The Big East is exceeding all expectations as conference play kicks off Monday night.
It was supposed to be a down year for the 16-team league. Georgetown’s Greg Monroe entered the draft early. Syracuse lost three of its top four scorers from a season ago. Villanova’s first-team All-American Scottie Reynolds graduated. And UConn didn’t even make the NCAA tournament last year.
Yet, all four of those teams — and preseason favorite Pittsburgh — are ranked in the AP’s top 10.
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The conference isn’t just top-heavy either. Notre Dame is also ranked and three teams –including undefeated Cincinnati — received votes. Only three teams in the league have more than three losses.
So now it’s time for the Big East to do what it does best: Beat itself up — starting with a top-10 matchup between No. 4 UConn and No. 6 Pittsburgh on Monday night at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
