The Pre-Season Coaches Poll was released for Big East Men’s Basketball and the Friars are checking in at fourth in the conference.  The top-4 teams seem to be set in any poll I’ve come across as Villanova, Seton Hall, Xavier, and Providence, but the rest of the conference looks to be up in the air.

The top team and bottom team (Villanova and DePaul) seem to be cemented there forever.  This may be the season that Nova finally gets overtaken atop the Big East precipice but they belong at #1 until that dethroning actually comes to fruition.  Butler checks in lower than I was expecting, but other than that, you can make the argument for pretty much any team being a spot or two in either direction.  The depth of the Big East is what makes the conference so special.

The Big East Player of the Year checks in with Villanova’s Jalen Brunson.

Again, you could make the argument for multiple players who tested the NBA Draft waters and came back to school for their Senior season.

As far as the Big East First Team selections, the rest of the squad is filled out with all Seniors, a rarity in today’s college basketball landscape.

The one problem I have with the first team…and I think it’s pretty obvious, is Khadeen Carrington over Kyron Cartwright.  Both of the guys are the point guards that run the engine for veteran teams which should mean that they put their guys in the best positions to score and take care of the ball, while providing leadership to the team as a whole.  Carrington averaged 2.9 assists and 2.3 turnovers per game last year.  That makes for an assist to turnover ratio of 1.26:1.  Cartwright on the other hand, averaged 6.7 assists (good for 4th in the country) and 2.9 turnovers per game last year, good for a 2.31:1 assist to turnover ratio.  Those are the kinds of numbers I want in the train conductor for my team.

Just for comparison purposes, here was my picks for the Pre-Season teams and awards.  My biggest gripe with the second team, which now totals at 12 players between the 1st and 2nd teams, is that it doesn’t include Khyri Thomas.  I only included 5 guys per team (you know, like a real basketball team) and Khyri was on my 2nd team.  With a bigger role on this year’s Creighton team and how freaking good he is defensively, it’s crazy that he’s didn’t make the 1st or 2nd team.

I picked a Freshmen Team rather than a Freshman of the Year, but Spellman is probably the right choice there.  There are a ton of good Freshmen who are going to get some run this year but Spellman has a definite starting spot which give him the edge over some other guys.