Way Too Early - Big East Predictions

[NovaBall]

Tourney Locks

1. Villanova
2. Xavier
3. Seton Hall (with Whitehead. Without Whitehead move down to next tier at either 3 or 4)

Looking to Dance:

4. Marquette
5. Georgetown

In the Conversation

6. Creighton
7. Butler

Rebuilding

8. Providence (if Bentil returns, move to 6th)
9. DePaul
10. St. John's

[kmacker69]

"10. Butler
Lose Rosey Jones and Kellan Dunham (and that Etherington Kid)
Add 4 star Joey Brunk.
They don't have a full roster. 2 of their players are walk-ons. Kelan Martin and Andrew Chrabascz return. That's it. The Bulldogs finish last."

Forgot Wideman, Lewis, Fowler,RS Freshman McDermott, and transfer SG Savage that were already on the roster and also added 2 3 stars in Baldwin and Baddley.

Not finishing last without adding anything else, but keep on dreaming. Solid contribution from a few of the freshman/Fowler and were right up there fighting for 3-7. Next year is going to be a blood bath in the conference schedule and who ever emerges is going to be battle tested for sure!

[JohnW22]

"10. Butler
Lose Rosey Jones and Kellan Dunham (and that Etherington Kid)
Add 4 star Joey Brunk.
They don't have a full roster. 2 of their players are walk-ons. Kelan Martin and Andrew Chrabascz return. That's it. The Bulldogs finish last."

Forgot Wideman, Lewis, Fowler,RS Freshman McDermott, and transfer SG Savage that were already on the roster and also added 2 3 stars in Baldwin and Baddley.

Not finishing last without adding anything else, but keep on dreaming. Solid contribution from a few of the freshman/Fowler and were right up there fighting for 3-7. Next year is going to be a blood bath in the conference schedule and who ever emerges is going to be battle tested for sure!

I don't see Butler finishing last but I don't see them doing that good. Martin might be the best player in the Big East Crabascz is good Wideman is good but nobody else is proven. Lewis is no Barlow and just didn't do much for Butler and I don't know how him and Savage will do together in the backcourt. Adding 2 3 stars isn't saying too much in the Big East. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying "3 stars give up on them" but chances of them coming in and making a difference isn't good when they might have to play a decent role. They have a nice roster but compared to the other rosters in the Big East, it's hard to put Butler in the top half but I for sure don't see them coming in last.

[JohnW22]

Xavier.
Lose Abell, Farr, Reynolds, London
Add Quentin Goodin, PFs Jones &
Bluiett and great returning core, but again the new guys up front need time to adjust to the next level game.

Jury still out on Jalen. Gates will make a giant step forward and get lots of minutes. Quick and good defender/shooter. I think he could lead the team in rebounds with his athleticism. Sumner, Bluiett, M Davis, Macura, Gaston, O'Mara all back. Goodin will play some and should be plenty good enough. Lot of options. Sumner staying healthy could mean big yr. for X. He will get better and stronger. Anything the new guys bring will be a bonus.

Think Creighton could maybe get top 5. No Dougie's.

We also add Eddie Ekyior and Senior transfer Rashid Gaston. Both power forwards and both very highly recruited. Reynolds really wasn't that great. A fun player, but his offensive skills were lacking. Farr was tremendous this year, we will miss his rebounding. But I think with growth of Gates and O'Mara plus the new guys. Our front court could be even stronger.

Neither were "Highly recruited." Ekyior was outside of the top 100. Not sure what Gaston was out of high school but I don't imagine he was too high since he went to Northfolk St, even when he transferred it was a Xavier or Dayton situation.

[JohnW22]

If Marquette underachieved last year I think your standards were too high to start with

[kmacker69]

"10. Butler
Lose Rosey Jones and Kellan Dunham (and that Etherington Kid)
Add 4 star Joey Brunk.
They don't have a full roster. 2 of their players are walk-ons. Kelan Martin and Andrew Chrabascz return. That's it. The Bulldogs finish last."

Forgot Wideman, Lewis, Fowler,RS Freshman McDermott, and transfer SG Savage that were already on the roster and also added 2 3 stars in Baldwin and Baddley.

Not finishing last without adding anything else, but keep on dreaming. Solid contribution from a few of the freshman/Fowler and were right up there fighting for 3-7. Next year is going to be a blood bath in the conference schedule and who ever emerges is going to be battle tested for sure!

I don't see Butler finishing last but I don't see them doing that good. Martin might be the best player in the Big East Crabascz is good Wideman is good but nobody else is proven. Lewis is no Barlow and just didn't do much for Butler and I don't know how him and Savage will do together in the backcourt. Adding 2 3 stars isn't saying too much in the Big East. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying "3 stars give up on them" but chances of them coming in and making a difference isn't good when they might have to play a decent role. They have a nice roster but compared to the other rosters in the Big East, it's hard to put Butler in the top half but I for sure don't see them coming in last.

I gave a pretty big spread and it was way more realilistic than the OP's! With a 4 star top 100 center coming in with 2 other solid recruits, red shirt freshman and a sophomore that showed signs, it not out of the realm of possibility that we could be up at 3-5. Think 5-7 is more likely, but in the spirit of the OP's post I gave the high range also! (That and we have a few more irons in the fire.)

[scoscox]

Xavier's frontcourt will be very good. I'm excited for O'Mara to start I think he will be a monster to deal with. Gaston will be a good player and Jones and Ekiyor will bang and get after it. Honestly, I think Jalen's coming back and that will only help. We will still be good up front no worries.

I'd take:
Xavier - Offensive onslaught of Sumner, Davis, Macura, and Bluiett will be no fun for the league.
Nova - just ridiculously good again
Seton Hall - I think losing whitehead cuts the head off the snake, but still a lot of young talent
Georgetown - if JTIII pulls his head out they are still pretty loaded
Creighton - I don't know much
Butler - This is assuming losing Rosie Jones and Dunham isn't as rough on them as it could be. They need to improve their athleticism
Marquette - Even without Henry, lot of good returnees and Luke Fischer still down low
Providence - The rest of this team was bad this year, so I can't see much losing Bentil and Dunn
St. John's - will be better and I think may finish ahead of this projection
Depaul - they are bad

This league will be ridiculously competitive next year and considering how heated some games got this year (maybe it was just a Xavier/JP MAcura thing, but our games were intense) I can't wait for conference season. Big East will rise.

[JohnW22]

I'd say

1. Villanova
2. Xavier
3. Creighton
4. Seton Hall
5. Marquette
6. Georgetown
7. St. John's
8. Butler
9. Providence
10. DePual

[MackNova]

If Whitehead is gone...
- 1. Villanova
- 2. Xavier
- 3. Creighton
- 4-8. ???
- 9-10. DePaul/St. John's

If Whitehead returns...
- 1. Villanova
- 2. Xavier
- 3. Seton Hall
- 4. Creighton
- 5-8. ???
- 9-10. DePaul/St. John's

I don't see how you can put anyone besides Villanova on top until proven otherwise.

[gtmoBlue]

Well that is the conventional wisdom... but this is a message board.
This was merely a pulse check...seeing if folks were still with us.

I will surely revise my foolish optimism and picks after the NBA draft and again by my official predictions
date on 15 August 2016.

Go Nova.