Big East 2001 preview (part one)

By Ross Lancaster Sports Central Columnist

The approaching college basketball season is a mere six weeks away. To preview the upcoming season, I offer up my outlook of the upcoming season. Part one focuses on the Big East.

Big East 2001 Conference Preview

Eastern Division
1. Boston College
2. Connecticut
3. Miami
4. Providence
5. Villanova
6. St. John's
7. Virginia Tech

Boston College is the team to beat, not only in the East, but in the entire conference, as well. B.C. is strengthened by All-American Troy Bell and last year's 11 points-per-game man, Ryan Sidney.

Second in the East is UConn, who is led by sophomores All-Conference swing man Caron Butler, and Taliek Brown.

Miami could be a sleeper, with center Darius Rice leading the way for the Hurricanes, and who I expect to see get back into the tournament after a one-year absence, which came after three straight trips to the Big Dance.

Providence won't be nearly as good as last season when they went to the NCAAs and lost to Penn State by 10. The reason why is because you can't really rely on 5'9" guard John Linehan, who is Providence's best player, to pick up all the points left behind in the departure of center Karim Shabazz.

Villanova, St. John's, and Virginia Tech round out the East.

Western Division
1. Syracuse
2. Georgetown
3. Notre Dame
4. Seton Hall
5. West Virginia
6. Pittsburgh
7. Rutgers

The competition in the West is between Georgetown and Syracuse, with Notre Dame making some surprise noise, as well.

Syracuse looks great with junior DeShaun Williams and All-Conference senior Preston Shumpert. Syracuse also has one of the best incoming freshman groups in the nation, and some of those players could immediately fill in right away.

Georgetown looks equally strong with senior Kevin Braswell, and sophomore Mike Sweetney leading the way for the Hoyas, who advanced to the Sweet Sixteen last year.

Notre Dame might seem like a bad team after losing Troy Murphy, but they are anything but. Their entire starting lineup is back, except for Murphy, of course, and look for them to make a surprise trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Also, look for Seton Hall to make some light noise after having the most disappointing season in college basketball last year.

Big East champion: Boston College

All conference first-team: G Troy Bell, Boston College G Preston Shumpert, Syracuse C Darius Rice, Miami F Caron Butler, UConn F Michael Sweetney, Georgetown

Coach of the Year: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse

Player of the Year: Troy Bell, Boston College

NCAA Tournament teams (in order of finish): Boston College, Syracuse, Georgetown, Connecticut, Notre Dame, Miami.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.