Media Updates

UPDATED
Just a few quick links before things kick off tomorrow night.

Basketball Prospectus previews the conference tourneys for the Big East, as well as Conference USA, Mountain West, Atlantic 10, and the Pac-10. Marquette is given a 90% chance of beating Seton Hall and a 56% chance of making it to the semi's. Our odds of winning the whole tournament? 15%! Pomeroy also says:

I believe Marquette would be the first team to go 4-0 in two different conference tourneys if they were to pull this off. Back in '97, they won the CUSA Tourney by winning four games in four days.

Dwyane Wade's season is over. If you didn't catch it this morning, Steve Novak was also on the front of espn.com.

The JSOnline Weekly Marquette Report (still not calling it Golden Eagles) covers who is Hot and who is Not

Rosiak's preview calls Seton Hall a good matchup, and discusses how our current draw in the Big EAST tournament is favorable. Concerned about winning three times in one season against an opponent? According to Spiral97 at MUScoop.com, in 2007 a team that won the first two games ended up winning 71.4% of the time.

The Journal-Sentinel also published their All-State Starting Five CB Team, and Dominic James was left off of the list. Michael Flowers was named Player of the Year, so good for him. Frankly, I really can't quibble with Dominic James being left off the list. He finished third in cumulative net points for Marquette at 81.2 pts, just behind Lazar Hayward (82.8 pts) and Jerel McNeal (98.0 points). However, I do have to wonder how much of this is due to the fact that James has had two highly criticized games in the last week. Is this just an example of recency bias?

Former Marquette recruiting target Frank Ben-Eze has decommitted from Harvard, according to the NY Times. Although, Marquette is already one player over the signing limit, there is a good chance we'll see him more in the future. Connecticut, Boston College, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, DePaul and Rutgers have already inquired about Ben-Eze's availability.

The Bracket Project, an aggregation of NCAA seeding prognostications, has MU listed as a 6 seed right now.

Finally, The Big East Basketball Report posted its annual post-season bloggers' all conference selections. Click here to check it out.

Here's a look at the 2007-2008 Cracked Sidewalks All-Big East ballot:

Big East POY
Luke Harangody: toughest player in the Big East

FIRST TEAM
Roy Hibbert .... best player on the best team in the league
Donte Greene .... high energy, productive player
AJ Price ... finally arrives as the player many expected to see years ago
Kyle McAlarney ...... exceptional bounce back season
Terrence Williams ..... best all-around player in the league

SECOND TEAM
Jerel McNeal .... one of the league's best disruptors
Dominic James ... played through injury and turned in a productive season
Kentrell Gransberry .... a beast on the blocks
Deonta Vaughn ... key to the surprising Bearcats
Jeff Adrien .... an absolute load for the Huskies

THIRD TEAM
Sam Young ..... versatile forward led the Panthers
David Padgett .... Ville's most vital player?
Jerry Smith ..... solid all-around performer
Jonathan Wallace .... under-appreciated talent
Scottie Reynolds .... somewhat of a sophomore slump but still among the best

Big East Freshman of the Year
Dante Greene

All-Freshman FIRST TEAM
Jonny Flynn
Dominique Jones
DaJuan Blair
Mac Koshwal
Dar Tucker

All-Freshman SECOND TEAM
Austin Freeman
Justin Burrell
Mike Coburn
Antonio Pena
Corey Fisher

Coach of the Year
John Thompson

Defensive Player of the Year
Hasheem Thabeet

Most Improved Player
Sam Young

2007-2008 pre-season Big East picks

The Big East Basketball Report is once again polling all Big East bloggers for their annual Big East pre-season predictions. Look for the Big East Basketball Report to post the aggregated prognostications later this week.

With that in mind, here is the Cracked Sidewalks pre-season ballot for the 2007-2008 Big East season:

Team Rankings:
1. Georgetown (still the league's best)
2. Louisville (No Palacios, no problem. T-Will to the rescue)
3. Marquette (nation's deepest backcourt hopes Hayward emerges as frontcourt star)
4. Providence (veteran roster will push PC into the first division)
5. Notre Dame (McAlarney & Jackson form a dynamic backcourt duo)
6. Villanova (Wright has more high-ceiling guards than ever)
7. West Virginia (Huggins gets this experienced team into the NCAAs)
8. Syracuse (the loss of Watkins, Nichols & Roberts outweighs huge talent influx)
9. UConn (no idea what to make of this bunch)
10. Pittsburgh (huge graduation losses and new style of play makes them a wildcard)
11. Seton Hall (upside potential with Laing and Harvey)
12. Cincinnati (Vaughn is the best guard nobody talks about)
13. DePaul (fantastic talent influx, but will it be enough to replace big losses?)
14. South Florida (Heath will get it done here, but not yet)
15. Rutgers (two years away, solid foundation emerging)
16. St. John's (Norm Roberts' final season in Queens?)

Preseason Player of the Year:
Roy Hibbert, Georgetown

First Team All-Big East:
Terrence Williams, Louisville - F
Dominic James, Marquette - G
Scottie Reynolds,Villanova - G
Jonathan Wallace, Georgetown - G
Kentrell Gransberry, South Florida - C

Second Team All-Big East:
DaJuan Summers, Georgetown - F
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame - F
Wesley Matthews, Marquette - G/F
Jerel McNeal, Marquette - G
Geoff McDermott, Providence- F

Third Team All-Big East:
Eric Devendorf, Syracuse - G
Edgar Sosa, Louisville - G
Jeff Adrien, UConn - F
Deonta Vaughn, Cincy - G
Brian Laing, Seton Hall - F

Preseason Freshman of the Year:
Mac Koshwal, DePaul- C

Freshman First Team All-Conference:
Donte Greene, Syracuse- F
Corey Stokes, Villanova- G
Corey Fisher, Villanova- G
Dar Tucker, DePaul- F
Johnny Flynn, Syracuse- G

Freshman Second Team All-Conference:
DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh- C
Austin Freeman, Georgetown- G
Alvin Mitchell, Cincy - G
Tyrone Nash, Notre Dame - G/F
Jeremy Hazell, Seton Hall- G


A few parting thoughts.....
There is essentially no difference between teams #4 - #10 in the poll above -- the league is remarkably balanced and it would not surprise me to see any one of those seven teams deliver an upside surprise this season. Syracuse in particular should be fun to watch -- loads of young, athletic talent that could vault the 'Cuse into the top tier of the league. Some might think that having both PC and ND in the top five is a reach -- maybe so, but I gave the nod to these squads based on experience. I can't believe a Jamie Dixon coached team could finish 10th. Of course, if not Pitt, who --- UConn, West Virginia? The league remains loaded.

Finally, choosing All-Big East teams is nearly an exercise in futility........the league is just so deep, inevitably very talented players are left off of any list. For example Darris Nichols, Jerome Dyson, Doug Wiggins, Hasheem Thabeet, Sharaud Curry, Randall Hanke, David Padgett, Anthony Mason Jr, Eugene Harvey, Levance Fields, Mike Cook, Rob Kurz, Da'Sean Butler, and J.R. Inman are just some of the additional players deserving of league-wide notoriety.

What. A. League.

2006-2007 All Big East Selections

Later today the Big East Basketball Report will unveil the online community's All Big East selections.

Below are are the selections submitted by the Cracked Sidewalks team. As you'll see below -- this league is so darn big and deep with talent that its difficult to avoid overlooking a talented player or two.

For example, Terrance Williams of Louisville probably deserved a nod but he was terrible in two games against MU this year which didnt help his candidacy. Wesley Matthews. Well, the league is just incredibly deep. Brian Laing from SHU -- nobody improved more year to year, but he just missed the cut. Anyway, take a look.

Big East Player of the Year – Jeff Green, GU (best player on the league's best team)

First Team

• Demetris Nichols, Syracuse (senior stepped up his game in conferene play)
• Herbert Hill, Providence (led league in scoring and rebounding for much of the season)
• Aaron Gray, Pittsburgh (Mr Double Double)
• Colin Falls , Notre Dame (efficient, productive senior season for Big East's top shooter)
• Jerel McNeal, Marquette (sadly underrated by many. Raised his game in Big East play)

Second Team

• Curtis Sumpter, Villanova (5th year senior was Nova's best player)
• McHugh Mattis, USF (breakout season for Bulls' strongman)
• Roy Hibbert, Georgetown (topped the league in FG%)
• Scottie Reynolds, Villanova (2006-2007 version of Dominic James, the freshman)
• Dominic James, Marquette (despite shooting woes, was a force)

Third Team

• Wilson Chandler, DePaul (consistent performer for Paul Gleason)
• Jeff Adrien, UConn (toughest player in the Big East)
• Sharaud Curry, PC (breakout season for the talented soph)
• Russell Carter, ND (along with fellow senior Falls -- key to Irish surge)
• Kentrell Gransbury, USF (averaged a double-double)

Defensive POY -- Morris McHugh, USF (big on the backboards -- tremendous rejector)
Coach of the Year -- Mike Bray, ND (Irish picked 11th preseason -- finish in 4th despite losing a key starter)

Big East Freshman of the Year - Scottie Reynolds, Villanova

First Team All-Freshmen

• Luke Harangody, ND
• Da'Sean Butler, WVU
• Eugene Harvey, SHU
• Jerome Dyson, UConn
• Paul Harris, Syracuse

Second Team All-Freshmen

• Stanley Robinson, UConn
• Lazar Hayward, MU
• Edgar Sosa, Louisville
• Derrick Caracter, Louisville
• Solomon Bozeman, USF