2022 Preseason Conference Preview: Big East Conference

[Ezaco]

BIG EAST CONFERENCE

Arguably one of the best conferences in college basketball, and one of the Power Six, the reveal of the Big East comes with high hopes and expectations. Unfortunately, outside of notable bright spots, it falls slightly short of expectations.

 

BUTLER BULLDOGS

Butler is, frankly, all over the map. Christopher Christopher (someone talk to this man's parents) headlines some exceptional shooting, and William Raval will lead this team from the paint. Unfortunately the Bulldogs are plagued by spotty ballhandling skills which will make moving the ball difficult, and poor rebounding which will seem them bullied down low. They have personnel to be interesting, but simply not enough of them.

 

Season prediction: Bubble team

 

:connecticut:CONNECTICUT HUSKIES

UConn wants to be good, they really do. They try. Unfortunately I just don't think they are. They're plagued by a set of Freshmen who aren't quite as good as they should be, and that drags down an already subpar team in terms of talent. So the bad news? The Huskies are young. The good news? The Huskies are young. A sextet of decently talented freshmen and sophomores could very well set up the Huskies for a decent future. The future isn't today, though, and that's what we're talking about. It's going to be a tough season to watch in Storrs, but if they can get through it and continue to develop there's promise.

 

Season prediction: Misses NCAA Tournament

 

CREIGHTON BLUE JAYS

Do not sleep on Creighton. While weak on defense, and a mediocre ballhandling team, the Blue Jays have some very good talent in the 2-point shooting realm, and a decent rebounding cadre. They're not going to shoot the lights out behind the line, but woe be to the team that lets them have freedom in the midrange and in the paint. I don't expect Creighton to go far, but I do expect them to give people fits along the way.

 

Season prediction: NCAA Tournament - Round of 32

 

:Depaul: DEPAUL BLUE DEMONS

Fun Fact: DePaul's Andrea Artis is the tallest player in NCAA basketball. Unfortunate fact: Andrea Artis is not very good at NCAA basketball. In fact, the entire roster for the Blue Demons is not quite very good. Senior Guard Cruz Nunes of Croatia being the lone exception for his shooting and passing prowess. The Blue Demons, though, will be an unfortunate afterthought in a decent conference.

 

Season prediction: Misses NCAA Tournament

 

EVANSVILLE PURPLE ACES

Look Evansville, let's get this out of the way: No one likes you. You're an addition to the conference by virtue of playing in the 2020 season because someone was tickled you beat Kentucky. Okay? You happy now? That all being said... Evansville has some fine players. The Purple Aces are not going to stun the world - though they might stun some teams. John Moore is a great shooting talent, and there are a trio of players down front that are going to block the paint for the upstart team. They're not world beaters, but they could be giant killers, ironically.

 

Season prediction: Bubble team

 

:Georgetown: GEORGETOWNS HOYAS

Five star recruit Harold Brady has been an unfortunate disappointment for the Hoyas thus far in his career. He's a prolific ball shooter and his ballhandling is immaculate, but on defense he becomes a liability - not what you expect or what to see from the nation's top recruits. That sort of disappointment is what I expect from the Hoyas all season. They're highlighted by good shooters and weighed down by poor defensive effort and spotty rebounding. That's extremely upsetting for a roster featuring six seniors.

 

Season prediction: Misses NCAA Tournament

 

 

MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES

Now this... is not a great team. And it's effort and talent like the roster of the Golden Eagles that diminish the reputation of the Big East trying to be the best conference in basketball. Now look, I'm not trying to say they're awful. There are worse teams. Alexander Nugent is a pretty good player. But this isn't a roster constructed to do well or go far, it simply isn't. And when you have three seven footers on the roster, that's simply unacceptable.

 

Season prediction: Misses NCAA Tournament

 

PROVIDENCE FRIARS

Oh Providence. I do so want to be a fan. First of all you have a cool and unique mascot. Second of all you're always there on the edge, keeping big teams on their toes. You might even do the same this year! Sai Sunga and Stephen Raudebaugh are a superb backcourt, as long as they stay in the backcourt. Arnold Oeltjen is potentially one of the best forwards in the country, even if at 6'5" he's undersized. But... where is the defense? Where is the rebounding? There is potential for the Friars, but it's slim. If you catch them on a hot shooting day you're going to be looking in the mirror all night, wondering what happened. If they can't sink the buckets, though, they will be their own worst enemies.

 

Season prediction: NCAA Tournament - Round of 64

 

SETON HALL PIRATES

Call me conferencist, but Seton Hall and Providence always feel the same to me - cool logo, sneaky giant killers. Unfortunately, this season, that's where the similarities end. Stephen Alexander is a very nice player, but he cannot play defense. Justin Brunner is also very good, but a terrible rebounder. In fact the entire Pirates roster is mostly decent-to-bad at just about everything except one thing individually. So... it's not quite cohesive. There's no in-your-face talent or even a group of them. The Pirates are a disjointed, leaderless mess. Hopefully they can right the ship.

 

Season prediction: Misses NCAA Tournament

 

 

ST. JOHN'S RED STORM

Oh... oh my. See just as we were starting to doubt and dismiss the Big East... here comes St. John's. In a word: Scary. Dennis Mitchell may be the best player in America. His teammate, William Smith, has the potential to be the runner up. Everyone else? Absolutely solid. The singular thing that worries me about the Red Storm is their 3 point shooting. Their best are absolute lights out. Their worst are dreadful. Keep the ball in the rights spots with the right people and St. John's is one of the scariest teams in the country right now.

 

Season prediction: NCAA Tournament - Final Four

 

 

VILLANOVA WILDCATS

If anyone is going to stand in St. John's way it's going to be Villanova. Brian Bennett, Antonio Will, and Vaughn Way highlight a team full of a breadth of talent and potential. It's hard to find a weakness for the Wildcats outside of specific and pointed exceptions. They suffer a similar issue of a scarcity of talent behind the 3-point line, but aside from that the Wildcats are another solid, scary team to watch. Okay... maybe the Big East is the best conference in basketball (at the top).

 

Season prediction: NCAA Tournament - Elite 8

 

XAVIER MUSKETEERS

Look someone needs to tell the coach at Xavier that being tall doesn't make you good at basketball. This roster has five seven footers. In fact only three players are 6'4" and under. And offensively the talent lies within their shortest player, the 6' guard David Hajovsky. Defensively the Musketeers are excellent, and there's going to be very few games where they are outrebounded. But basketball is more than stopping the other team and rebounding... you have to score too. And there's not a lot of options for Xavier to do so here.

 

Season prediction: Misses NCAA Tournament

[subsequent]

William Smith, huh? Interesting,...

[BabaYaga]

Will Nova and St. John's thwart some bids for the bubble teams this year?

[Ezaco]

Pick to win conference: Saint John's