Big East Report (Dec. 27)

Big East standings as of 12/27/06:

1. Connecticut (10-0)
2. Notre Dame (10-1)
3. West Virginia (9-1)
4. Marquette (12-2)
5. Pittsburgh (11-2)
6. Providence (9-2)
7. Villanova (9-2)
8. Seton Hall (7-2)
9. Syracuse (10-3)
10. Georgetown (9-3)
11. Cincinnati (8-3)
12. St. John's (8-3)
13. Louisville (7-4)
14. South Florida (7-4)
15. DePaul (8-5)
16. Rutgers (6-5)

My Personal Power Rankings:

1. Pittsburgh (1)
2. Connecticut (2)
3. Georgetown (3)
4. Notre Dame (4)
5. Marquette (6)
6. Villanova (7)
7. Syracuse (5)
8. Providence (8)
9. Louisville (10)
10. West Virginia (11)
11. DePaul (12)
12. Seton Hall (9)
13. Cincinnati (14)
14. St. John's (13)
15. South Florida (15)
16. Rutgers (16)

This week's games and predictions: (home team in CAPS)

Wednesday, December 27:

CONNECTICUT 88, Coppin State 52
LOUISVILLE 81, Northeastern 59
CINCINNATI 77, Miami (OH) 64
UAB 73, South Florida 60

Thursday, December 28:

LOUISVILLE 85, San Francisco 61
NORTH CAROLINA 103, Rutgers 65
WEST VIRGINIA 88, Maryland-Eastern Shore 58
Seton Hall 82, Oral Roberts 71 (BYU Holiday Classic, Provo, Utah)
NOTRE DAME 91, Rider 66
ST. JOHN'S 73, Boston University 58

Friday, December 29:

Wake Forest 76, SOUTH FLORIDA 69
Seton Hall 91, Liberty 62 (BYU Holiday Classic, Provo, Utah)
DEPAUL 83, Northwestern State 60
FLORIDA STATE 78, Providence 74
ST. JOHN'S 72, St. Joe's 65 or ST. JOHN'S 78, Hofstra 62 (TBA)

Saturday, December 30:

Georgetown 80, MICHIGAN 68
LOUISVILLE 83, UNC-Asheville 61
MARQUETTE 86, Savannah State 59
Connecticut 78, WEST VIRGINIA 67
NOTRE DAME 88, Stony Brook 64
CINCINNATI 75, Ohio 66
SYRACUSE 85, St. Bonaventure 62
VILLANOVA 77, Temple 65
PITTSBURGH 87, Florida A&M 60
BYU 76, Seton Hall 74

Sunday, December 31:

SOUTH FLORIDA 80, Bethune-Cookman 58
RUTGERS 75, South Carolina State 56

Quote to Note: I'm going with Rick Pitino again for the third straight week, this time his comments on sending freshman Derrick Caracter home for a break: "I didn’t realize he had as many obstacles to overcome. It may be better for him to get a strength coach, train his tail off and make the NBA."

In other words, Rick has decided there's absolutely nothing he can do to help this kid. Great coaching!

Best win:

DePaul 90, California 62- DePaul is hitting their stride just in time for Big East season. The Blue Demons started slow but this 28 point win over a solid Cal team was important for confidence and their NCAA Tournament resume.

Worst loss:

Texas A&M-Corpus Christie 69, South Florida 63- This is just brutal. No Big East team should be losing to a team like that no matter where the game is played (it was in Las Vegas). The Bulls better hope what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

National games to watch:

December 27-

Bradley @ Northern Iowa: The MVC opener features two teams that figure to be on the bubble come Selection Sunday. A big early conference game that will be a resume builder for one and a costly loss for the other.

December 28-

Georgia @ Clemson: Two upstarts will meet here and Clemson will finally have a chance to validate its ranking. Georgia is not the best team out there, but they are the best that Clemson has played by far. The Bulldogs are looking for a quality non-conference road win to add to their impressive victory over Gonzaga earlier this month.

Washington State @ UCLA: WSU has played very well this season, but now comes conference play. Will they open with a bang and keep the game competitive or get blown out by the best team in the nation?

December 29-

Providence @ Florida State: It's still early, the this game has bubble written all over it. Both teams will most certainly have issues on Selection Sunday, and they need this win for their respective resumes. It may come down to Providence and Florida State for the last spot in the NCAA Tournament.

December 30-

Georgetown @ Michigan: The Hoyas haven't played all that well in the non-conference, and this is a chance to get a decent road win. For Michigan, this is their third chance to beat a major conference team. They are 0-2 so far, and 0-3 looks likely.

December 31-

Wisconsin @ Georgia: This New Year's Eve tilt features the best player in the country, Alando Tucker, trying to help his team come up with a big non-conference road win. As noted above, Georgia has played well early on this season and this would be a great win for them to go along with the Gonzaga win and the possible win at Clemson.