2005 Big East Basketball Preview

2005 Big East Conference Preview

The Big East has added five new teams this season, all from Conference USA. Will any of these schools be competitive in this already tough collection of teams? Look for the Louisville Cardinals with coach Rick Pitino and the Cincinnati Bearcats led by first year coach Andy Kennedy to be in the Big East mix. Marquette, DePaul, and South Florida, the other three former Conference USA members, will probably have the most difficult time adjusting to their new surroundings.

The conference also lost one team—Boston College. BC has gone to the Atlantic Coast Conference and will be mixing it up with Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Maryland, Georgia Tech, and others. Which of these two conferences is the best? That’s difficult to ascertain. But the changes in both will certainly influence future analysis and comparisons.

The Big East features some of most consistent top teams in the country, including Connecticut, Syracuse, and Villanova, plus the revitalized Georgetown Hoyas and last year’s surprise West Virginia Mountaineers. Uconn led by longtime coach Jim Calhoun looks like the club to beat in the conference with about six other Big East squads giving the Huskies a run for their money.

A sixteen-team conference with clubs scattered across the east coast will prove to be difficult for many teams to weather. The extended travel and multiple big game pressures can wear a body and an entire team down.

How will the clubs from the Big East that make it to the Tournament fair? After a long, rough season, it’s almost impossible to predict. But look for strong coaching, committed players who are durable physically and mentally, and teams with depth to dominate. Of the sixteen teams that now make up this big conference, fifteen have been to the Final Four!

The Big East is certainly bigger than ever, but we’ll have to wait and see if expansion translates into it also being better.

All the teams are covered in depth below this conference preview where it says "2005 big east team previews." For the official Big East conference site click here.