One-and-done players dominate the headlines, but the most dominant conference in college basketball is built on experience.
The top 14 scorers in the Big East are upperclassmen.
But historically NCAA champions have at least three future NBA players on their rosters, and the entire 16-team league doesn’t even have three projected first-round selections.
Could a veteran Big East squad break that trend?
The conference may not have NBA-caliber players but it does have several things on its side:
Experience is not a bad thing » Last year, Duke won the title with three upperclassmen averaging over 53 points a game — defeating a Butler squad that was led by two sophomores in the championship. There have been some impressive one-and-done players that have dominated the college ranks since Carmelo Anthony led Syracuse to the title in 2003. But John Wall, Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, Greg Oden and Kevin Durant all failed to win a national championship before making the jump to the NBA.
Playing the percentages » The Big East has eight teams in the AP Top 25 Poll and could send as many as 11 to the NCAA tournament. It’s a numbers game. They have a better chance of winning since the conference could make up 1Ú6 of the tournament field. A Big East team has not won a title since 2004 (Connecticut), but they have had more Final Four squads (5) than any other conference in the past six years.
Non-conference dominance » One reason the Big East may send so many teams to the NCAA tournament is because of how successful the league was during its non-conference schedule. Syracuse, UConn and Cincinnati entered Big East play undefeated. And the conference has proven it could beat the best from other leagues. Four top-12 teams from other conferences lost to a Big East squad: No. 1 Duke (St. John’s), No. 5 Texas (Pittsburgh, UConn), No.?8 Purdue (West Virginia) and No. 12 Wisconsin (Notre Dame).
Put up your guard » A team can’t go deep in the tournament without reliable guard play and every ranked team in the Big East is led by a veteran who can score: Ashton Gibbs (Pittsburgh), Ben Hansbrough (Notre Dame), Austin Freeman (Georgetown), Corey Fisher (Villanova), Kemba Walker (UConn), Preston Knowles (Louisville), Scoop Jardine (Syracuse) and Dwight Hardy (St. John’s).
