ESPN pre season top 25

[Billy Don]

Andy Katz has 7 Big East teams in the top 25 pre season rankings with 2 more considered. They are Pitt#3,ND#5, West Virginia#6 UConn#7 Syracuse#18 Georgetown#19 Louisville#21. Also considered were Villanova and Providence. Lot of teams for UC to climb over.

[bearcat65]

No climbing necessary. All teams start out at 0-0. These preseason rankings mean nothing at this time. Rosters aren't set and there is still recruiting going on.

[Bearcat Revival]

Exactly. Plus, by the time players leave for the NBA, this poll will be done and re-done a hundred times. Means absolutely nothing unless all you want to do is complain.

[MDW79]

D. Green (Cuse) just declared. There's no way that they are ranked with him gone.

[IAMWILLIAMSON]

First off they say Syracuse is going to be good every year, but they never are they havnet made the tournament (not counting mcnamaras tournament run) in 3 years, Uconns players will leave, Thabeet, Robinson, Adrien ect... Providence,,,,no Louisville lost Terrance williams Earl Clark David Padgett and Derrick Caracter to the Nba and Pitt and Gtown should be good

[Billy Don]

While not to the draft, UC lost 5 seniors for sure. I think at least in the short term it will not be all that easy to replace them.

[CincyBeerCo]

First off they say Syracuse is going to be good every year, but they never are they havnet made the tournament (not counting mcnamaras tournament run) in 3 years, Uconns players will leave, Thabeet, Robinson, Adrien ect... Providence,,,,no Louisville lost Terrance williams Earl Clark David Padgett and Derrick Caracter to the Nba and Pitt and Gtown should be good

No offense, but how can you disregard them making the tournement due to "Macnamara's run"? I'm pretty sure if we would have had a "Deonta's Run" we wouldnt discredit it.

[bearcat65]

While not to the draft, UC lost 5 seniors for sure. I think at least in the short term it will not be all that easy to replace them.


Williamson and Warren will likely be missed early on. If players step up and do what it necessary to improve I think UC will be a better overall team next year. Definitely stronger in the post.

[SLMadiCat]

I think most people would agree that early on may be a struggle. But I also think most people would agree that the talent level has been upgraded. Hopefully the experience level catches up to the talent level by BE play.

IMO, every position we lost due to the Seniors has been replaced by a more talented player:

Wright > Warren
Gates, Williams, Aldridge > Adam H, Sikes, Williamson
Davis' 2nd year, Ward, Dixon > Gentry

Experience is the only thing missing.

[anbuc88]

Williamson and Warren will likely be missed early on. If players step up and do what it necessary to improve I think UC will be a better overall team next year. Definitely stronger in the post.

Their talent level is going to be significantly better and thus the team overall will be much better.

[London 'Cat]

Williamson and Warren will likely be missed early on. If players step up and do what it necessary to improve I think UC will be a better overall team next year. Definitely stronger in the post.

The team remaining may be more talented than the seniors leaving. However, their lack of experience will make them seem less talented. I anticipate 08-09 to be similar to 07-08 in that the team will lose some early games and improve as the year progresses. I hope that the regression we saw the last 7-8 games does not occur again next year.

[Cats4Ever]

this is all part of the rebuilding process - to get them experience. Don't forget about Wilks - he will impress at times.

[bearcatdoggie]

Don't get too excited or too upset for right now.

There are way too many variables to consider next year's Top 25 anyway.

Rating teams right now for next year is absolutely the dumbest idea yet.

Just look at WVa, if Joe Alexander goes pro, they drop out. On the UC end,

they too have many variables, such as Williams coming back, other players

staying healthy, the freshman now making big strides over the summer, and

the new recruits coming in and making an impact. Next season should be

another step in the right direction, but it may take awhile before they take

big steps. Little steps are a big improvement considering the Big East

competition. Coach M has us heading back to where the Cats belong, it's just

going to take some more time, and next year won't be it yet. Although I

would love to be wrong.

[GoCats1994]

Their talent level is going to be significantly better and thus the team overall will be much better.

This does not necessarily translate into more W's.

The road victories in places like WVU & Louisville will be difficult to pull off in any year.

[jeffto]

The team remaining may be more talented than the seniors leaving. However, their lack of experience will make them seem less talented. I anticipate 08-09 to be similar to 07-08 in that the team will lose some early games and improve as the year progresses. I hope that the regression we saw the last 7-8 games does not occur again next year.
I agree with you. I think the regression last year was due a lot to other teams learning how to handle Vaughn, with us having no great options. Except for Williamson in 1 or 2 games, his teammates didn't seem to grasp the concept or were unable to step it up offensively. IMO, the seniors just didn't have enough talent to do it and the freshmen weren't ready yet.

Next year, hopefully, everybody improves as the year goes on and we have no letdown.

[Bcatfan08]

While not to the draft, UC lost 5 seniors for sure. I think at least in the short term it will not be all that easy to replace them.

Losing the five seniors isn't a big deal at all. Adam H, Gentry, and Sikes won't be hard to replace. They weren't bad players, but there's definitely better players ready to play. Williamson was a very good player, but with Gates, McClain, and Mike Williams on the team, we'll be just fine. Warren may be harder to replace then the others because we only have one other true PG coming in. It would have been nice to have two PG's on the roster at the same time, but with all the SG's coming in we should be alright.

On the top 25 topic, I like that the Big East has so many teams ranked in the pre-season top 25. It looks better for us when we beat most of them this year.

[DBSUC1982]

Andy Katz has 7 Big East teams in the top 25 pre season rankings with 2 more considered. They are Pitt#3,ND#5, West Virginia#6 UConn#7 Syracuse#18 Georgetown#19 Louisville#21. Also considered were Villanova and Providence. Lot of teams for UC to climb over.

Drake was picked 9th in the 10 team MVC last year so we need not be too concrned with a preseason top 25 7+ months before the season starts. Having said that, it's not called THE BEAST for nothing.

[Matt1982]

The fact that we are playing in the Big East is going to stall our recovery, simply because the mountain is that much higher to climb... it's like having a huge debt in a dumpy house and moving into a really nice house and losing your job, it's going to be a giant task to get this team back. We'll probably never be what we were to CUSA because there is just too much competition, but eventually we'll get to the point that we expect no worse than NIT every single year without a doubt. I know i'll get ripped for that comment, but if you think about it, there are some pretty good teams that get burnt and sent to the NIT every year, so its not exactly that bad.

[Eastside_J]

This does not necessarily translate into more W's.

The road victories in places like WVU & Louisville will be difficult to pull off in any year.

I get your point, but we did sorta wax both those teams on the road this year.

[jeffto]

The fact that we are playing in the Big East is going to stall our recovery, simply because the mountain is that much higher to climb... it's like having a huge debt in a dumpy house and moving into a really nice house and losing your job, it's going to be a giant task to get this team back. We'll probably never be what we were to CUSA because there is just too much competition, but eventually we'll get to the point that we expect no worse than NIT every single year without a doubt. I know i'll get ripped for that comment, but if you think about it, there are some pretty good teams that get burnt and sent to the NIT every year, so its not exactly that bad.The BEAST is tough but we did okay this year with JUCOS. I can see us consistently being in the top third of the league, which in most years would equal NCAA.

[Matt1982]

Ya, don't get me wrong, I would love to consistently be in the top third of BE. But for now, I just want to focus on getting to the next level, which is staying in the top half of the conference, then we can hopefully look to be in the elite group. I just get tired of my hopes getting shot down, so naturally, I am trying to expect less and probably more realistic goals since this team literally was in shambles, but is slowly beginning to reshape.

[Billy Don]

Ya, don't get me wrong, I would love to consistently be in the top third of BE. But for now, I just want to focus on getting to the next level, which is staying in the top half of the conference, then we can hopefully look to be in the elite group. I just get tired of my hopes getting shot down, so naturally, I am trying to expect less and probably more realistic goals since this team literally was in shambles, but is slowly beginning to reshape.

Now you are thinking real! The Big East had a lot of key injuries last year plus some young teams. I don't think Villanova had a senior on the team. The Big East teams will be much improved next year on the whole and UC will have to be improved just to stay where they were in the standings. Hoping they can move up into an NIT spot should be okay and go from there.

[SLMadiCat]

Now you are thinking real! The Big East had a lot of key injuries last year plus some young teams. I

Spot on, UC lost Williams and was a very inexperienced team. Next year they should be even better.

[Billy Don]

Spot on, UC was a very inexperienced team. .

UC had the same 3 or 4 players start for 2 years and Warren and Adam H were 24 years old and had played forever. Just how long does it take to get experience?

[SLMadiCat]

So they were essentially Sophomores in D1 college and when they came in they had no Seniors (okay, besides McGowen and Allen). Thats not a lot of experience. No four year players, no three year players.

[jeffto]

UC had the same 3 or 4 players start for 2 years and Warren and Adam H were 24 years old and had played forever. Just how long does it take to get experience?All the experience in the world won't make up for a lack of talent. I love those guys but as a group (Seniors) they just weren't very good.

[CatsClaw]

No offense, but how can you disregard them making the tournement due to "Macnamara's run"? I'm pretty sure if we would have had a "Deonta's Run" we wouldnt discredit it.

What are you talking about?

[CatsClaw]

UC had the same 3 or 4 players start for 2 years and Warren and Adam H were 24 years old and had played forever. Just how long does it take to get experience?

The only players UC had for 2 years was Vaughn, Warren and Williamson, and 2 of those guys were JUCO who weren't that highly looked upon. How in the world does that make UC experienced?

[CatsClaw]

Now you are thinking real! The Big East had a lot of key injuries last year plus some young teams. I don't think Villanova had a senior on the team. The Big East teams will be much improved next year on the whole and UC will have to be improved just to stay where they were in the standings. Hoping they can move up into an NIT spot should be okay and go from there.

Thinking real? Aren't you the same person that predicted that UC would lose to teams like Villanova, West Virginia, Louisville, Syracuse, etc.? UC will be much improved as well and UC beat those teams. I don't think UC should have to shoot for the NIT. Talent wise UC matches up with anyone in the Big East next year and they don't need injuries to compete, UC just needs to get experience and develop team chemistry to win.

[SLMadiCat]

Claw, just to help you out, there is the multi-quote feature (the " with a + sign), so you don't have to post many posts in a row.

[Billy Don]

Thinking real? Aren't you the same person that predicted that UC would lose to teams like Villanova, West Virginia, Louisville, Syracuse, etc.? .

Probably me and everybody else. I also thought UC would beat DePaul and Providence at home late in the season. That was another surprise.

[ralph1950]

Probably me and everybody else. I also thought UC would beat DePaul and Providence at home late in the season. That was another surprise.


How about that UC 62 West Virginia 39 score, at West Virginia.

[Billy Don]

How about that UC 62 West Virginia 39 score, at West Virginia.

Would you believe I was the only one in the nation that got that point spread right? :D