Big East

 

We'll be rolling out our annual 144 Teams in 144 Days preview in just a couple weeks.. so it seemed like a good time to throw out my offseason Top 50 picks. With Draft entries settled, we have a clearer look at what is already shaping up to be another wild and exciting season of college basketball!

We're only one day beyond the 2008 National Championship Game.. but its never too early to start thinking about next year's Tournament. Here's an early projection of the 2009 NCAA Tournament field:

What a weekend in college basketball. A plethora of close games. A few Cinderellas trying on their dancing shoes. Buzzer-beaters. Fired-up coaches. Chest-thumping players. And at the end of it all, 48 teams have been sent packing, their championship hopes dashed. The final 16 teams includes two 12 seeds, as well as a 10 and 7 seed...who would've thought? Here's a look back at four days of Madness

What I’m really wondering right now is why I tivoed 30 hours of the NFL Combine in high definition. Naturally, I record anything in HD if it is available, but boy was that a mistake. The only thing worse than watching a 350 pound guy running the 40 in 5.82 seconds is watching a 350 pound guy running the 40 in 5.82 seconds in high definition. Don’t worry, everything else has to do with college basketball in this week’s “Welser Wonders…”

 

Luke Harangody (Notre Dame)

Roy Hibbert (Georgetown)

Hasheem Thabeet (UCONN)

Other (Blair, Gransberry, Padgett, etc)

Georgetown

Someone Else (L'Ville, ND, UCONN, etc)

The names on CHN’s monthly All-Big East lists have been turning over like a drunken point guard running the fast break. The only return member from the All-November team is Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody, who had another Haran-good-y month.

Guard – A.J. Price – Connecticut – JR
14.6ppg, 6.0apg, 4.1rpg
Best game – Jan 8th – St. John’s – 25 points, seven assists, four boards

Following last week's High-Major & Mid-Major rankings, here is the complete 73 team BCS Power Ranking. Obviously a lot of potential NCAA Tournament teams in here, perhaps everyone in the Top 50 has a chance. The SEC is off to a very odd start, no one playing Top 10 basketball, yet its worst teams seem substantially better than the worst of the other leagues.

No one follows the team in the NYC Metropolitan area more than Raphielle Johnson. He previews the 19 local teams and ranks them throughout the season.

 

Click each link for a full preview.

 

 

The Big East is loaded in the early going, with five top-25 teams in the coaches’ poll.  Not surprisingly it is also loaded with talent.  He’s the crème de la crème in the early going.