Who is going to be the #2 brand in the Big East for the rest of the decade?

[shizzle787]

Which program is going to push us and make deep runs in the tournament?

I feel fairly confident it won't be Providence, Seton Hall, or DePaul. Unlikely to be Butler.

Nova after Neptune inevitably gets canned next year?

Does Cooley make Georgetown relevant again?

Can Creighton and Marquette stay top 20 programs?

St. John's for a few years with Pitino?

Will Sean Miller get Xavier back to a normal solid program with a healthy team?

 

[JMick]

As things stand right now, Marquette, Creighton and St Johns are in a good position. Cooley isn't going to do anything at Georgetown and Nova will need a good hire.

 

[WrenchFan69]

Probably St John's? Nova not firing Neptune will be a disaster. Cooley has his work cut out for him at Georgetown. Marquette, Xavier, Seton Hall, Butler, Providence, and Creighton will continue to be differing levels of good/great under their coaches but are programs very unlikely to develop national attention. St John's has the historic acclaim and Pitino which gives them the best chance

 

[UCFan1513]

Depends if UConn leaves

 

[Greg]

As things stand right now, Marquette, Creighton and St Johns are in a good position. Cooley isn't going to do anything at Georgetown and Nova will need a good hire.

I hear GT own has huge NIL to shell out so...

 

[Tenspro2002]

Marquette or possibly Creighton.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

I hope Nova at least gets back in the conversation. The long-term prospects for this league look a lot bleaker if Nova can’t return to national relevance.

 

[superjohn]

I hope Nova at least gets back in the conversation. The long-term prospects for this league look a lot bleaker if Nova can’t return to national relevance.

Things will get a lot worse before they get better there. They just set themselves back at least another couple of years by not firing Neptune.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Things will get a lot worse before they get better there. They just set themselves back at least another couple of years by not firing Neptune.

Unfortunately I think you’re right.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

I hear GT own has huge NIL to shell out so...

Somewhere i heard that Nova was the most expensive team in the conference. $ will only take you so far. The players have to play the games, and the coaches have to coach.

 

[UconnU]

I hope Nova at least gets back in the conversation. The long-term prospects for this league look a lot bleaker if Nova can’t return to national relevance.

Neptune is in a tough spot, the school is telling him he needs to win now in year 3, at the same time he’s losing his entire team and all the Wright holdovers and there’s no evidence that he can coach at this level.

 

[Storrs South]

The answer is St. John's...assuming Pitino stays another 3 years minimum before he retires. UConn was the biggest draw TV ratings wise this season, #2? An okay St. John's team.

Creighton will continue to be very good with McDermott but isn't a ratings or brand darling. Same goes for Marquette. Villanova should be #3 but they will continue to be disappointing until they lose Neptune and rebuild the whole thing up again (see Hurley rebuilding post Ollie) so they won't be back for another 3-4 years.

Then after that there's an opportunity there for Georgetown but the brand has taken such a beating for a dozen years now that I frankly question if it will ever come back even if they had a good season and SHU and PC are what they are which hyper local darlings that don't garner national attention.

So it's really UConn, St. John's, Villanova, Marquette, and Creighton that need to do the heavy lifting (and why someone needs to tell Nova to fire Neptune for the betterment of the Big East).

 

[Luna]

After UConn I think St John’s.. I was surprised Nova’s tv ratings weren’t that good this year.. even when UConn was losing they still had good ratings

 

[Vowelguy]

Not sure where else to put this: Maya Rudolph was on Seth Meyers recently where she, a non sports fan, was asked the nickname/mascot for various colleges.

Seth: Creighton?
Maya: Barrels

Genius.

 

[Spaceman213J]

If Shaka stays at Marquette, I think they're the answer.

 

[speckle]

The trick for St Johns is building to the point where Pitino isn't the main attraction. They need a few hometown studs imo.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

As things stand right now, Marquette, Creighton and St Johns are in a good position. Cooley isn't going to do anything at Georgetown and Nova will need a good hire.

I have to say Providence has as good a chance as anyone.

 

[Luna]

I have to say Providence has as good a chance as anyone.

Providence is not a big brand.. they are one of the worst tv drawing teams in the big east… probably only ahead of De Paul

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Providence is not a big brand.. they are one of the worst tv drawing teams in the big east… probably only ahead of De Paul

 

[NJHusky]

Providence is not a big brand.. they are one of the worst tv drawing teams in the big east… probably only ahead of De Paul

I think u missed the joke...

 

[storrsroars]

Not gonna start a separate thread, but wanted to note that Pitino and Pope have agreed in principle to a H/H.

Rick Pitino accepts Mark Pope's offer for UK-St. John's home-and-home

While we’re doing homecomings at Kentucky, might as well bring Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino back, right?

theathletic.com

That's gonna get a ton of good media exposure for SJU when it happens.

 

[Blue Blood]

I'm going Georgetown. Cooley will get it rolling in the next year or two, it might be the biggest sleeping giant in the sport right now. The only thing that makes me question them is the arena, it will take a ton of people to make that place imposing.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I'm going Georgetown. Cooley will get it rolling in the next year or two, it might be the biggest sleeping giant in the sport right now. The only thing that makes me question them is the arena, it will take a ton of people to make that place imposing.

I like Cooley but I think he’s going to have tough time bringing Georgetown back to respectability. I really like Creighton. I think McDermott will get more midwestern kids and west coast kids who can shoot the lights out and find another lanky kid several inches taller than the corn.

 

[RuffRuff]

I don’t see it with Marquette - Shaka, as good as he is, doesn’t have the March recipe. Seems a bit of a paper tiger year over year.

Nova and Neptune, beyond the current disappointment, plays a truly boring brand of hoops. He’s all but gone after year 3. They should be thinking about the next guy already, which will be a massive hire for them.

I wouldn’t discount PC. Their fans are rabid, the arena is manic and English feels the part. Issue there is does he get pulled out to a larger program after a few years at a stepping stone school.

Does Cooley still have the fire after getting paid and adopting a hot mess? Gtown has one of the better historical brands in the conference, but Cooley is climbing out of a deep hole.

Pitino will work his magic and have the Jonnie’s back on the scene, but he’s older. How much runway does he have left? He seems to be looking for quick fixes.

Creighton just has no sizzle, a bit of a boring brand. McDermott always says the right things but overall kind of boring. He recruits soft players. Steady but seems limited on the upside.

Miller is a great coach and with the right players, may have the highest upside to make deep runs. He seems happy at Xavier after the AZ disaster but also young enough to jump to the next big job.

If we are talking a decade, it feels like a crapshoot beyond the Huskies. And I keep wondering if we are long for the BE. I keep feeling that if we bolt for greener pastures, the BE may quickly fall to a second fiddle conference in the new landscape.

 

[RuffRuff]

I like Cooley but I think he’s going to have tough time bringing Georgetown back to respectability. I really like Creighton. I think McDermott will get more midwestern kids and west coast kids who can shoot the lights out and find another lanky kid several inches taller than the corn.

There is a lot of competition in the Midwest being in the heart of P5 and schools like Kansas, Indiana and the Kentucky schools. He’s never really attracted the 5 star crowd (although has a highly rated kid coming in). He also seems to go for a certain type of kid, parochial and kind of soft, lack edge. They like to hug out there. Not a lot of dynamic kids coming through Omaha. He’s also lost some of his more dynamic kids to the portal, which is never a great sign. Will likely always be good, but not great, which feels ok with their fanbase.