" conference, whatever that is! :dry:
The days of most conferences placing 5 teams in the sweet 16 may be over. This year only the Big came close. The ACC, the self-described best conference that money could buy (from the Big East) had One, UNO, 1 team in the sweet 16. No UNC, Duke, Syracuse. However, there were basketball powerhouses with long college basketball traditions like San Diego State, Iowa State and Baylor there. Dayton was there as was Stanford. Good basketball teams make it to the sweet 16 not high major conference affiliation. The SEC regularly places just 2 teams, UK and Florida with this year being an exception with Tenn. The conference that won it ALL was the AAC, a "new" conference, like the new Big East.
The early years of the Big East were just average but a couple of teams kept it high profile. That can happen in any conference like the UNLV days or the A10 this year. As for strenght of conference, for a new conference, I would check the rankings out if I were you. Being good, top to bottom, is better than just following UK and Florida in the "high major" SEC.
Thanks for your positivity, as usual.

You can call me "positive thinking" HTGS, i like to think of it as realistic. I do not live in the Land of Make-Believe like so many other St. John's fans do, albeit, it isnt as bad as the Norm era.
I never once said anything about the ACC being the best conference in basketball, in fact, none of the conferences this year came close to what the old Big East was before realignment.

Define "being good top to bottom". I hope this season for the Big East doesnt fit that description, because no team made it out of the first weekend of the Tournament. Nova won 29 games and was manhandled by UConn. Baylor embarrassed Creighton. Xavier was a no-show in the play in game and our Tournament champion got an 11-Seed in the NCAAs. That is a poor showing if you ask me. And also placing SJU and GT into the NIT means zilch to the conference too. More lipstick on the pig. And you are correct that "good" teams make the sweet 16, despite their conference affiliation, but you also cannot argue that the high majority of Sweet 16 teams over the last 30 years have come from the "high major" conferences. For every VCU and Gonzaga and George Mason, you have 10 Big Boys advancing. And this year Dayton was the only non football school in the Sweet 16.

In the early days of the Big East, the NCAA field was not as large as it was now - I believe it was 48 teams, so having three or four teams teams represent the league well in the NCAA's then was different because the field was smaller. Also, the old Big East had the Ewing/Mullin/Pickney freshmen class - if we were ever lucky enough to get players that good, they would stay four years to help us establish our footing in the landscape of college bball. By the time those guys were seniors we had three teams in the Final 4. The greatest showing for a conference...EVER in the NCAA's.

Replacing rivalries with UConn , Pitt and Syracuse with Creighton, Xavier and Butler have all but put the nail in the coffin for the Big East. If you disagree with me, then just look at the Big East Tournament at MSG this year. Every other year before this year, the Garden was sold-out on the day of the Quarters & Semis...and we had about 12,000 this year for our game on Thursday with Providence which was really a play in game. The juice isnt there anymore. The combination of good Catholic programs plus good football programs is what made the Big East great. Entering next year, there is no way anyone can argue that this conference as good as the A-10.

I will repeat we have 1 (one) top 25 team and another team that is around # 40. 2 (Two) Top 40 teams makes this a mid-major league next season. That means that we are looking at placing two teams into next season's field of 68. I am also a huge believer that the deal we have with Fox Sports 1 is debilitating for us because there is only one ESPN - PLUS we dont get weekend games on CBS either!!!!

No one wishes the Big East is a success more than me (and my dad) and we would love to see us be able to "stick it to" the BCS conferences, but if what we have seen so far is a sign of things to come, we are in enormous trouble.

Youre welcome for my "positivity"

I appreciate your frankness but dwelling in the past glory of the Big East is self defeating. It was a conference created for basketball and destroyed by the $$ seeking football members. The only reason it struggled in its first year is because Georgetown, Marquette and your favorite team struggled. You are equating high-major with football Hit but college basketball is a different animal so no need to pollute an otherwise good analysis. By your definition your dad's favorite coach is king in a mid-major basketball conference. Over the past 10 years or more the SEC has been about Kentucky and Florida. Before Billy Donovan it was basically UK. It is a conference swimming in football money yet only two teams are ever candidates for the sweet 16 and ironically the team that keeps the SEC relevant in basketball sucks at football.
Now, if you want to create a super duper high major basketball conference, merge the best 6 A10 teams with the new Big East and you have a pure basketball conference unspoiled by BCS wannabes.

2014 NCAA Tournament records:
Big East 2-4
SEC 12-3 and two Final 4 teams.
The mid major league St John's plays in can only dream of going 12-3 in the Tournament.

the SEC you mention is Kentucky and Florida but thanks for evading the question. the mid major that you are back to hate on and that sucked according to you sent 4 teams to the dance while the SEC sent 3. Nothing like a realist to manufacture fantasy. None of us is happy with the way the past year turned out but my point was I agree the conference underperformed but I dread to think what the SEC would be in your evaluation standard if Cal leaves. They are a 2 team league with 14 members. Look to the future Avon or whomever you choose to be here. I am a St. John's fan and would follow them if they were in the MAAC but some realists here still dream of us equated to Kentucky. If you live in the past life of the Big East you may as well go back 11 years to the Jarhead era when the walls came tumbling down.

 

[Andrew]

My hope for St. John's is to become a hot school like Gonzaga has been. I don't think the conference prevents that.

 

[ras]

Look at Wichita st.

 

[dee]

The days of the Big East being a "high major" are over.
That's the dose of reality a lot of you don't want to hear.
Look at the pre-season polls- Villanova is the only top 25 team. GTown cracks the top-40.
The two best players from the conference last year (Doug McD & Cotton) are gone. Xavier lost their two top scorers.
I do not subscribe to the idea that "great recruiting classes" for Seton Hall Georgetown and Xavier will be sufficient enough to make this conference relevant in 14-15. Unless the freshmen are like the Kentucky players, Parker, Wiggins, Kevin Durrant when he was at Texas....then it will be a lot of the same mediocre basketball we got to watch on FS1 all season this year.
Maybe Villanova will get a good draw in the NCAAs and make a regional final, or maybe a team like Georgetown or Marquette can string together a few wins, but the days of us placing 5 teams in the Sweet 16 and 3 or 4 legit National Title Contenders are over....
Dave Gavitt is turning over in his grave.

Nice to see the old "positive thinking" Hit back! So now we will be a failure if we are not a "high major" conference, whatever that is! :dry:
The days of most conferences placing 5 teams in the sweet 16 may be over. This year only the Big came close. The ACC, the self-described best conference that money could buy (from the Big East) had One, UNO, 1 team in the sweet 16. No UNC, Duke, Syracuse. However, there were basketball powerhouses with long college basketball traditions like San Diego State, Iowa State and Baylor there. Dayton was there as was Stanford. Good basketball teams make it to the sweet 16 not high major conference affiliation. The SEC regularly places just 2 teams, UK and Florida with this year being an exception with Tenn. The conference that won it ALL was the AAC, a "new" conference, like the new Big East.
The early years of the Big East were just average but a couple of teams kept it high profile. That can happen in any conference like the UNLV days or the A10 this year. As for strenght of conference, for a new conference, I would check the rankings out if I were you. Being good, top to bottom, is better than just following UK and Florida in the "high major" SEC.
Thanks for your positivity, as usual.

You can call me "positive thinking" HTGS, i like to think of it as realistic. I do not live in the Land of Make-Believe like so many other St. John's fans do, albeit, it isnt as bad as the Norm era.
I never once said anything about the ACC being the best conference in basketball, in fact, none of the conferences this year came close to what the old Big East was before realignment.

Define "being good top to bottom". I hope this season for the Big East doesnt fit that description, because no team made it out of the first weekend of the Tournament. Nova won 29 games and was manhandled by UConn. Baylor embarrassed Creighton. Xavier was a no-show in the play in game and our Tournament champion got an 11-Seed in the NCAAs. That is a poor showing if you ask me. And also placing SJU and GT into the NIT means zilch to the conference too. More lipstick on the pig. And you are correct that "good" teams make the sweet 16, despite their conference affiliation, but you also cannot argue that the high majority of Sweet 16 teams over the last 30 years have come from the "high major" conferences. For every VCU and Gonzaga and George Mason, you have 10 Big Boys advancing. And this year Dayton was the only non football school in the Sweet 16.

In the early days of the Big East, the NCAA field was not as large as it was now - I believe it was 48 teams, so having three or four teams teams represent the league well in the NCAA's then was different because the field was smaller. Also, the old Big East had the Ewing/Mullin/Pickney freshmen class - if we were ever lucky enough to get players that good, they would stay four years to help us establish our footing in the landscape of college bball. By the time those guys were seniors we had three teams in the Final 4. The greatest showing for a conference...EVER in the NCAA's.

Replacing rivalries with UConn , Pitt and Syracuse with Creighton, Xavier and Butler have all but put the nail in the coffin for the Big East. If you disagree with me, then just look at the Big East Tournament at MSG this year. Every other year before this year, the Garden was sold-out on the day of the Quarters & Semis...and we had about 12,000 this year for our game on Thursday with Providence which was really a play in game. The juice isnt there anymore. The combination of good Catholic programs plus good football programs is what made the Big East great. Entering next year, there is no way anyone can argue that this conference as good as the A-10.

I will repeat we have 1 (one) top 25 team and another team that is around # 40. 2 (Two) Top 40 teams makes this a mid-major league next season. That means that we are looking at placing two teams into next season's field of 68. I am also a huge believer that the deal we have with Fox Sports 1 is debilitating for us because there is only one ESPN - PLUS we dont get weekend games on CBS either!!!!

No one wishes the Big East is a success more than me (and my dad) and we would love to see us be able to "stick it to" the BCS conferences, but if what we have seen so far is a sign of things to come, we are in enormous trouble.

Youre welcome for my "positivity"

I appreciate your frankness but dwelling in the past glory of the Big East is self defeating. It was a conference created for basketball and destroyed by the $$ seeking football members. The only reason it struggled in its first year is because Georgetown, Marquette and your favorite team struggled. You are equating high-major with football Hit but college basketball is a different animal so no need to pollute an otherwise good analysis. By your definition your dad's favorite coach is king in a mid-major basketball conference. Over the past 10 years or more the SEC has been about Kentucky and Florida. Before Billy Donovan it was basically UK. It is a conference swimming in football money yet only two teams are ever candidates for the sweet 16 and ironically the team that keeps the SEC relevant in basketball sucks at football.
Now, if you want to create a super duper high major basketball conference, merge the best 6 A10 teams with the new Big East and you have a pure basketball conference unspoiled by BCS wannabes.

2014 NCAA Tournament records:
Big East 2-4
SEC 12-3 and two Final 4 teams.
The mid major league St John's plays in can only dream of going 12-3 in the Tournament.

The SEC was rated a very weak conference this year. Kentucky got hot at the end of the year.