Georgetown
Reason for optimism: Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert comprise the conference's best frontcourt.
What worries us: Do the Hoyas have enough shooters to open up room for backdoor cuts?
Bottom line: They won't dominate, but they'll be consistent enough to top a parity-laden league.,”
In it to win it
Georgetown
Reason for optimism: Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert comprise the conference's best frontcourt.
What worries us: Do the Hoyas have enough shooters to open up room for backdoor cuts?
Bottom line: They won't dominate, but they'll be consistent enough to top a parity-laden league.
Pittsburgh
Reason for optimism: The Panthers can go nine deep, and transfer G Mike Cook cancels out the loss of Carl Krauser.
What worries us: Do you really trust C Aaron Gray to come through in a clutch situation?
Bottom line: This may be the program's long-awaited breakthrough season on the national level.
Syracuse
Reason for optimism: The only new starter will be freshman G Paul Harris, the most highly touted Orange recruit since some dude named Carmelo.
What worries us: Gerry McNamara's graduation leaves a void in the heart-and-soul department.
Bottom line: This squad could flop (as it did for most of last year), but in Harris we trust.
Best of the rest
Marquette
Reason for optimism: We hear the backcourt is quite good.
What worries us: For the fourth consecutive season, low-post scoring will be hard to come by.
Bottom line: This might be the most exciting team in the conference.
Connecticut
Reason for optimism: Freshman C Hasheem Thabeet, all 7-3 of him, is eligible to lead an extremely young squad.
What worries us: Losing Williams, Gay, Anderson, Brown, Armstrong and Boone.
Bottom line: One of those classic "uneven in November but deadly by March" teams.
Louisville
Reason for optimism: Even if F Juan Palacios doesn't have his overdue breakout year, the talented freshmen class will assume control.
What worries us: While G Brandon Jenkins soon will be healthy to shore up the backcourt, F David Padgett likely will be out until January.
Bottom line: Head coach Rick Pitino won't need to worry about making a return trip to the NIT.
Villanova
Reason for optimism: F Curtis Sumpter will be game-healthy for the first time since March 2005.
What worries us: Sumpter may not be the same player, and losing three-fourths of the four-guard offense takes the fun out of the Wildcats.
Bottom line: Transition year.
Bubble bound
DePaul
Reason for optimism: G Sammy Mejia will be his usual reliable self, but F Wilson Chandler has a high ceiling.
What worries us: Can Chandler stay out of head coach Jerry Wainwright's doghouse?
Bottom line: The Blue Demons will upset a few Big East powers before the season is over.
St. John's
Reason for optimism: Lamont Hamilton and Anthony Mason, Jr. are primed to have breakout years in the frontcourt.
What worries us: Questions linger about G Daryll Hill's recovery from a knee injury that sidelined him for 11 games last season.
Bottom line: In his third season at the helm, head coach Norm Roberts has a chance at an NCAA berth.
NIT ain't so bad
Notre Dame
Reason for optimism: Despite the loss of Chris Quinn, the backcourt looks strong because sharpshooter Colin Falls can keep the team in most games.
What worries us: Torin Francis' departure crippled the team's depth in the post.
Bottom line: The law of averages says the Irish are due to win a few games at the buzzer, doesn't it?
Providence
Reason for optimism: Sophomores Sharaud Curry and Geoff McDermott form the core of an improving team.
What worries us: C Randall Hanke still is recovering from a broken pinky.
Bottom line: The Friars won't miss out on the Big East tournament again.
Cincinnati
Reason for optimism: All remnants of Bob Huggins' tainted (but prolific) program are gone.
What worries us: A team comprised essentially of JUCO transfers might have chemistry issues.
Bottom line: This is not your older brother's Cincinnati Bearcats.
Seton Hall
Reason for optimism: One day in the future, freshmen Eugene Harvey and Larry Davis will form one of the league's better backcourts.
What worries us: The two leading scorers, who accounted for 46 percent of the offense for last year's unlikely NCAA tournament team, are gone.
Bottom line: A rebuilding year for new coach Bobby Gonzalez.
Umm, no
Rutgers
Reason for optimism: Four starters return from an NIT team, including sophomores JR Inman and Anthony Farmer.
What worries us: The starter who's gone, Quincy Douby, led the team in scoring in all but one game last year.
Bottom line: Like Gonzalez at Seton Hall, new coach Fred Hill will have better seasons than this one.
West Virginia
Reason for optimism: John Beilein is an excellent coach.
What worries us: The core of the three-point gunning squads in 04-'05 and 05-'06 is gone.
Bottom line: If Beilein gets this team into the Big East tournament, he should be the conference Coach of the Year.
South Florida
Reason for optimism: Transfers Jesus Verdejo and Kentrell Gransberry may bring some Big East-caliber talent to the squad.
What worries us: The rest of the team. Oh, and Gransberry isn't eligible until December.
Bottom line: If Robert McCullum gets the Bulls into the Big East tournament, he should be the conference Coach of the Decade.
3 Storylines to Watch
1. Can Villanova's Curtis Sumpter return to pre-injury (knee) form?
2. UConn's A.J. Price will run the point after missing two seasons from a brain hemorrhage and his part in Laptop-gate.
3. Head coach Mick Cronin takes over a bunch of JUCO players and transfers at Cincy.
3 Must-see games:
1. Jan. 13 Georgetown at Pittsburgh: The first of two match-ups between the preseason favorites.
2. Feb. 17 UConn at Syracuse: The Huskies likely will be peaking at this time of the season.
3. March 3 Pittsburgh at Marquette: Dickie V comes to Milwaukee. Can life get any better?
3 Freshmen to Watch:
1. G Paul Harris (Syracuse) – He'll quickly make Orange fans forget about G-Mac
2. C Hasheem Thabeet (UConn) – He's the most intimidating of the Huskies' eight-man freshman class
3. F Derrick Caracter (Louisville) – His weight is down and he scored 25 points in the team's first exhibition game
3 Things to Expect:
1. Pittsburgh will lose at least one game to a conference rival because it doesn't have a last-possession, go-to guy.
2. Led by Wilson Chandler's breakout season, DePaul will be the Big East's eighth NCAA tournament team.
3. The most versatile player in the league, Georgetown's Jeff Green, will take home Big East Player of the Year honors.
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