2009-10 Big East Projections

The Big East will tip off what should be an interesting campaign this Saturday with Bob Huggins and his West Virginia Mountaineers visiting Bobby Gonzalez  and the Seton Hall Pirates at the Prudential Center.

The Mounties are 9-0 after knocking off No. 15 Ole Miss 76-66 on Wednesday, while the Pirates are 9-1 after Tuesday’s 94-56 victory over Navy.

With the games about to begin, here are some pressing questions facing the conference’s teams:

1. Who wins the Big East?

At this point it seems like four teams have established themselves as the class of the conference. Syracuse (12-0), West Virginia (9-0), Villanova (11-1) and Georgetown (9-1) are a combined 41-2…so who wins?

THE PICK: Syracuse. The Orange own the league’s most impressive victory so far, a thrashing of defending NCAA champion North Carolina at Madison Square Garden. With talent inside (Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson) , outside (Scoop Jardine, Brandon Triche and Andy Rautins) and perhaps the league’s most talented player in Wesley Johnson, the Orange are the team to beat.

2. How many teams make the Big Dance?

You figure the above four teams are pretty much a lock to make it, and we’ll throw UConn into that mix as well. Then come a whole bunch of teams in the middle who have a real shot if they can pile up enough wins: Seton Hall (9-1), Notre Dame (11-2), Pitt (10-2), St. John’s (10-2), USF (10-2), Cincinnati (8-3), Louisville (8-3) and Marquette (8-3).

THE PICK: Although it’s early, we’ll say eight teams make it, with four of the teams in the middle group pulling it out. Cincinnati already owns wins over two Top 25 teams in VAnderbilt and Maryland so the Bearcats have already helped their resume. 

3. Who wins Player of the Year?

At this point it looks like a four man race between Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody, Syracuse’s Wesley Johnson, West Virginia’s Da’Sean Butler and Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds.

THE PICK: Harangody would seem like a safe pick considering he’s won it before, has already put up six double-doubles and currently leads the Big East in scoring (24.2 ppg) and ranks fourth in rebounding (9.9). But we’re going to go with Johnson, who’s now averagaing 16.8 points and 9.2 boards and is the best player on the conference’s best team. And keep an eye on Seton Hall’s Herb Pope, who leads the league in boards (11.9) while scoring 14 points a game.

4. Rookie of the Year?

There are some good candidates in this group including Cincinnati’s Lance Stephenson, Georgetown’s Hollis Thompson, Villanova’s Maalik Wayns, Syracuse’s Brandon Triche and UConn’s Alex Oriakhi.

THE PICK: Stephenson leads all rookies in scoring at 12.5 points per game and is his team’s leading scorer. He has won two of the five conference Rookie of the Week honors and seems to be finding his groove as the season moves along.

5. Who’s on the Hot Seat?

DePaul’s Jerry Wainwright, St. John’s Norm Roberts and Rutgers’ Freddie Hill all need to prove to their (anxious) fan-bases that they can get it done this year. Of course, the threshold is different for each coach. Roberts probably needs to make the Big Dance or go deep in the NIT to keep the St. John’s faithful happy, while Hill may need to win at least six Big East games to show improvement from the two the team had a year ago. At DePaul, there’s nowhere to go but up after last year’s winless Big East campaign.

THE PICK FOR BEST CHANCE TO MEET OR EXCEED EXPECTATIONS: At St. John’s, Roberts has a deep and talented roster that has been upgraded with the additions of shooting guard Dwight Hardy and combo forward Justin Brownlee, both JUCO products. The return of Anthony Mason Jr. from a hamstring injury was delayed three weeks, but when he does return he joins a solid core of D.J. Kennedy, Malik Boothe, Paris Horne, Justin Burrell and Sean Evans. This could be the year St. John’s returns to the Big Dance if Roberts can make all this talent jell and find a way to win some key conference games.

(Photo courtesy Syracuse Athletics)

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