NCAA Big East Recap: Week Five

And then there were two.

Pittsburgh and Connecticut—ranked third and second in the country, respectively—are the only two remaining undefeated teams in the Big East. Syracuse saw that disappear on a 60-foot buzzer-beater during their first game of Week Five.

Soon enough, though, there will not be any undefeated Big East teams left as conference play kicks off in a week. For now, though, let's let the top two bask in their glory.

Standings

Pittsburgh 12-0
Connecticut 10-0
Syracuse 11-1
Villanova 10-1
Georgetown 8-1
Cincinnati 9-2
Marquette 9-2
St. John's 9-2
Notre Dame 8-2
Seton Hall 8-2
West Virginia 8-2
Louisville 7-2
Rutgers 8-3
Providence 7-4
DePaul 6-4
South Florida 4-6

Activity

Cincinnati Bearcats
9-2
Week Five Ranking: NR AP, NR Coaches
Week Six Ranking: NR AP, NR Coaches

Dec. 15—W 74-55—Charleston Southern Buccaneers
Dec. 18—W 75-63—Mississippi State Bulldogs
Dec. 20—W 85-77 OT—Eastern Kentucky Colonels

The Bearcats added another three wins to their resume this week, showing the college hoops world that they may be a great sleeper pick for the Big East. They finish their non-conference play against Memphis, which will be a true test for how they will stack up against their tougher Big East brethren.

Connecticut Huskies
10-0
Week Five Ranking: No. 2 AP, No. 2 Coaches
Week Six Ranking: No. 2 AP, No. 2 Coaches

Dec. 15—W 91-57—Stony Brook Seawolves
Dec. 20—W 88-83 OT—Gonzaga Bulldogs

The Huskies are the second team in the Big East to reach the 10-0 mark, and they did it with an overtime win against a top-ten ranked Gonzaga Bulldog team. After being inactive for Week Four, the Huskies looked strong this past week. They finish their early season non-conference play against Fairfield before kicking off Big East conference play against Georgetown at the end of the month.

DePaul Blue Demons
6-4
Week Five Ranking: NR AP, NR Coaches
Week Six Ranking: NR AP, NR Coaches

Dec. 17—W 64-63—Liberty Flames
Dec. 19—W 83-46—Southern University Jaguars

The Blue Demons snapped their four game losing streak this week when they squeaked by the Liberty Flames with a one-point win and then finally looked strong against Southern University.

Georgetown Hoyas
8-1
Week Five Ranking: No. 15 AP, No. 13 Coaches
Week Six Ranking: No. 12 AP, No. 9 Coaches

Dec. 20—W 69-58—Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers

True to the Princeton offense, the Hoyas had a close game against the Mountaineers this past week until the very end of the game. Georgetown had their worst game of the season as they shot 38.0 percent from the floor and missed 13 free throws. Fortunately, they were able to hold on and move into the coaches top ten.

Louisville Cardinals
7-2
Week Five Ranking: No. 9 AP, No. 9 Coaches
Week Six Ranking: No. 19 AP, No. 19 Coaches

Dec. 18—W 77-68—Mississippi Rebels
Dec. 20—L 70-64—Minnesota Golden Gophers

Louisville dropped 10 slots in both polls this week as Tubby Smith's Golden Gophers handed them their second loss of the season. In their wins the Cardinals have looked strong, but in their two losses they have really struggled and hurt themselves with unnecessary turnovers.

This week they take on UAB, who was an early season favourite to give Memphis a run for their money in Conference USA but have already fallen three times.

Marquette Golden Eagles
9-2
Week Five Ranking: No. 24 AP, No. 23 Coaches
Week Six Ranking: NR AP, No. 25 Coaches

Dec. 16—L 80-68—Tennessee Volunteers
Dec. 19—W 94-77—Western Carolina Catamounts

The Vols defeated their second Big East team this season as the Golden Eagles were handed their second loss. Marquette had been struggling to get back into the rankings after their loss to Dayton, and Tennessee did not help their cause. They take on North Carolina State and Presbyterian before kicking off conference play against Villanova on New Year's Day.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish
8-2
Week Five Ranking: No. 12 AP, No. 14 Coaches
Week Six Ranking: No. 8 AP, No. 11 Coaches

Dec. 20—W 88-50—Delaware State Hornets

Luke Harangody has clearly finally recovered from pneumonia as he scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds against the Hornets. Notre Dame held Delaware State to under ten points for almost three quarters of the first half, shot over 50 percent from the floor, and only allowed the Hornets to take two free-throws.

This week, the Irish will try and become the second team to score triple digits against Savannah State and hand them their second Big East loss of the season.

Pittsburgh Panthers
12-0
Week Five Ranking: No. 3 AP, No. 3 Coaches
Week Six Ranking: No. 3 AP, No. 3 Coaches

Dec. 17—79-66—Siena Saints
Dec. 21—56-48—Florida State Seminoles

The Panthers remain perfect on the season, although they had not had a very tough non-conference schedule prior to Week Five. Florida State was their toughest opponent yet, and seeing as the game was tied at 48 with under two minutes to go, they lived up to it.

The Seminoles also held the Panthers to their lowest point total of the season. The Panthers have this week off before beginning conference play against Rutgers.

Providence Friars
7-4
Week Five Ranking: NR AP, NR Coaches
Week Six Ranking: NR AP, NR Coaches

Dec. 17—W 85-71—Jackson State Tigers
Dec. 20—L 81-76—Boston College Eagles

The Friars were unable to tame the Eagles as they fell for the fourth time this season. They now sit towards the bottom of the Big East and will have their work cut out for them. They have to take on Bryant University before taking on their first Big East opponent of the season—St. John's.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights
7-3
Week Five Ranking: NR AP, NR Coaches
Week Six Ranking: NR AP, NR Coaches

Dec. 20—W 67-37—Bryant University Bulldogs

Rutgers showed what they are capable of as they nearly doubled the Bulldogs' score Week Five. They have one more game before they take on the top three teams in the country in three consecutive games. They have their work cut out for them and may very well start out in the hole against the rest of the Big East.

Seton Hall Pirates
8-2
Week Five Ranking: NR AP, NR Coaches
Week Six Ranking: NR AP, NR Coaches

Dec. 20—L 67-65—IUPUI Jaguars

The Pirates were handed their second loss of the season Week Five by a contested layup as the buzzer sounded. The team that virtually knocked USC out of the rankings early in the season saw their five game win-streak snapped and now sit in the middle of the Big East—not a bad position for a team that no one expected much out of before the season started.

South Florida Bulls
4-6
Week Five Ranking: NR AP, NR Coaches
Week Six Ranking: NR AP, NR Coaches

Dec. 16—L 71-52—Vanderbilt Commodores
Dec. 20—W 73-64—Murray State Racers
Dec. 21—L 60-43—Wright State Raiders

The Bulls have now lost five of their last six games and sit alone at the bottom of the Big East. In their two losses Week Five, they were outscored by an average of 18 points and shot 30.3 percent from the field. They are going to have a long season ahead of them against their strong Big East counterparts.

St. John's Red Storm
9-2
Week Five Ranking: NR AP, NR Coaches
Week Six Ranking: NR AP, NR Coaches

Dec. 20—W 65-44—Marist Red Foxes
Dec. 21—L 81-67—Virginia Tech Hokies

The Red Storm were defeated for only the second time this season as the Hokies snapped their seven game winning streak. St. John's takes on Miami (FL) before beginning conference play against Providence.

Syracuse Orange
11-1
Week Five Ranking: No. 11 AP, No. 11 Coaches
Week Six Ranking: No. 17 AP, No. 14 Coaches

Dec. 15—L 72-69—Cleveland State Vikings
Dec. 17—W 82-60—Canisius Golden Griffins
Dec. 20—W 72-65—Memphis Tigers

The Orange were handed their first loss of the season on a 60 foot buzzer beater—it's a difficult way to see 10-0 disappear, but they returned to the court to dominate Canisius and then hand Memphis their second Big East loss in as many Saturday's.

Week Five's big news for Syracuse, though, is that junior guard Eric Devendorf was suspended indefinitely after hitting a student. Once he performs 40 hours of community service, he can be reinstated by the university for the spring semester, so we will not see him before the middle of January at the earliest.

Villanova Wildcats
10-1
Week Five Ranking: No. 18 AP, No. 15 Coaches
Week Six Ranking: No. 18 AP, No. 16 Coaches

No activity. That's some good detective work there, Lou.

West Virginia Mountaineers
8-2
Week Five Ranking: NR AP, NR Coaches
Week Six Ranking: NR AP, NR Coaches

Dec. 20—W 82-46—Miami (OH) Redhawks

West Virginia looked very strong against Miami (OH) as they hit twelve three pointers, shot 50 percent from the floor, and never trailed as they picked up their eighth win of the season. This week they take on Radford and then travel to Ohio State before beginning Big East conference play against Seton Hall.

Parting Thoughts

The final two games of the 15 games to watch before conference play begins are set for Week Six, and they should both be great games. Pittsburgh and Connecticut will continue to keep their dreams of a perfect season alive, while the rest of the Big East gets ready for the final week of non-conference play.

This will be a great conclusion to the non-conference games for the Big East and they should continue to look like the strongest conference in college hoops!