The official Big East Conference preseason package will be released Wednesday morning in New York at the annual media day. Lots of interesting storylines in the conference this season – not to mention that coach Jim Calhoun won’t be representing Connecticut for the first time since 1986.
How strange will that be?
But the writers who cover the Big East have had their say and the Syracuse Post-Standard today released the results of its annual poll. No surprise in that Louisville was the consensus favorite to win the conference crown. UConn was ninth in the balloting.
Here’s the scoop from Mike Waters, who conducted this poll in the Big East for the last time. Syracuse is moving to the ACC after this season, remember? That’s another storyline.
By Mike Waters, The Post-Standard
The Louisville Cardinals were the unanimous choice to win the Big East in the Syracuse Post-Standard's annual Big East writers poll.
The Post-Standard surveyed 15 writers from markets around the league. All 15 writers put Louisville atop the conference standings.
Louisville coach Rick Pitino returns senior guard Peyton Siva, junior center Gorgui Dieng and sophomore forward Chane Behanan from last year's Final Four squad.
The results of the writers' votes for the All-Big East teams will be announced later today.
Here are the writers' Big East predictions (points were assigned with one for a 1st-place vote, two for a 2nd-place vote and so on):
SYRACUSE POST-STANDARD POLL:
1. Louisville 15 (15 1st-place votes)
2.Syracuse 33?
3. Notre Dame 49
4. Cincinnati 63
5. Pittsburgh 78
6. Georgetown 97
7. Marquette 109
8. South Florida 123
9. Connecticut 159
10. St. John's 163
11. Rutgers 167
12. Villanova 171?
13. Providence 176?
14. Seton Hall 188?
15. DePaul 209
For the record, I was one of the voters in the Syracuse poll. For comparison’s sake, here is my full ballot. We will update this with the rest of the results from Syracuse later.
Ken Davis BALLOT
1. Louisville
2. Syracuse
3. Notre Dame
4. Pittsburgh
5. Georgetown
6. Marquette
7. Cincinnati
8. Connecticut
9. USF
10. Providence
11. St. John's
12. Villanova
13. Rutgers
14. Seton Hall
15. DePaul
Ken Davis’ All-Conference Preseason Team:
G-Peyton Siva, Louisville
G-Vincent Council, Providence
G-Brandon Triche, Syracuse
C-Jack Cooley, Notre Dame
F-Sean Kilpatrick, Cincinnati
Player of the Year: Peyton Siva, Louisville
Rookie of the Year: Steven Adams, Pitt