Is the Big East Bad?
Feast Week was terrible for the Big East Conference, and the conference didn’t look very good. Villanova has no good wins, and they may fire their coach by the end of the season. Butler won their Feast Week tournament but lost at home against Austin Peay. UConn can’t defend and went 0-3 in Maui. Creighton lost to Nebraska and went 1-2 in Vegas against teams they would normally beat.
That is just the beginning. Xavier lost to Michigan in their first real test of the year. Providence looks bad and got exposed in a big way at the Battle 4 Atlantis. St. John’s lost a game to Georgia and blew a lead against Baylor in the Bahamas. Seton Hall had a terrible time scoring and lost to previously winless Monmouth at home. The Big East is struggling big time early in the Season. I have zero confidence with anyone in that league outside Marquette.
Johni Broome is the National Player of the Year
This is another one that isn’t that hot of a take. After the first week, I said it was Ryan Kalkbrenner, but he fell off over the course of the month. Many people will say it is Hunter Dickinson, John Tonje, or Kam Jones. All of those are good options, but Broome has been playing at another level for arguably the best team in the country.
The big man is super athletic and currently leads the country in rebounding, averaging over 20 points per game and three assists per game. He is also an elite rim protector. When thinking about the National Player of the Year, I think of how a team would perform without that player on the floor. Auburn is good, but with Broome, they are great and a legitimate National Title contender. He will continue to distance himself from the rest of the pack.