Big East Basketball Prediction #2

Team of the Week: Connecticut - The Huskies showed that they are a legitimate threat to any team in the country by convincingly trouncing Indiana in Bloomington. Before that, they picked up key conference victories at Cincinnati and over Marquette at home. They have propelled themselves into the top four of the projected standings. Tonight’s game with Louisville looms large and is another test for the Huskies without Dyson and Wiggins. Other climbers: Cincinnati, Villanova, DePaul, Seton Hall, Rutgers

The Biggest Loser: Providence: The Friars had a worse-than-expected start to the season with out-of-conference losses to Miami, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. Then after starting 0-2, we thought they had righted with a road win over Connecticut. But the Friars suffered two bad losses this week, at home to a lowly projected Seton Hall club for that school’s first Big East road win in nearly two seasons, and a road win over Syracuse that while not easy to come by, many expected the Friars to be able to pull off. The tough row to hoe continues this week for Providence at Notre Dame and at home to West Virginia. Other decliners: Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Louisville, Syracuse, South Florida, St. John’s

March Madness Candidates: Fleshing out the predictions is getting harder with each pass, as homecourt advantage seems more favorable than ever, until you throw in an event like Rutgers winning at the Peterson Events Center. Still, we see the top several teams running away from the pack. Hasn’t happened yet, but give it time. With 22 regular season wins before conference tourney play, Georgetown, Pitt, Connecticut, Marquette, Notre Dame, Louisville and WVU would all be considered NCAA locks. There’s no real NCAA bubble teams that could improve their chances with Big East tournament runs, and Villanova and Syracuse look like NIT contenders.

Projected Standings:
1. Georgetown, 15-3 [25-4], LW: 2
2. Pittsburgh, 14-4 [26-5], LW: 1
3. Connecticut, 13-5* [24-7], LW: 6
4. Marquette, 13-5* [24-6], LW: 4

5. Notre Dame, 13-5* [23-7], LW: 3
6. Louisville, 12-6 [22-9], LW: 5
7. West Virginia, 11-7 [22-9], LW: 7
8. Cincinnati, 9-9 [14-16], LW: 9

9. Villanova, 8-10* [19-11], LW: 10
10. Syracuse, 8-10* [18-13], LW: 8
11. DePaul, 7-11 [11-19], LW: 12
12. Seton Hall, 6-12 [16-15], LW: 14

13. Providence, 5-13 [14-16], LW: 11
14. Rutgers, 4-14 [12-19], LW: 16
15. South Florida, 3-15* [12-19], LW: 13
16. St. John’s, 3-15* [9-21], LW: 15

* - Tiebreaker Applied