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I have started to see some Twitter posts projecting the BE for next season so I thought it was time to start to chatter. With rosters being finalized by middle of next month here is my take.

1) Marquette- Return the BE POY and a lot more from a roster that won the BE regular season and BE Championship. With Kolek stirring the drink and 8 of their top 9 scorers back they are no-brainer pick.

2) Uconn- What a dominate run to the National Championship by Uconn. They do lose a lot in Sanogo, Hawkins, and Andre Jackson, but they have the pieces to challenge for the league with the remaining core, and by far the best recruiting class in the Big East. I expect Newton and Clingan to lead and challenge for all Big East first team selections.

3) Creighton- What a finish to last season after a non-conference that was disappointing, Kalkbrenner being out was a big reason. Still they bring back their top three scorers from a 24 win team that was so close to a Final Four. Adding Ashworth is a big addition. With Kaluma and Nembhard leaving they will need the non-conference to get their feet set. I expect Mason Miller to make a jump and transfer Jonathan Lawson should provide some versatility.

4) Villanova- Kyle Neptune definitely had a tough first year on the main line as head coach, but I believe next year he will get his footing. Justin Moore and Eric Dixon are a very strong 1-2 punch. Add in portal additions of TJ Bamba, Tyler Burton, Hakim Hart, and Lance Ware and you have positionless basketball to the T. The key for next season will be the development of Mark Armstrong; he will be the barometer for how good Nova can be next season.

5) St Johns- Two words, Rick Pitino. The roster is a patchwork quilt, but if there is a coach that piece it together and maximize talent it is Pitino. Also adding top 20 freshman PG Simeon Wilcher doesn't hurt either. I'm looking forward to how this all unfolds as Rick has put together a older roster with firepower.

6) Providence- Kim English did a great job of keeping the roster intact while building momentum for the future in the offseason. Bryce Hopkins really proved to be a handful last season, and I expect he will challenge for BE POY. With Hopkins, Carter, Oduro, and Jusytn Fernandez leading the way they have a shot to make the top 3. Development of point guard play, and the impact of ultra athletic freshman Garwaey Dual will be interesting to watch. Also very interested in Kim English's style of play after watching Cooley ball in Providence for so long.

7) Xavier- Sean Miller loses Souley Boum, Colby Jones, Jack Nunge, and Adam Kunkel from a roster that played 7 guys at the end of the season. It will be a tall order to challenge for a BE title in year two of his return to Victory Parkway, but he has retained key player and has done very well in the portal. He brings in two 2nd Team CUSA players in PG Dayvion McKnight and former Rice all time three point leader Quincy Olivari. Desmond Claude, Zach Freemantle, and Jerome Hunter will lead the way. One freshman to keep an eye for X is Trey Green, he has star potential with his elite shot making.

8) Georgetown- Cooley is an excellent coach, and has done a good job in the portal and on the recruiting front. I think he is a top 4 coach in the conference, but I don't think he is going to have all the pieces he needs to make it to the NCAA tournament and challenge for the top 5 in the Big East. His roster has a lot of good pieces, but not dudes that have every led a team or have been the guy. He will however have Georgetown competitive and a tough out each night.

9) Butler- Thad Matta has been busy this offseason in the portal. Landing a backcourt of Posh Alexander and DJ Davis is going to give him a very good chance to prove some doubters wrong. Landon Moore, Jahmyl Telfort and Pierre Brooks are all talent upgrades from a roster standpoint. This Butler team is going to be really physical this season. I expect a hardnosed, tough, and gritty basketball back at Butler next season.

10)Seton Hall- The offseason and recruiting has been kind of blah for the Pirates. Dylan Addae-Wusu is a solid piece but this roster is in flux right now, with not a huge amount of talent from a middle of the pack team from last season. Kadary Richmond is going to carry a lot of weight, and he is capable, but I don't see enough talent to put the Hall in the top or middle of the league.

11) DePaul- Tony Stubblefield has done a solid job at DePaul, but has yet to get it going in Chicago. He loses a lot from a roster that won 4 games in the Big East last season, and also lost 13 of their last 14 games. DePaul is always close and competitive, but this is where they should be placed.

That's as good a guess as any.
My order of finish, with questions for the year ahead:
1. Nova: Is Neptune going to do better this year with maybe the league's best roster? I'm betting yes. I think he struggled with coaching Whitmore and this becomes his team.
2. Marquette: Is the loss of O-Max bigger than expected? He was a tough matchup, and I'm betting yes.
3. Creighton: Will the transfers in make up for the transfers out? I'm betting it's a wash, with improvement on offense but a big step back on defense.
4, Will Clingon's development and the touted recruiting class overcome the loss of Sanogo, Jackson and Jackson? I'm betting no.
5. PC: Can the Friahs overcome the loss of Cooley? I'm betting yes for this season, with Hopkins, Carter and Co. playing with a chip on their shoulder bigger than the one Cooley would have created.
6. X: Can the Muskies score enough to win? I'm betting just barely, with Miller ratcheting up the defense to compensate for what might be an anemic offense.
7. StJ: Can 70-year-old Pitino completely flip a roster and get the Johnnies to the tournament? I'm betting no, unless he has them playing well enough at the end to win the BET.
8-9 Georgetown and Butler: Can their proven coaches find a way to catch lightning in a bottle and move up? I'm betting no, although Ed is more likely with the talent on his roster.
10. Seton Hall: Can the Pirates score enough to win? I'm betting no, the roster needs a couple more scorers.
11. DePaul: Can the Demons get out of last place? I'm betting no. I like Stubblefield, but that roster is uninspiring.

creighton should have a more reliable bench. It pains me to say that considering what we went through last year, but I think there are some differences in personnel and schedule difficulty that will have a noticeable impact on our bench development. Farabello returns to a familiar system. Lawson played a small but not-exclusively-garbage role for Memphis last year. Whichever 4-man comes off the bench -- be it RS soph. Isaac Traudt or Mason Miller -- will be better than last year's Mason Miller. King comes back with a year of experience.

Tacking onto one of the points above -- the most interesting preseason storyline with this CU team will be the allocation of minutes at the 4 spot. Mac typically trusts the more experienced player, so lots of us are penciling Miller into the starting lineup. But, others expect Traudt to make things interesting with his combination of size, mobility, and skill.

I see the first three teams as basically interchangeable (Creighton, Marquette, UCONN). Marquette is my guess at reg. season conference champion with all the experience they return, Creighton will be right there too. UCONN relying on its youth may lead to some growing pains.

My Bold Prediction as a Xavier Basketball Homer

1) Xavier
2)-10) teams not named Xavier or DePaul
11) DePaul

pki1998 wrote:My Bold Prediction as a Xavier Basketball Homer

1) Xavier
2)-10) teams not named Xavier or DePaul
11) DePaul

Lets see if Miller can land Mulcahy.

How can anyone not pick Marquette as the preseason favorite?

Should be another good year for the BEAST, with virtually every major early top 25 poll having Marquette and Creighton in the top 6, plus UConn around #10. Villanova is being touted as a #15-20 team in several polls. In addition, St. Johns and Georgetown may have finally got it right on coaching hires and have seemingly good transfer groups. Xavier has some pretty intriguing transfers, and a top 25 Freshman class to boot. The Providence core with Hopkins is back. FWIW, my early pics:
Top 3 - Marquette, Creighton, and UConn (in that order for now)
Next 3 - Villanova, Xavier, Providence (also in that order)
BIG gap back to:
Next 3 - St. John's, Georgetown, Butler (no particular order)
Bottom 2 - Seton Hall, DePaul (and in that order)

Why can't a Chicago team recruit and keep good players? Tons of local talent, you'd think they could get some.

Just look at the payroll and figure it out. Not very hard in college sports anymore.

Hard to predict without seeing the pieces playing a few games together. But I get it...offseason, have to talk about something.

1. Marq. - Top 5 team in the nation IMO.
2. Creighton - Think Alexander is potential POY in conference
3. Nova - Moore back closer to 100%, lots of talent. Kyle needs to coach them up.
4. UConn - Anyone else thinking that losing their top 3 players and 3 of the top dozen or so in the entire league will have a HUGE effect on the Huskies? LMK the last time a Frosh stepped in and was an all-league player. Especially with the age of some of these teams, this is a man's league. I just don't see some of those young guys providing anywhere near what they lost. And remember didn't this team finish like tied for 4th in the standings last year? Clingan looks solid but watch coaches isolate the crap out of him on the perimeter.
5. PC - Pretty solid core there. Might surprise some people.
6. SJU - Ricky P wins. He does it with the kind of sleaze that gets old (like him). So his window there might be short. Think this is a tourney team.
7. X - Could be 3rd, could be 7th. Welcome to the Big East. Lots to replace but Miller will have them ready.
8. G'town - NOT a tourney team IMO. Tallest midget (are we allowed to say that anymore?)
9. SHU - Not a huge offseason. Maybe a "have not" with NIL?
10. Butler - The Butler Way has lost its way as of late. Hoping Thad can get them back up.
11. DePaul - Rinse, repeat.

Fellas,

God Day to all. I have missed you.

My 2023-24 predictions are out. Rothstein looks highly accurate this season.

https://bluenotes2.com/2023/08/15/16th- ... 4-edition/

https://twitter.com/gtmoBlue/status/169 ... 13761?s=20

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Bluenotes 2023-24 Big East/Creighton Basketball Predictions are out.
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All the Best... gtmoBlue