(2) Sunday Big East Games 11/27/16

12:30 - Howard @ Georgetown, FS1 - Brian Curtin, Donny Marshall
Line: Georgetown -19

6:00 - Stanford vs. Seton Hall, ESPNU - Roy Philpott, Brad Daugherty
AdvoCare Invitational 5th place
Line: Seton Hall -4

Hoyas jumped out to a 16-0 lead then struggled to a 13 point win.

Copeland didn't play.

Any idea why not?

Some sort of facial contusion.......although he looked ok on the bench.....;)

Seton Hall had a 10 point lead. Tied at 26 at halftime. Stanford nows lead 37-30 early in the 2nd half.

Seton Hall lost by double digits.......couldn't throw it in the ocean from 3.

From watching all of the relevant teams save Providence, I think I can break down the league with following

Favorites:
Villanova-Missing Omari Spellman hurts their overall ceiling, but they still a legit top 5 team and I expect them to win 14-16 Big East conference games until proven otherwise.

Contenders:

Creighton-Best offense in the conference, and enough defense to where they will simply outscore opponents most nights. Just hope that Marcus Foster watches his shot selection and does not try to dominate the ball/shots. Khyri Thomas is the most improved player in the conference, and will be an all-conference player on his current track.

Xavier-Not as impressive as last year (at least stylistically), but they are still undefeated against a challenging slate and should be in great shape for a protected seed if they win one of their games in the at Baylor, at Colorado, and Utah stretch. The return of Kaiser Gates and potentially Myles Davis will give some needed firepower to complement the current Big Three.

Butler-Outside of Nova, the most consistent team from night to night. They need Woodson and McDermott to hit perimeter shots and not allow teams to sag on Chrabascz and Martin. Might get overpowered on a couple of nights (if say Creighton or Marquette are on from deep), but hard to see them not winning at least 10-11 conference games.

Wild Cards

Marquette-As much offense firepower as anyone save Creighton, but not as good as the Jays on the defensive end (though not quite the atrocity that some in the Marquette community may believe). Expect there to be a roller coaster of results, but in the end probably enough wins to ensure five NCAA bids from the Big East.

Seton Hall-About as expected, the Hall are pretty good on defense but badly miss Isaiah Whitehead's presence on offense (especially when things bog down like they did tonight against Stanford). Need at least one win in their upcoming neutral court games against Cal and South Carolina to feel on track for a tourney bid. Thinking right around .500 in the league and right on the bubble.

Georgetown-Already some crazy highs and hideous lows, but the lack of a floor general means that the Hoyas will struggle to win close games against good teams. Will win a few games solely on talent from the 2-5 spots, but not enough from the point guard position to garner the win total needed for a tourney spot.

Pain in the Ass

Providence-One too many recruiting misses for the Friars to keep their tourney streak going, but Friars are going to make it tough on all of their opponents. At some point, I hope some of these recruits choosing UConn over Providence (Jalen Adams, Makai Ashton-Langford) look at how the coaches develop their players. If you gave Ed Cooley UConn's current roster, they would be top 15 in the country, not the fourth best team from a 2 bid league. Thinking 7-11 in the Big East, and hoping Cooley does not get disheartened and look around in the spring.

Mini Wild Card

St. John's-They will get at least one win over the top four teams and probably take a couple off of the next group of four. The guards (particularly LoVett) need to gain maturity, and they cannot score on the interior, but they are much improved from last year. Their current 100th ranking is the Pomeroys is eerily similar to Marquette's 97th a year ago, and they could make a similar leap as us (currently 43rd in the Pomeroys) a year from now.

Cannon Fodder

DePaul: Two wins max in the league, and in the same decrepit shape as 2008 onwards. The Demons are going to be destroyed on the inside by any competent big man and their guards are not nearly good enough to win games on their own.