How the conference lines up (long semi-rant)

What would obviously help is DePaul getting their sh*t together. While the new Big East doesn't have as many heavyweights at top as the old Big East, it's impressive how good the bottom teams are...minus DePaul. Butler, for a "bottom feeder" this year, is really a tough team to beat. It's not like they are South Florida, Temple, Auburn, Mississippi State, Washington State, etc.

Last night during the DePaul game, there was not one mention of the game from any of the multiple national college hoops writers on Twitter, and they were playing the #6 team. Obviously the game wasn't competetive, but DePaul is so irrelevent in hoops it's pathetic. And Ponsetto was getting plenty of camera time sitting behind the table right next to the bench in one of her loud ugly jackets. How in the hell does she still have a job? Their main sport is a joke and the arena is mostly empty. Most other AD's would have been out on their ass a long time ago. IF they push her out and bring in a strong AD to overhaul how they operate, they can start to right the ship.

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Originally Posted by MUBasketball

What would obviously help is DePaul getting their sh*t together. While the new Big East doesn't have as many heavyweights at top as the old Big East, it's impressive how good the bottom teams are...minus DePaul. Butler, for a "bottom feeder" this year, is really a tough team to beat. It's not like they are South Florida, Temple, Auburn, Mississippi State, Washington State, etc.

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The original statement was the league is better this year top to bottom over last year. Not close. We all know the top teams aren't as good as last year.

The bottom teams are the same as in the old Big East. The bottom three teams last season were Seton Hall, South Florida and DePaul. The bottom three teams this year are Seton Hall, Butler, and DePaul.

Butler and South Florida have about the same record this year, so really the bottom teams haven't changed. You could say Seton Hall and DePaul may have improved, but I'm not sure they are really that impressive.

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Originally Posted by Goose85

The original statement was the league is better this year top to bottom over last year. Not close. We all know the top teams aren't as good as last year.

The bottom teams are the same as in the old Big East. The bottom three teams last season were Seton Hall, South Florida and DePaul. The bottom three teams this year are Seton Hall, Butler, and DePaul.

Butler and South Florida have about the same record this year, so really the bottom teams haven't changed. You could say Seton Hall and DePaul may have improved, but I'm not sure they are really that impressive.

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That's actually a good point.

However, I just don't look at Seton Hall and think they are a bad team. When fully healthy, they are pretty talented. So right now, they are considerably better than they were a year ago when they were decimated with injuries for most of the year. That's a pretty solid team Marquette beat on Tuesday night.

Don't get me wrong. I would not rather be in the AAC. It is a football conference with a bunch of teams scattered all over the place, and in order to keep going, they are adding teams like East Carolina and Tulane. But this year, it is probably stronger than the BE. I think one would have a hard time making the argument that the BE is currently a top 4 conference. Close, but not there. All of the Big five football conferences have more quality teams.

But it can be, and that is the plan. I am more interested in what the conference can do going forward. I do not want to go back to the old Big East anymore than I want to re-live last year. That is done. Time to move on. Now, where to, and how best to get there?

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Originally Posted by unclejohn

Don't get me wrong. I would not rather be in the AAC. It is a football conference with a bunch of teams scattered all over the place, and in order to keep going, they are adding teams like East Carolina and Tulane. But this year, it is probably stronger than the BE. I think one would have a hard time making the argument that the BE is currently a top 4 conference. Close, but not there. All of the Big five football conferences have more quality teams.

But it can be, and that is the plan. I am more interested in what the conference can do going forward. I do not want to go back to the old Big East anymore than I want to re-live last year. That is done. Time to move on. Now, where to, and how best to get there?

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The BE is in a good place right now, though injuries, etc. have played a role in lesser BB on-court success this season. BE teams are doing well in terms of recruiting for 2014, so there is a base for a successful league going forward. Successful recruiting and retaining good coaches will obviously be the significant factors going forward regardless of how many teams are in the BE. While I have been a proponent of expansion, perhaps it is best to go slow while the BE builds upon its new/revised brand. In the end, on-court success will dictate.

AAC is not even close to the Big East on the whole. A conference has more then five members, and I believe that the top five members of AAC are getting fat off of a bottom five that is a half-step above the Sun Belt. SMU did nothing of note out of the league, Cincy's lone non-conference win of note was over an overrated Pitt team in a peach basket game, and Louisville's resume is rather bereft. They now have five teams in the rankings because they have all killed the bottom five teams and evenly split the games amongst top teams, so you have lot of shiny records (which lack substance if you closely evaluate them). I think a lot of people writing these articles about how the good the AAC is will be in for a rude awakening come March, when these teams have to face quality opposition away from home.

Uncle John's initial post terribly dismissed an excellent Xavier program, one that has returned back to being an NCAA Tournament level team after one transition year thanks to numerous unlucky incidents (sound familiar). For an easy AAC comparison, they curbstomped Cincy on a neutral court. Prior to 2013, Xavier was an Elite 8 team in 2009, and made the Sweet 16 in 2008, 2010, and 2012.

Even in a downish season, Georgetown has wins over Michigan State, Kansas State, and VCU out of conference (all of them away from home). I actually think that they have a much better tournament resume then most bracketologists believe, and they have built on the big Michigan State win with three more consecutively in the league. I think they make the tournament as long as they split their final six games down the stretch.

Pomeroy has the Big East 3rd best...and the AAC 7th. Did any one watch the UCONN vs. South Florida game? USF is playing like a CYO team. UCF is 1-10 in conference. DePaul would be .500 in the AAC.

Saying the AAC is better than the Big East is ludicrous. They have 5 decent teams. And why are those teams so well-regarded? Because they have gaudy records built on the backs of kicking the tar out of teams that make DePaul look like Duke. If DePaul, the worst team in our league, were in the AAC, they would be the 6th best team.

And let's be honest...who has the AAC beaten? Louisville has beaten one top-50 Pomeroy team outside their league, #43 Southern Miss. Cincy beat #15 Pitt but their losses include our own Xavier. SMU's best non-con win is #77 Wyoming. Memphis beat #29 Oklahoma State back when that meant something. UConn beat #4 Florida, the best win they have. For the most part, the league as a whole hasn't been very impressive outside the conference, beating up bad teams. And in the conference, well, they also beat up bad teams. The only real wins they have is each other, which means...well, not a whole lot since we don't even know that they are that good in the first place.

I don't know what will happen come March, but I don't expect that to be a wildly successful league, and with Louisville leaving at the end of the year it isn't exactly trending upward for the American.