Good night, Sweet Big East

It's hard to imagine a Big East without Syracuse but we are one year away from that. Prior to the past decade, Pittsburgh's best years in the Big East were from 1986-88. And until Mike Brey, Notre Dame was largely considered an underchiever but still...while adding Temple and Memphis in basketball is nice, the reality is adding Houston, SMU & Central Florida waters it down (Granted, SMU will be interesting depending on how long Larry Brown is there). And, it seems hard to believe Louisville, Cincinnati, UConn & Rutgers aren't sought after down the road. Rumors already persist Georgetown will be invited to join the ACC in hoops only but I digress to this season.

Louisville is a pre-season favorite and history has been relatively kind to highly regarded Pitino teams, as they have rarely disappointed. I think Siva has grown up and can be a true college PG leader (Maybe not at the pro level, but that's okay). Louisville also adds George Mason transfer Luke Hancock who could end up being their best player along with Gorgi Dieng who became a real force last March. They'll defend as well as anyone in America, their achilles heel could be offense. Can Russ Smith and Wayne Blackshear become reliable scoring options? Last year's Final Four team was one of the worst offensive teams in recent memory to make a Final Four.

I'm also not sleeping on Syracuse who while losing a lot of talent, might be better despite losing so much. Brandon Triche and CJ Fair are capable of leading this team and keep an eye on SOPH PG, Michael Carter-Williams. There's still enough talent to win the conference and make a Final Four.

Notre Dame can get teabagged.

Marquette, Georgetown, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh will all dance. Marquette is underrated heading into the year and the numbers guys really like them. Same with Pittsburgh who has what Basketball Prospectus calls elite talent.

South Florida seems like another NCAA team but I'll take a flyer and pick Rutgers over them. Basketball Prospectus has them going 10-8 in the conference which would certainly get them a bid. They add former K-State High School All-American F Wally Judge. FWIW, that same projection has South Florida 7-11 in conference. Rutgers currently has a 21-year NCAA drought.