Big East Basketball Poised for Potentially Best Season Ever

Villanova made the Sweet 16 in 2008 as a 12 seed, but in 2009, the Wildcats will definitely have Sweet 16 potential, but it will likely be as a top six or seven seed, not a 12. 

Former Big East Freshmen of the Year Scottie Reynolds leads another roster filled with young talent. Corey Fisher, Antonio Pena, Dante Cunningham, and Corey Stokes return to Coach Jay Wright's guard happy lineup. 

So who's left?

Seton Hall, St. John's (another young team that had nine freshmen in 2008), DePaul, South Florida, and Rutgers won't be making too much noise in 2009. They'll all make the Big East Tournament after the field expanded to all 16 teams for the 2009 season, but all of them probably won't make it out of the first round.

Cincinnati and Providence will provide to be two major sleepers. First Team All-Conference guard Deonta Vaughn will be even better and will have the potential to single handily beat most Big East teams with his explosive performances.

Providence returns its top 10 scorers from 2008. The Friars were expected to compete in 2008, but star point guard Sharaud Curry missed all but eight minutes with a wrist injury. Providence also hired Drake's Coach of the Year, Keno Davis to pull the Friars together and hopefully have the same effect he had on Drake during the 2008 season. 

Come March Madness in 2009, the Big East Conference will most likey have three teams competing for a two seed or better, five or six more in serious contention for an NCAA berth, and two more sleepers that could make strong runs through the NIT. 

It's going to be a good year for the Big East.  

And with all that said, here are some early off-season projections:

1. Notre Dame and UCONN (tied, both teams are too good and its too early to distinguish between the two)

3. Pitt

4. West Virginia

5. Louisville 

6. Villanova

7. Syracuse

8. Georgetown

9. Marquette

10. Providence

11. Cincinnati

12. St. John's

13. Rutgers

14. Seton Hall

15. DePaul

16. South Florida 

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