Big East Tournament starts in just a little while. Happy times.

Rumble in the Garden polled Big East bloggers last week for Big East honors, before the weekend games.

You can see the overall voting results for each category:

Big East Player of the Year and All-Big East Team

Newcomer and Rookie of the Year

Big East Coach of the Year

Most Surprising and Most Disappointing Teams

Most Surprising and Most Disappointing Player on Your Team

Team You Don’t Want to See in Big East Tournament and How Will Your Team Do in the BET?

How Will Big East Teams Do in the NCAA Tournament?

What’s next for the Big East Teams not in the NCAA Tournament?

As for my vote…

1a: your 6 person all-league team, with the player of the year at the top.

I’m doing this with an eye on a reasonably functioning team:

Ben Hansbrough G, ND

Kemba Walker G, UConn
Dwight Hardy G, St. J
Marshon Brooks G-F, Prov
Rick Jackson, F Syr
Brad Wanamaker G, Pitt

Honestly, I’d like to split my POY vote between Hansbrough and Walker, but I have to give just the slightest edge to Hansbrough. Walker tailed off a bit late in the season, but he’s had to carry more of the load on UConn’s team so that has to be a factor. Just what Hansbrough has done and the way he’s played can’t be ignored — even if I hate the guy.

1b: your pick for newcomer of the year AND rookie of the year (they can be the same person).

Cleveland Melvin, DePaul

1c: your pick for Big East coach of the year.

Jamie Dixon, Pitt

A bit of a homer pick, yes. Still if Coach Dixon wasn’t going to get it last year despite being one of the biggest surprises last year and dealing with early injuries, why should Pitino get credit for doing the same thing this year?

Plus Pitt went wire-to-wire winning the conference and stayed in the top-6 all season. This team kept winning, even when they hit rough spots.

2. Who is the most disappointing team in the Big East? The most surprising?

I think Villanova has fallen so far below expectations at this point. I would consider Providence. For some reason, I expected a bit more from them. They competed, but rarely did more than that.

Most surprising goes to Louisville. They have been like Pitt last year. Just overachieving and at times gutting out wins.

3. Who is the surprise (positive) player on your team? Who is the player who has disappointed, relative to expectations?

The surprise player to me has been Nasir Robinson. He’s just been so strong this year. Only one really bad game (Louisville), but otherwise he has been a strong presence as an undersized power forward. He’ll never be a polished player, but he gets things done and has played so smart this season.

Disappointing, has to go J.J. Moore. Simply because of the expectations. He’s a top-50 player or so coming in, and kept saying all the right things. But when he’d get into the game, he’d just jack up shots and play out of the system. He was a freshman trying to show he should get more minutes, but instead lost them.

4. Early prediction: how will your team do in the Big East Tournament?

Since Pitt has a double-bye, I don’t really expect them to win more than one game.

4a. Which team are you afraid to meet in the tournament?

Odd pick, I’m sure, but West Virginia. Already beat them twice. As well as Pitt did against them in the second half of both games, I just have trouble picturing three wins in one season against them.

5. Let’s assume 11 teams from the Big East get to the NCAA Tournament. How many get…
(extra “credit” for naming the teams that will go to each round)

5a. to the Sweet Sixteen?

I like 4 teams to make it. It’s all matchu-ups, but if it is a fantasy world, what the hell: Pitt, Louisville, Syracuse and St. John’s

5b. To the Elite Eight?

2 teams: Pitt and Louisville

5c. To the Final Four?

Um, one team and no comment.

5d. Do any play in the championship game?

I dream of one team.

6. For teams who aren’t making the NCAA Tournament, what comes next?

DePaul, Rutgers and Seton Hall all hired new coaches so they aren’t doing anything there. I think Rutgers has the brightest future with their recruits and their coach. DePaul will get better, simply because it’s hard to be much lower.

Providence. There has been rumbling that Keno Davis might not survive. It’s been a mix of bad luck and lack of a clear plan.

South Florida. Yay, apathy.