I’m sure it’s just the nature of the byes and an eight team conference that there are only 2 BE Football games this weekend. The same week that the Big East has its media day. Coincidence. There are only 2 BE football games the following weekend as well.
The beat writers in the Big East have their annual media poll for picking the conference. A bit of a surprise.
… the tandem of Green and Hibbert makes Georgetown the Big East’s preseason favorite in the eyes of the writers.The Hoyas picked up 10 first-place votes, four second-place votes and two third-place votes to out-distance Pittsburgh at the top of the predicted standings. Georgetown and Pittsburgh accounted for all 16 first-place votes.
Connecticut came in third in the writers’ poll, while Marquette was fourth and Syracuse fifth.
However, not every writer was sold on the Hoyas.
“It’s surprising how many people are jacked up about Georgetown,” Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal said. “The Hoyas have the best 1-2 post pair in the country in Hibbert and Green, but do Jonathan Wallace and Jesse Sapp at guard make your heart skip a beat? Not me.”
While Georgetown and Pittsburgh were solidly atop most writers’ polls, the rest of the standings were fluid. Syracuse received two second-place votes and two eighth-place votes. DePaul was picked to finish as high as seventh and as low as 15th. The Blue Demons finally settled at No. 8 in the poll behind No. 6 Villanova and No. 7 Louisville.
The bottom half of the standings were like this: No. 9 St. John’s, No. 10 Providence, No. 11 Cincinnati, No. 12 Notre Dame, No. 13 Seton Hall, No. 14 West Virginia, No. 15 Rutgers and No. 16 South Florida. Coming off its 1-15 inaugural Big East campaign, South Florida was picked to finish last this season on 15 of the 16 ballots.
Notre Dame received the lone remaining last-place vote.
I’m not shocked to see G-town getting picked for first by the writers. Surprised, but not shocked.
Aaron Gray and Dominic James of Marquette were co-Players of the Year in the preseason survey. They were both the only unanimous picks for the All-Big East 1st team.
Gray tabbed as preseason POY. Syracuse is the big mover between media and coaches poll.
I agree with the final 2/3 of the comment, Omar. Thing is, MU returns 8 of their top 10 from last season and Wesley Matthews was better than Joe Chapman anyway. And now Wesley is healthy — he’ll surprise to the upside this year, which will help. I’d expect MU to finish in the 3-5 range this season, when all is said and done. Especially if Hayward is eligible
You are probably right, I thought you guys were picked to finish in the top-3. D. James is as good a player as there is in the country. The only problem is that I think losing Novak is a big deal. Pitt and Marquette are really developing a rivalry so I look forward to our matchup. Hopefully Pitt will be able to deal with all the preseason hype.
