BE Non-Conference Recap For 2018 Season...

[billyjack]

So, the BE finished 99-23 in non-conference games, an .811 winning percentage, not including a couple of later games vs UConn and Duke. We're #2 in RPI, trailing only the Big 12. We have the #1 team in the nation, and 2 in the Top-10, and 4 teams ranked.

And we have no really bad losses. Also, DePaul and Georgetown, who were predicted to struggle, have played really well. St John's looks like a tourney team. Providence is the only team in a funk, but even still, our RPI is a solid #52, and improved 5 slots yesterday even though we were idle.

Here are our good wins this season, includes Top-150 RPI teams and other significant wins:

#1 VILLANOVA:
88 Western Kentucky.
8 Tennessee.
32 Northern Iowa.
115 Penn.
49 Gonzaga.
118 La Salle.
13 at Temple.
84 Hofstra.
plus St Joe's.

#9 XAVIER:
110 Rider.
107 at Wisconsin.
134 Baylor.
73 Cincinnati.
106 Colorado.
124 East Tennessee State.
131 Marshall.
32 at Northern Iowa.

#23 SETON HALL:
138 Monmouth.
122 Indiana.
42 Texas Tech.
33 at Louisville.
112 VCU.
78 Wagner.
plus Vanderbilt.

#25 CREIGHTON:
75 at Northwestern.
58 UCLA.
80 Nebraska.
83 Texas Arlington.

ST JOHN'S:
149 Central Connecticut State.
80 Nebraska.
63 UCF.
121 Iona.
plus St Joe's and Oregon State.

MARQUETTE:
112 VCU.
152 LSU.
85 Vermont.
107 at Wisconsin.

BUTLER:
153 Princeton.
103 Furman.
48 Portland State.
60 Ohio State
154 Saint Louis.
56 Utah.

GEORGETOWN:
258 at Richmond.
176 NC A&T.
193 North Texas.

DePAUL:
149 Central Connecticut State.
129 Miami of Ohio.

PROVIDENCE:
70 Washington.
154 Saint Louis.
68 Belmont.
79 Boston College.
110 Rider.

Lack of terrible losses is really important too:

VILLANOVA:
undefeated.

XAVIER:
3 Arizona State -16.

SETON HALL :
17 Rhode Island -1.
167 at Rutgers -6.

CREIGHTON :
134 Baylor -6.
49 at Gonzaga -17.

ST JOHN'S:
15 Missouri -8.
3 Arizona State -12.

MARQUETTE:
12 Purdue -15
23 Wichita State -14
50 Georgia -7.

BUTLER:
69 Maryland -14
43 Texas -13.
12 Purdue -15.

GEORGETOWN:
16 Syracuse -OT.

DePAUL:
86 Notre Dame -14.
138 at Illinois -9.
7 Michigan State -22.
90 Oregon -OT
75 Northwestern -2

PROVIDENCE:
51 Minnesota -12.
17 at Rhode Island -7
183 at UMass -9.
62 Houston -11.

[Jet915]

Pretty incredible that the whole conference avoided any truly bad losses. Worse loss is at UMASS by PC but even Georgia lost to them.

[ecasadoSBU]

What a great year for this conference. It seems like every year it gets better and better. Villanova/Xavier legitimate National Championship contenders IMO. Seton Hall can go deep also. Can't wait to watch those VU/XU go head to head. Mark your calendars: JAN10/FEB17

I don't see a way how the Big East will get less than 6 bids this year. Not with this ConferenceRPI and winning percentage.

NOVA/X/HALL/CREIGHTON

At least two of these:

SJU/BUTLER/QUETTE/PROV

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

.
1. PRESEASON PREDICTIONS (listed chronologically)
Big East 2017-18 Preseason Coaches’ Poll - Big East.com – October 18, 2017
2017-18 NCAA Men's Basketball Rankings - Preseason – Associated Press – October 22, 2017
Men's Basketball Top 144 Previews – College Sports Madness.com – June 19 to November 9, 2017
Ranking Every Team in College Basketball From No. 1 to No. 351 – CBS Sports - October 25, 2017
Ranking Every Team in College Basketball From No. 1 to No. 351 – SI.com - October 31, 2017
Ranking Every Team in College Basketball From No. 1 to No. 351 – ESPN – November 2, 2017

2. TODAY’S NUMBERS – UPDATED ON WEDNESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 27, 2017
Big East Standings - ESPN – updated December 27, 2017
RPI Rankings – UDPride – updated December 27, 2017
RPI Forecast – Teams Ranked 1 to 351 – updated December 27, 2017
RPI Forecast – Big East Conference – updated December 27, 2017
The 2018 Bracket Matrix - Bracket Matrix.com - updated December 24, 2017

3. BIG EAST CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Big East Men’s Basketball 2017-18 Composite Schedule - Big East.com – updated daily
Big East homepage – ESPN – updated daily
NCAA Basketball Lines – Odds Shark.com – updated daily
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1. PRESEASON PREDICTIONS (listed chronologically)

Villanova Sits Atop Coaches’ Preseason Poll Again - Big East.com – October 18, 2017

Big East 2017-18 Preseason Coaches’ Poll

1. Villanova (8) ..... 80
2. Seton Hall (1) .... 71
3. Xavier (1) ......... 63
4. Providence ........59
5. Creighton ......... 48
6. St. John’s ......... 36
7. Marquette ........ 34
8. Butler ............. 32
9. Georgetown ...... 15
10. DePaul ........... 12

(First-place votes in parentheses.)

2017-18 NCAA Men's Basketball Rankings - Preseason – Associated Press – October 22, 2017

6. Villanova
17. Xavier
22. Seton Hall
(30) Providence

Men's Basketball Top 144 Previews – College Sports Madness.com – June 19 to November 9, 2017

6. Villanova Wildcats
12. Seton Hall Pirates
22. Xavier Musketeers
26. Butler Bulldogs
29. Providence Friars
38. Creighton Bluejays
49. Marquette Golden Eagles
87. St. John's Red Storm
--- Georgetown Hoyas
--- DePaul Blue Demons

Ranking all 351 college basketball teams – CBS Sports - October 25, 2017

7. Villanova Wildcats
22. Xavier Musketeers
26. Providence Friars
28. Seton Hall Pirates
43. Creighton Bluejays
54. Butler Bulldogs
56. Marquette Golden Eagles
64. St. John's Red Storm
106. DePaul Blue Demons
120. Georgetown Hoyas

Ranking Every Team in College Basketball From No. 1 to No. 351 – SI.com - October 31, 2017

5. Villanova Wildcats
15. Xavier Musketeers
25. Seton Hall Pirates
34. Creighton Bluejays
36. Providence Friars
37. Butler Bulldogs
45. Marquette Golden Eagles
87. St. John's Red Storm
103. DePaul Blue Demons
125. Georgetown Hoyas

Ranking every team in college basketball from 1-351 – ESPN – November 2, 2017

What does "RPM%" mean?

This is the percentage of possession-minutes that a roster returns from last season. For example, Bradley is bringing back every player thataveraged at least four minutes a game last season, so the Braves' figure there is 100 percent. At the other extreme, not surprisingly, is Kentucky, which returns just 7 percent of last season's possession-minutes. This is a statistical way of saying simply, "Wenyen Gabriel is back, and everyone else is gone."

Here's a forecasting rule of thumb for the vast majority of programs that aren't blessed with sensational incoming freshmen and/or a sensational transfer. The D-I average for returning possession-minutes this season is 56 percent, and the shape of that particular bell curve means any figure below 37 or above 75 percent is statistically extreme. Couch expectations accordingly.

Rank – Team – RPM%

5. Villanova Wildcats | RPM% 53
18. Xavier Musketeers | RPM% 69
25. Seton Hall Pirates | RPM% 89
29. Providence Friars | RPM% 96
32. Butler Bulldogs | RPM% 54
36. Marquette Golden Eagles | RPM% 51
44. Creighton Bluejays | RPM% 57
63. St. John's Red Storm | RPM% 72
92. Georgetown Hoyas | RPM% 40
118. DePaul Blue Demons | RPM% 59

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2. TODAY’S NUMBERS – UPDATED ON WEDNESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 27, 2017

Big East homepage - ESPN – updated December 27, 2017

2017-18 BIG EAST STANDINGS

#1 Villanova ...... 12-0
#6 Xavier .......... 12-1
Georgetown ....... 10-1
#23 Seton Hall .... 11-2
#25 Creighton ..... 10-2
St. John's .......... 10-2
Butler .............. 10-3
Marquette .......... 9-3
Providence ......... 9-4
DePaul .............. 7-5

RPI Rankings – UDPride – updated December 27, 2017

2. Xavier (SOS Ranking = 14)
5. Villanova (SOS Ranking = 101)
14. Seton Hall (SOS Ranking = 46)
19. St. John's (SOS Ranking = 28)
38. Butler (SOS Ranking = 54)
52. Providence (SOS Ranking = 40)
57. Creighton (SOS Ranking = 216)
66. Marquette (SOS Ranking = 94)
208. DePaul (SOS Ranking = 269)
217. Georgetown (SOS Ranking = 350)

RPI Forecast – Teams Ranked 1 to 351 – updated December 27, 2017

Rank – Projected RPI Rank – Team
1 - 2.4 - Villanova
4 - 7.4 - Xavier
18 - 20.6 - Seton Hall
22 - 26.5 - Creighton
38 - 43.2 - Butler
41 - 45.0 - St. John's
61 - 68.7 - Marquette
72 - 77.8 - Providence
157 - 154.6 - Georgetown
176 - 169.7 - DePaul

RPI Forecast – Big East Conference – updated December 27, 2017

Proj. RPI Rank – Team …. Forecast SOS Rank – Proj. W-L – (Proj. Conf W-L)
2.4 - Villanova ......... # 19 - 28-3 (15-3)
7.4 - Xavier ............. # 8 - 24-7 (12-6)
20.6 - Seton Hall ....... # 15 - 22-9 (11-7)
26.5 - Creighton ........ # 38 - 21-9 (11-7)
43.2 - Butler ............ # 20 - 19-12 (9-9)
45.0 - St. John's ......... # 5 - 17-13 (8-10)
68.7 - Marquette ........ # 25 - 17-13 (8-10)
77.8 - Providence ....... # 16 - 16-15 (7-11)
154.6 - Georgetown .... # 98 - 15-14 (5-13)
169.7 - DePaul ........... # 52 - 11-19 (4-14)

The 2018 Bracket Matrix - Bracket Matrix.com - updated December 24, 2017

# 1 seed (# 1 overall) - Villanova (32 of 32 brackets)
# 3 seed (# 10 overall) - Xavier (32 of 32 brackets)
# 5 seed (# 23 overall) - Seton Hall (32 of 32 brackets)
# 7 seed (# 28 overall) - Creighton (29 of 32 brackets)
# 11 seed (# 45 overall) - Butler (20 of 32 brackets)
# 11 seed (# 46 overall) - St. John's (19 of 32 brackets)

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3. BIG EAST CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Big East Men’s Basketball 2017-18 Composite Schedule - Big East.com – updated daily

Big East homepage – ESPN – updated daily

NCAA Basketball Game Point Spreads – Odds Shark.com – updated daily