BIG EAST PREVIEW: St. John’s vs. UConn for No. 1 = a two-team league in ’25-26? Who steps up: Creighton, Marquette … who else?

Summary

Eye On College Basketball: BIG EAST PREVIEW

Episode Date: October 20, 2025
Hosts: Gary Parrish (GP) & Matt Norlander (MN)

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Episode Overview

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander return to preview the 2025-26 Big East basketball season. They dive into whether the Big East is truly a "two-team league" with UConn and St. John's at the top, break down the conference's biggest questions, debate the outlook for Creighton, Marquette, Villanova, and Georgetown, and deliver their ranking predictions, storylines, and preseason awards. The discussion includes detailed roster analysis, coaching philosophies, and a candid look at challenges facing Seton Hall and others. If you're a college hoops fan wanting an informed, in-depth, and entertaining look at the Big East, this is the pod for you.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Is the Big East a Two-Team League?

[01:46-04:25]

• Both hosts agree that, entering the season, UConn and St. John’s are the consensus top two teams, as reflected in the AP Top 25 and predictive metrics like KenPom.
• Creighton rounds out preseason AP Top 25 at #23 but is much lower in analytical rankings (KenPom 41st).
• "Right now the Big East is viewed as a two team league heading into the season. That's a problem for the league." - MN [02:18]
• The gap between UConn/St. John's and the rest is described as "major," with no other Big East teams cracking KenPom’s top 40.

Power Conference Comparison

[04:25-06:19]

• Big East has only two teams in KenPom's top 40, compared to SEC (12), Big Ten (11), Big 12 (8), and ACC (5).
• Fewer strong teams could hurt UConn and St. John’s in NCAA selection/seeding due to more opportunities for “bad losses.”

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Main Storylines for 2025-26

1. The St. John's Hype — GP's “Island”

[07:06-08:53]

• GP stands alone among national writers in ranking St. John's preseason #1 and is "ride or die" with Rick Pitino’s Red Storm, citing their overall talent.
• Notably, predictive models list them around #16, and much of their point guard plan (Ian Jackson) shifted late in the offseason, injecting some uncertainty.
• On being alone atop the Johnny's bandwagon:
  “I have not wavered, mostly because I am not a waiver... I’m ride or die at this point with the Red Storm. But do I have concerns? Yes, I have concerns.” - GP [07:37]

2. UConn's Bounce-Back Potential

[17:13-20:59]

• The Huskies look to reassert themselves as national contenders after an uneven year.
• Key returnees: Solomon Ball (potential All-American), Alex Karaban, Terrace Reed, plus top newcomers (S. Damaris Jr., Malachi Smith, and five-star freshman Braylon Mullins).
• “I think they have a better chance on paper to win a national championship this season than they did last season.” - GP [19:25]

3. Marquette & Shaka Smart’s Non-Transfer Stance

[20:59-23:51]

• Marquette is the only major program not to bring in a transfer this offseason—a conscious, "stubborn" strategy by Shaka Smart.
• “If Marquette can be a top four team in the Big East... then he will have ultimately cracked the code.” - MN [22:14]
• Hosts debate whether this approach can last in the portal/NIL era; both predict it will eventually get "caught," but not necessarily this season.

4. Villanova Under Kevin Willard

[27:00-32:13]

• Willard moves from Maryland to Villanova following a messy breakup; both hosts expect he’ll bring stability but acknowledge the transition has felt awkward.
• “Is Kevin Willard going to work out at Villanova?...I assume it’ll go well because it’s a great program with incredible history and resources.” - GP [29:03]

5. Programs in Flux & Postseason Implications

[33:26-34:13]

• Once-proud programs like Georgetown, Xavier, and Butler face uncertain futures, contributing to the Big East's lack of top-tier depth.

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In-Depth Team Discussions

St. John’s

[09:17-15:56]

• Roster: Major talent via the portal but some question marks (Ian Jackson not the starting/backup PG, Isaiah Sellers shifting to PG).
• Zuby Ejiofor expected to be preseason Big East POY; if the Red Storm meet expectations, he should be a national All-American.

UConn

[17:13-20:59]

• Roster stability and the addition of impactful recruits/portal transfers set up a potential return to national prominence.
• Braylon Mullins: Highest-ranked Big East freshman, expected to contribute but not carry the scoring load.

Marquette

[20:59-26:29]

• No transfers added, relying on five freshmen and returning core (Chase Ross, Ben Gold, Sean Jones).
• Approach is praised and questioned; both hosts agree it’s “not the way I would do it...eventually you’ll get caught.”

Villanova

[27:00-32:13]

• New Coach: Kevin Willard, notable transfers (Devon Askew, Bryce Lindsay), and a high-usage frosh (Kaden Lewis).
• GP expects the “fit” to be good; MN is cautiously optimistic but notes immediate expectations shouldn’t be “Jay Wright-level dominance.”

Creighton

[36:23-43:13]

• Loss of defensive anchor Ryan Kalkbrenner and other mainstays; skepticism over their top 25 status.
• “Creighton is an easy three for me, but I’m just not as high on them as clearly AP voters are.” - GP [36:23]

Georgetown

[38:44-41:18]

• Ed Cooley’s rebuild has been slow—should be turning around by now but still lacks clear momentum.
• “If Georgetown can’t get out of the cellar...that would be a failure if you wind up being correct.” - MN [39:43]

Other programs (Butler, Xavier, Seton Hall)

• Butler and Xavier are tricky to project (“could be anywhere from 7th to 10th”).
• Seton Hall is widely viewed as having the hardest job due to NIL limitations—both hosts pick them last.

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Hosts' Big East Team Rankings (2025-26 Prediction)

[35:13-49:25]

| Gary Parrish | Matt Norlander | |------------------------|-----------------------| | 1. St. John's | 1. UConn | | 2. UConn | 2. St. John’s | | 3. Creighton | 3. Marquette | | 4. Marquette | 4. Creighton | | 5. Providence | 5. Villanova | | 6. Villanova | 6. Georgetown | | 7. Xavier | 7. Butler | | 8. DePaul | 8. Providence | | 9. Georgetown | 9. Xavier | | 10. Butler | 10. DePaul | | 11. Seton Hall | 11. Seton Hall |

Notable differences:

• GP much lower on Georgetown & Butler; MN bullish on Georgetown ("faith play") and a more optimistic Butler outlook.
• Both hosts see Seton Hall at the bottom due to resource constraints.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

“Right now the Big East is viewed as a two team league...That’s a problem for the league.”
— Matt Norlander [02:18]

“I have not wavered, mostly because I am not a waiver. I’m ride or die at this point with the Red Storm.”
— Gary Parrish [07:37]

"I think they have a better chance on paper to win a national championship this season than they did last season..."
— Gary Parrish on UConn [19:25]

“If Marquette can be a top four team in the Big East...then he will have ultimately cracked the code.”
— Matt Norlander [22:14]

"Sometimes things that should work just don't."
— Gary Parrish on coaching fits [32:13]

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Preseason Awards & NCAA Tournament Bids

[51:23-54:29]

Preseason Player of the Year

• GP: Zuby Ejiofor (St. John's)
• MN: Solomon Ball (UConn)

Freshman of the Year

• GP: Braylon Mullins (UConn)
• MN: Kaden Lewis (Villanova)

Transfer of the Year

• Both: Ian Jackson (St. John’s)

NCAA Tournament Bids (Big East)

• Over/Under (4.6 teams; avg since UConn rejoined: 4.6):
  • GP: Picks UNDER (St. John's, UConn, Creighton, Marquette)
  • MN: Picks OVER (adds Villanova for 5 total)

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Timestamped Highlights

• [02:18] — Two-team league problem statement
• [07:37] — Parrish’s “I am not a waiver” quote
• [15:45] — St. John’s roster and point guard debates
• [19:25] — UConn national title outlook
• [22:14] — Marquette transfer philosophy debate
• [29:03] — Kevin Willard Villanova optimism
• [35:13] — Standings rundown and side-by-side comparison
• [53:24] — Preseason awards revealed

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Fun/Light Moments

• Squirrel drop banter and running jokes about GP’s “creature of habit” hosting style
• [26:38] GP breaks news: Marquette’s Cam Jones arrested — real concern aired by both hosts
• Multiple self-referential jokes about their own podcasting quirks: “If you’re still listening…” “Let’s throw up GP’s.”
• [56:38] – “How do you believe Dan Hurley is going to behave on the sidelines this season?” — MN: “Is this a serious question?” GP: “I don’t care!” (Light-hearted exasperation)
• [61:45] – Smoothie King price shock

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Closing Thoughts

• The Big East’s health depends on either Creighton, Marquette, Villanova, or perhaps Georgetown breaking into the top 25, as two clear powers alone isn’t enough.
• Coaches like Rick Pitino (St. John’s) and Dan Hurley (UConn) guarantee the Big East remains must-watch, but more depth is needed.
• The parity, resource gaps (Seton Hall’s plight, Marquette’s anti-portal stance), and evolving coaching philosophies make the Big East unpredictable and ripe for upheaval in 2025-26.

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For New Listeners

This episode gives fans a comprehensive, nuanced, and entertaining look at every angle of the Big East—rosters, coaching trends, preseason expectations, program health, and plenty of well-informed banter. You’ll come away caught up and ready for tipoff!

Transcript

[Podcast Narrator/Ad Voice]

Foreign.

[Gary Parrish]

Hey there, Gary Parish. Welcome back. CBS Sports. I own college basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, dodo birds and leaky black. If you're watching on YouTube, you know what to do to the like button Brandon Davies. And if you haven't yet subscribed to the CBS Sports college basketball YouTube channel.

[Matt Norlander]

Please do that while you're here.

[Gary Parrish]

I mean, I don't even care anymore, honestly.

[Matt Norlander]

Like, you know what, I still do care. So please do that while you're here.

[Gary Parrish]

I mean, I do care, but it's a little bit like asking your kids over and over again to like, hey, get your shoes. Like at some point I'm like, go to school with no shoes, man. I don't care.

[Matt Norlander]

You can change up your little opening script anytime you want. In fact, maybe for the new season, maybe you maybe a spice up the copy.

[Gary Parrish]

I don't know if you, I don't know if you know this about me, but I am a, I am a creature of habit.

[Matt Norlander]

I know, I know. Just maybe just tweak a little here and there. How about this? How about you let me write it, you edit and we'll do something new for the new season?

[Gary Parrish]

That's all. I don't, we don't have that kind of time for you to be writing 11, 000 word intros to the podcast.

[Matt Norlander]

I promise to keep it. I promise to keep it under 200.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, I've heard you make that promise to Marcus Nelson before. I don't think you keep it every time.

[Matt Norlander]

Most people don't know who that is.

[Gary Parrish]

But yeah, everybody knows who that is. That's Marcus Nelson, the man that esteemed.

[Matt Norlander]

Elite lead editor of College troops [e-mail].

[Gary Parrish]

The man who genuinely keeps college basketball up and [e-mail] that is right.

[Matt Norlander]

The great, great, terrific Marcus Nelson, who is still on a quite a high after going to see his, his Crimson Tide win in person on the, on the gridiron over the weekend there. So Marcus Nelson, we're off to a wonderful start on this Big east preview pot. How you doing GP I'm great.

[Gary Parrish]

We are here to continue our previews of some the best conferences in college basketball. Today we're turning our attention to the big east where UConn and St. John's at least on paper and in the computers, have separated from the pack. So Norlander, let's stop here for a second. Do you agree that St. John's and Yukon have to be 1 and 2 in the big east in some order? And then there's a gap from 2 to 3. And do you have a preference? The Huskies I do have.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, I have a preference. I guess we'll share that preference in a minute here. I think a gap is understandable, as always. I've got five storylines here. GP knows them. But I'll inform our live audience and everyone listening on the pod. This is my fifth storyline, but maybe, maybe one, maybe the biggest. I don't know. And it is that there is a major gap in the Big east. And what teams are going to fill that gap? Will it be filled at all? Creighton is 23rd in the AP Top 25 in the preseason. The there was not another team. So UConn and St. John's you know, comfortably, you know, top 10 status overall and Creighton gets 23. No one else got votes. No one. Not Marquette, not Villanova, not nobody. Is the Big east going to. Right now the Big east is viewed as a two team league heading into the season. That's a problem for the league. For as great as UConn of St. John's is. And it is wonderful. I mean, the status of this rivalry right now with Hurley and Pitino and those two operating at basically near peak of their powers, not the outright peak of their powers. That's awesome and is about as good of a thing as you could ask for within the Big east, all things included. But you can't just have those two teams carry the conference. Who's going to step up? Who's going to be the third team? Who's going to be the fourth team? Who's going to be the fifth team? That's one of the biggest storylines heading into the season. But I do think, objectively speaking, there needs to be a gap that's reflected in the AP rankings. It's reflected in your preseason top 25. And one, it's reflected in my preseason top 101, which we'll publish at the end of the week. It's reflected in the, in the predictive metrics as well. There is a major drop off here. And as we get in most seasons, like, we'll probably get into six, eight weeks into the season. Parrish and we're going to see. Oh, well, look at that. You know, Creighton. Creighton's pretty good after all. If it's not Creighton, maybe Marquette and Shaka Smart do it. We'll get to these teams in just a second. Maybe Kevin Willard. I would, I would lean toward there being a third team that slides into top 20 territory. So it's not like a huge cliff, but. But right now I think it is fair to evaluate nationally when you look at what's in the Big east right now, the league only having two teams of top 20, let alone top 10 quality.

[Gary Parrish]

I agree with most of that. I think a third team will emerge. But there are only two right now that are clear top 25 teams. To me, I know Creighton is also in the AP top 25 poll, but they're not in my top 25 and 1. They're literally the only team in the AP poll that isn't in the top 25 and 1. And for what it's worth, they are 41st at Ken Palm. So if you look at that as just one way to sort of chop this up, you kind of fit the Ken Palm. St. John's is 16th and no other Big east teams are in the top 40. Now to compare that with some other leagues. Trivia time. How many, how many SEC teams are in the top 40 at Kenpong? 11 12. Okay, again, two in the Big East. In the Big Ten it's 11. In the Big 12, it's eight. In the ACC is five. In the Big east it's two. So every other power conference has more than twice as many top 40 KinPom teams this preseason. And I, I don't chop it off there just to, you know, shape the figures the way I want. Like top 40 is largely considered like your NCAA tournament at large candidate. If you're in the top 40, you start seeping outside of that, the likelihood of you getting there decreases. So top 40 is an important range and the SEC has 12 of those. Big 10 11, Big 12, eight ACC, five, Big east, only two. That is a real problem for the league and honestly a problem that could hurt St. John's and Yukon as well because you know, teams do tend to slip up here or there and there's going to be more options for you to take quote unquote bad losses in the Big east than say Florida and Tennessee are at risk of taking in the sec. Michigan State and Michigan are at risk of taking in the Big Ten, so on and so forth.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, and how the Biggie suggests to that will be pretty interesting. I'm also interested to hear from coaches at Big east media day. For everyone listening now, this is just a heads up here GP and I. We got more media day stuff coming this whole week, so get ready. The feed is going to be bombarded with tons of content. I will be at MSG on Tuesday morning, have a number of coaching interviews Maybe a couple player interviews that we're going to hit with you in your feed. Then GP and I will both be at Big 12 media day. We've got a lot more coming there. Joint pod, tons of stuff. So please, you know, the podcast, CBS Sports HQ, CBSSports.com We've got a lot. This is a big, big, big week in preview content there. So this is just the. The table setter for a lot of biggie stuff that's going to hit the feed over the next couple days and then the Big 12 after that. More storylines. To me, the number one, and I say this half tongue in cheek and half for real, it's parish against the world on St. John's is the number one.

[Gary Parrish]

Bring it on, bring it.

[Matt Norlander]

I love this. GP was the only one to put St. John's even on that tier. Like, you know, if you've got St. John's even three, four or five, that's not the same tier as preseason. Number one. GP's had them number one going back to the spring has not wavered off of that. And I think maybe you would know this, maybe you wouldn't. I think you just said Ken Palm's got him at 16. Is that the lowest of any mainstream predictive metric? Any other ranking? Is anyone lower than Pomeroy at 16 on St. John's I. I haven't seen.

[Gary Parrish]

Anybody lower than that.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay.

[Gary Parrish]

It's. I have not wavered, mostly because I am not a waiver. But that's really it. That's really the main reason I haven't wavered is because I'm not a waiver. I'm just gonna ride. I'm ride or die at this point with the Red Storm. But do I have concerns? Yes, I have concerns, but let me be clear. It's not necessarily in the Ken Palm number. I. I had some people, when the kingpom numbers published, you know, they were sending it to me, like, oh, your number one's number 16. Right. And I get that. I would point out two of the past three national champions started outside of the top 25 at Kenpong.

[Matt Norlander]

Oh, that's a good little nugget. Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

Like Florida last year was outside of the top 25. And UConn the first time.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

For Dan Hurley was they started outside of the top 25. So I'm not. There's nothing crazy about A team preseason 16th at Ken Palm winning the national championship. Two of the past three have been worse than that. But we've gone from Ian Jackson's going to be the next great St. John's point guard. Dude, let's get him on campus. Hold up. He's not even our starting point guard or our backup point guard. And so that's obviously not, not great to hear. It could still all work out beautifully.

[Matt Norlander]

Yes.

[Gary Parrish]

But you cannot argue what is happening at St. John's right now. Is the plan or was the plan because Rick Patino targeted Ian Jackson, secured his commitment and then called in the next great St. John's point guard? That was the plan. Now he's not calling him a point guard at all. So this was not the plan, but it could still end up working beautifully.

[Matt Norlander]

They, they could have a guy from Idaho State that is, that's running the show there in Jamaica. We'll, we'll see. Here's a quick reset on the roster if you're just a guy. Just, you know, semi regular reminder because I know a lot of people, our numbers reflect this. We've got a great off season audience. But once we get to this point of the year, obviously there's a spike in interest. We did a whole episode on St. John's in our summer shoot around series. If you're at all interested in the Johnny's, you haven't listened to that, please go do and find that. I believe GP did that. I believe that was Mr. John Fanta who I was on that was on that episode. But here's a quick.

[Gary Parrish]

And John Fanta, my God, I'm just sitting around on Sunday night watching Sunday Night Football. Me and my beautiful wife. And she's like, is that John Vanta on Sunday Night Football? I said yes. She goes, man. She goes, my God, it's really happening for a minute. It is happening. Couldn't happen to a better guy. I like it when awesome things happen to awesome people. Thrilled to see Fanta be put on the stage.

[Matt Norlander]

And I will be on the same plane to Big 12 media day. And in fact I, I trying to see if we can mix you in for a dinner. We'll see if we can get GP out, but, but big plans happen.

[Gary Parrish]

I'm supposed to go to dinner tomorrow night.

[Matt Norlander]

No, maybe after. Are you flying home after Big 12 media day on Wednesday?

[Gary Parrish]

No. Memphis is not the easiest place to get.

[Matt Norlander]

You're flying out Thursday?

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah.

[Matt Norlander]

Then you're going to join us at dinner. I was going to ask you about this off air, but now we know you're coming to dinner with me and Fanta.

[Gary Parrish]

I'll have dinner with you and Fanta CJ Moore.

[Matt Norlander]

It'll be a bunch of special guests from the summer shoot around.

[Gary Parrish]

We'll get a little dinner with C.J. more. I like a C.J. more.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, we're gonna make that happen.

[Gary Parrish]

Don't go too far. I don't. Eventually you keep naming people, I'm gonna be like, all right, I can't make it all right. But so far so good. I can. I can hang with John.

[Matt Norlander]

All it is at this point. Why don't you try and book that? Didn't Mahomes and Kelsey just open a restaurant? I feel like you're a man with connections. Why don't you see if you can make that happen for us? We haven't. We haven't determined a place yet. So I'll text.

[Gary Parrish]

I'll text Taylor and see what I can get done.

[Matt Norlander]

Thank you.

[Gary Parrish]

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[Gary Parrish]

Good luck.

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[Matt Norlander]

We were about to talk about the St. John's roster real quick. Hopkins is is on campus. Last time we saw him healthy at Providence, he was a top five player in the Big East. We'll see what he can be there. I'm not I'm not expecting Hopkins to be a top three player of value for St. John's but I still think he'll be very, very good. That's why I have St. John's as a top 10 team. Other transfers coming in Uziah Sellers from Stanford, Justin Sanon, who I know has looked well in the preseason. Ian Jackson as you mentioned from unc. Dylan Darling is the Idaho State point guard who I think is going to get some real run. They got some more rim protection with Dylan Mitchell, by the way of Cincinnati. He's still in college believe it or not. And then Zubi, Edge of four, obviously the big name. We are taping this before the Big east media day on Tuesday. I appreciate the biggies for this. Thank you biggies, because I think you're the only power conference that does this.

[Gary Parrish]

You.

[Matt Norlander]

You release your preseason awards and all conference teams on the day of your media day as opposed to doing it after everyone's gone home like two, three days later. I don't know why leagues do this, but the biggies will reveal this on Tuesday. I expect Zubi Edge of War to be the preseason Big east player of the year. We'll see if I'm right or if I'm wrong. But he is going to be the guy in which all of the centers around pun not intended there. Elite, elite defender, awesome on the boards both ends of the floor. I think he's got a chance to be. If St. John's is going to be what Paris says it is, then he's going to be a first team All American, I would think. Because if St. John's is going to be a 1 seed, it's hard for me to see how that could be the case in Zubi. Not be outright awesome. They got a lot around him. That's why GP's got them number one overall. But, but I will be interested to see who winds up being right. The folks that think, okay, St. John's you know, maybe second or third in the Big east and, and more in that 2, 3 or 4 C territory or GP at the end of the day. So I think that's a, that's a prominent storyline.

[Gary Parrish]

Anything else on the Johnny before one last appears. Now Isaiah Sellers is the point guard and he's never really played that position. What's funny is he's never really been a point guard.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

And didn't expect to be a point guard coming to St. John's all right. But now he's the starting point guard according to Rick Patino. Just some numbers on him career. Like he's played three years of college basketball and for his career has averaged 0.8 assists per game last season a little better career high 1.3 assists per game to go with 1.1 turns. So it's just, it's, it's not, it's not the way the plan was. The, the plan is not unfolding the way the plan was presented. But there is still an immense amount of talent in the program and I'm just gonna trust the talent with one of the greatest coaches of all time. Put that type of stuff together and, and you get good things. But it has been an interesting preseason. Undeniably. Like I mentioned sort of tongue in cheek. I, I haven't wavered yet because I don't waver. I just, I just wouldn't, I just wouldn't change off of the things that have happened. But if I were being completely honest, what team do I think is the safest pick to be preseason number one? Like I have no doubt this team is going to be very, very, very good. It's Purdue.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, fair enough. But I appreciate your stubbornness all the same. Next storyline Will Yukon, will it return to greatness or will we actually wind up getting something of a repeat last season where go in highly ranked Final Four slash national title expectations and it just doesn't go that way. We both lean that this is going to be a very, very good, if not great Yukon team. Solomon Ball is back. I'll have him as a preseason All American. Alex Caraban is back for one final season in stores. Terrace Reed returns. Jalen Stewart, Jaden Ross. They have a lot of last season, yes, obviously went sideways. We practically litigated the Huskies every single week on the show, as we should have. They were high profile. Everyone knows the story there now. But the fact that they were able to push Florida in a really, really good game in the second round of the tournament bring back a lot of good pieces that, that frankly that that do fit with what Hurley and his staff want to accomplish and they bring in here's the key thing. S. Damaris Jr. From Georgia, a much bigger lead combo guard. Having him involved I think is going to be big. Malachi Smith from Dayton, they're going to be reinforced with some shooting and there's some optimism about Braylon Mullins, who is a, you know, a high level top 20, you know, in the eyes of some like a top 10 to 12 prospect in this class. He's not going to be asked nor is his role going to be what Liam McNeely's was a season ago. But I think he can, you know, you know, put McNeely's injury aside when he didn't play. Like in terms of production. Like I think Mullins can be, I don't know, 80 of what McNeely brought to the team. Him and Eric Rybay, I believe you say, is how you say it, big man who's going to get some real run there alongside or behind Terrace Reed. There's a ton there. But I think, you know, we're two weeks out for right now from the season starting. Two weeks GP two weeks. I think the curiosity about UConn nationally registers. I think it registers above Saint John's. I think it registers as one of the three or four biggest national storylines just because we saw how they just they had these, these fizzles, these blow ups, these collapses and then these bursts of really good play. What's. What's early going to do here? So what are your thoughts on the Huskies?

[Gary Parrish]

I think they're going to be really good. I think they have a better chance on paper to win a national championship this season than they did last season. Even though heading into last season everybody described them as a serious threat to, to, to. To win a third straight. That just. We talked about it a million times. It got off to a rough start. They weren't the talent. Wasn't what they thought it was. Wasn't what we thought it was. That was clear early. The Maui thing was a disaster. And then I think it just got hard for them to like just catch their breath. It just like regroup. It just. They were, they were playing catch up the entire season. I don't think they're gonna have to do any of that. I. Spoiler alert. We'll get to it. But yes, I, I did name Zubie Edge of War Preseason biggies Player of the year. If it's not him, it will. It should be solo ball. I expect them to have a monster season and you're exactly right about Mullins and he won't be asked to do what McNeely was asked to do. A Because they don't have to ask him. And honestly they should. I don't say they shouldn't have but like McNeely didn't need to be doing all the stuff he was asked to do. I think they would even tell you that it was just like who else is going to do it? They got put in a tough spot last. The roster wasn't what it needed to be. I think they realized that pretty quickly and last season was what it was. But if, if you're. If the question is does Dan Hurley have a. And UConn have a bounce back season and reestablish themselves as a true national title contender? Yes, I think that happens.

[Matt Norlander]

Two more storylines. The next one, let's talk about Marquette and Shakasmar and his Golden Eagles because this guy, is it stubborn? Is it smart? Doesn't bring in a transfer again. The only high major program in the country not to bring in a transfer in Frank. And beyond that it's only. The only programs that did not add a transfer in the past six months were Marquette, Ivy League schools, a few Patriot League schools where their scholarship, scholarship Situation is what it is. And then the military academies, everyone else brought in at least a transfer. But Shaka Smart is bringing in five freshmen, bringing back Chase Ross, who I've got high hopes for. Ben Gold returns, Sean Jones, Royce Parham. This is a team that is being sold on broadly speaking heading into the season. They've Marquette, I think if you kind of scanned around a bunch of rankings is looked at as a team that will land anywhere from a nine seed to missing the tournament. And this is the season that Smarts philosophy really does get tested like once and for all. Like if he can make this work, if Marquette can be a top four team in the Big east, if Marquette can be a team that spends more weeks ranked inside the top 25 than outside of it, then he will have ultimately cracked the code. So not going to be easy. He is. You know, I've talked with Shaka here and there about this. I'm sure he'll get asked about it at media day. Frankly, I plan on asking about it when I sit down with him for, you know, a good 10 minute interview for this pod that'll hit the feed at some point on Tuesday. Why he believes this is the way. There are a few other programs that, you know, Purdue to a certain extent also believe in trying to retain as much as possible. He's been able to do it like he has walked the walk. Okay. Not a single guy has come into this program. It is all about recruiting high school players and developing them for the most part. They have had a few here and there that have, that have obviously come in. Colick was at George Mason before he parlayed himself into having an NBA shot with with Marquette and being one of the better players in the country. But I am riveted by this and I will reveal where I have Marquette when we get after the break and we show where we have our rankings. But a mini spoiler. I am not siding with a lot of people that think Marquette will turn into a bottom half of the Big east team. What are your thoughts on what Shock is doing in Milwaukee?

[Gary Parrish]

I don't think they will turn into a bottom half of the Big east team. I do have them projected as an NCAA tournament team. The way you presented it in the, in the prep document was like shocking smart philosophy. Stubborn or smart, which you know could be twisted into smarter, dumb, ahead of the curve or behind whatever.

[Matt Norlander]

It's indisputable that what he's doing should be defined, among other words, a stubborn. He is stubbornly doing this. He is going against every single piece of momentum and, and the, and the tides of the sport to say I am not going to participate in this. I think it's fair to describe that as stubborn.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's fine. I'm not, I'm not nitpicking your words. I'm just saying you could frame this a lot of different ways. And I'm just, I try to be self aware enough to not like get twisted up in. It's clearly dumb because like Shaka Smart has coached in 12 of the past 14 NCAA tournaments at three different schools he's coached in a Final Four. Like, he's more successful than 99.9 of people born in this country. And he's very good at his job. So I would feel a little silly just being like, you're like, yeah, I don't think he knows what he's doing. Like, he clearly knows what he's doing. All right, all that said, this is not the way I would do it. And you mentioned Purdue and that's a great example of building from within. But ask Matt Painter if he's going to get in the transfer portal. He does every year. Yeah, okay. I believe this is a philosophy that can work when you've already got Tyler Kolik in your program, when you've already got Cam Jones in your program, when you've already got Osogadar in your program. But eventually those guys are going to cycle through and you're just going to, you're going to get caught. I don't know if it's this season, but eventually you're going to get caught. And in the middle of that season, at some point you're going to either say out loud or at least think, ah, we should have got in there and tried to supplement our core with, with experienced players from other places who had already done it at the D1 level. That's what I believe. This is his hardcore philosophy. Now, you ready for this? He will not retire with this philosophy. He will adjust at some point because it, it, it's going to get him at some point. That's what, that's what I would guess. Do you disagree?

[Matt Norlander]

I will save it for when we show our I, I will shock a Smart, eventually go back to the Portland players. Yes, of course he will. But he will be only emboldened if Marquette is, you know, a fringe top 25 team and able to get into the tournament, win a game or two. Again, I don't think he will feel the itch to, to change anytime soon, but again, that's why I Think this is such an intriguing year to be good. I believe they've got enough pieces to be good. But, but if you told me this was like a, just a weird chaos here in the Big east and suddenly like, well, damn, look at this. Georgetown's fourth, Butler's fifth, and Marquette's ninth. That's not unthinkable to me. And that would obviously advance.

[Gary Parrish]

I, I, I don't, I don't necessarily think it's going to be this season that gets him. I just think doing it this way, you will eventually get caught with a roster that's not good enough. That, that's, that's what I believe. And, oh, by the way, not to get sidetracked, but did you see the Cam Jones headline from earlier?

[Matt Norlander]

I did not. Actually. I've been packing. If. No. Or yesterday. I missed it entirely. I have no idea.

[Gary Parrish]

Literally within the past hour and a half.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay. No.

[Gary Parrish]

Arrested in Indianapolis after a brief police chase.

[Matt Norlander]

Geez.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, it's not good.

[Matt Norlander]

Wow.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah. And the mug shot doesn't look great. I don't want to speculate, but the mug shot does not look great.

[Matt Norlander]

Gentleman. No, I missed that entirely.

[Gary Parrish]

I mean, that's my little homie from Memphis. Like, that makes my heart hurt. I don't. Yeah, I didn't like seeing that.

[Matt Norlander]

All right, last storyline, then we'll take a break and make our. We'll show you and reveal our predictions 1 through 11 in the big East. And that is Kevin Willard and what he does or does not do at Villanova both this season and big picture. I mean, he wiggled his way out of Maryland with a very public divorce, very messy. Maryland fans can't stand the guy, and now he scoots on up to Philadelphia. What does it look like in year one at Nova? Can they get back to being a team that is, you know, ranked occasionally this season and then ultimately within two, three years. Can Willard return Villanova to a top 10 status this season? They're going to bring aboard Devon Askew, who is somehow still in college. At one point, he started his career at Kentucky in that. I'm not even. It feels like a decade ago. It wasn't, but it feels like a long, long time ago. Bryce Lindsay comes aboard. He has experience in the league. They've got transfers from Grand Canyon, Temple. They brought. There are a few players that came along with him from Maryland as well. A Kaden Lewis is a freshman coming in that I really like that. It might be out of necessity, but he could be the highest volume frosh in the league. Villa As I was doing my top 101 parish, you know, there are always a handful of high major teams where I just find myself at a loss, trying to, like, I. I build it out, I write the capsules, I start slotting teams, and I've got one team at, like, say, 37. I'm like, do I really think, like, the teams I have at 38 through 41 or 42 are going to be worse than this team? Probably not. So I move them around Villanova. I ping ponged all over the place. What are your, I guess, impressions and expectations on Willard? Like, you know, big picture, we'll save the Year one stuff after the break when we do our reveal. So let's just, let's go a little bit more broad. Like, is Kevin Willard going to work out at Villanova? Is he going to be there? And by workout, I'll define it this way. Like, do you think that Villanova and Kevin Willard are still attached at the hip by the time we get to, say, 2033, 2034? Will he make it the better part of a decade there?

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, I guess he could, and I assume it'll go well because it's a great program with incredible history and resources and. Say what you want to about Kevin Willard. I know Maryland fans have a lot to say, but, like, the guy's a good basketball coach. Like, you know, he was successful at Seton hall, he was successful at Maryland. Maybe he didn't do everything at those places that you wanted him to do, but he did enough at Seton hall to get the Maryland job, and he did enough at Maryland to where, you know, they didn't want to lose him until they knew they were right.

[Matt Norlander]

I, I. Yeah. I mean, it crossed a. It crossed the line at some point where they're like, get the hell out of here. Oh, no, no, no, no.

[Gary Parrish]

I know, but before that was a thing, it was like how January people weren't sitting around like, we got to get out of this, Kevin.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah. I mean, he was at the head of the best Maryland season, and, yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

That'S what I mean. I mean, like, he did well enough at Seton hall to get the Maryland job, and he did well enough at Maryland. He was fine with the fans and everybody else up until it became clear he, you know, was looking over here a little bit.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

So I assume that guy with this program, you know, makes those two things together. It'll be fine. But it's such. It felt so weird getting to this point. Like, the way they got here just felt off.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

And you remember Like Jimbo Fisher, Florida State to Texas A and M. And it was like that there was a build up to it. Everybody saw it coming and it was getting talked about and then it was like, I've got to take all this, you know, I got to go here because it's the bigger job with the better chance and blah, blah, blah. And. And it just never worked. It was just didn't click.

[Matt Norlander]

I know to be fair, it wasn't nearly as public. But this was the thing. When Willard went to Maryland too. Like behind the scenes for two months, everyone just assumed Willard was getting the Maryland job. Now, he was not nearly, nearly as public about that, but even like the way that got negotiated out. I know what you're saying on Jimbo Fisher. I'm just like, he did this before and it kind of worked out with Maryland. I don't think you can say it ultimately worked out, considering how it ended, but because he wanted in institutionally, I could see how this could maybe fit. But it's also, it's just, it's a tough, it's a tough gig, man, that they don't have FBS football. You can make the argument that Villanova is, you know, power ranked the blue bloods. And you got to draw a line somewhere. Villanova is either at the bottom at list or it's the school that is just below getting into the club. We've talked about this plenty of times. I actually think it's got a case for blue blood status, but you can lose it. I think Indiana's lost it and I think Villanova, if it doesn't in year one and year two under Kevin Willard, get back to, you know, vying for Final Fours, then yeah, I think, I think you can lose that status there. I do think how Kevin Willard is wired, how he coaches, knowing the region. I do, I do see a fit. I'll answer my own question. I think we'll get to eight years from now and he'll still be the coach there and they'll have had some good run. But it is asking us just so much to say, can you get us back to where we were with Jay Wright and dominating the Biggies? That, that is just asking too much. But I think we will get to a point where this is ultimately working out mostly to the satisfaction of Villanova fans.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, I think it probably works out, but I leave open the possibility that sometimes things that should work just don't. And that's mostly what I meant about the Jimbo Fisher thing. Like in, in theory, that should have worked Here's a guy who's wanted an extremely high level for a long time at Florida State. Now we're going to give him all the resources, he's coming with us, and then it's just nothing. Right? So I leave open the possibility for that. But in, in, broadly speaking, circling back to one of our initial points about, you know, how many teams make it from here, how many teams are in the top 40 at Ken Palm, some of the answers to those questions are tied to stuff like this. Villanova is one of your best brands, but has been down lately and isn't expected to be in the NCAA Tournament this year. Georgetown is historically one of the biggest brands of the sport, been down forever. Xavier was like getting a one seed, you know, under Chris Mack and operating at a high level before and it, you know, they just had to, they're going through a coaching change now. So some of the programs that have been reliably really good are in weird spots right now. And, and that's how you look up and suddenly you've only got two schools in the top 40 at Kenpa.

[Matt Norlander]

Well, let's see where Parrish and I agree and where we differ. We, I know we differ on who we have as preseason number one in the league, but we'll, we'll take a tour through 1 through 11 and, and examine the similarities and differences. But first, let's get a word from our partners. Your fantasy season doesn't end after your draft. The Fantasy Football Today podcast is going to get you through this season and to a championship. Fantasy Football Today, part of CBS Sports Podcast Network, has episodes every single day. Waiver wire, trade talk, starter sit, mailbags and more. If you want to win your league, you need to listen to Fantasy Football Today. Download and follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere podcasts are found.

[Siya Najad]

What's up everyone? It's the counselor of Cash Cnajad from the Early Edge, a daily sports betting show powered by Sportsline and part of the CP CBS Sports Podcast Network. If you're looking for the best bets, picks and analysis for the day in sports, we're your one stop shop. We're locked in every day with NFL bets and player props, college football picks and so much more. Download and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere podcasts are found. Subscribe to the SportsLine YouTube page to watch us live at 10am Eastern Time every weekday. Make sure to turn on those notifications so you don't miss a single pick all season long.

[Gary Parrish]

Good luck.

[Matt Norlander]

It's football season and you Gotta keep up with the action. Listen in to Pushing the Pile, part of CBS Sports Podcast Network with Mike Renner, Kyle Long, and now me, JP Acosta for smart analysis of everything between the lines. With four episodes a week, Sunday night recaps, film review, power tiers, and weekly previews, you will know ball. Stick with us until one team lists the Lombardi download and follow Pushing the Pile on Apple podcasts, Spotify, and anywhere podcasts are found.

[Gary Parrish]

All right, Norlander, we're going to walk through the Big east right now. Yeah, I think if people have been listening to the first 31 minutes of this, they know that I've got it slotted. St. John's one, Yukon two. I gather you've got it in reverse. Yukon one, St. John's two.

[Matt Norlander]

I do, but not. Let's throw up, GPS. Let's throw up. GP okay. Oh, look at these quickies. There we go.

[Gary Parrish]

We got it.

[Matt Norlander]

It's not too much Tremond mark on the graphic before we get out of here. All right, so, GP I'm gonna. I'm gonna read it off for our audio audience. Here is his 1 through 11. St. John's at 1, Yukon at 2, Creighton at 3, Marquette at 4, Providence at 5, Villanova at 6 for Mr. Parrish, Xavier at 7, DePaul at 8, Georgetown at 9, Butler at 10, and Seton hall bringing up the caboose. We have Seton hall in the same place. We both have them. 11. We both have Creighton at three.

[Gary Parrish]

Three.

[Matt Norlander]

And that might be the only two schools that we have in the exact same spot in the league. But let's keep your standings up here and talk us through a few of your thoughts here, and then we'll get to mine.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay, so Creighton is a easy three for me, but I'm just not as high on them as clearly AP voters are. You know, we did this in the dribble handoff last week. Name a school in the AP top 25 that I. I think was you. You.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah. There have been, on average, over the past, like, 10 to 12 years, on average. Average. Four teams in the preseason AP top 25 don't make the tournament. Last year, we had three of them. We had to each pick a team. You picked Creighton, and I picked Wisconsin.

[Gary Parrish]

Right. And so clearly that's going to happen. It's just the nature of the way things work. But, like, again, I'm working off of the top 25. And one, Creighton's the only team in the AP poll that's not in the top 25 and one. So they are by definition my most likely team to miss the NCAA tournament.

[Matt Norlander]

Team you have the least amount of confidence in.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, but I don't even think they're missing the Instant Play tournament or at least I don't have them projected that way. So St. John's Yukon, Creighton in the top three and then I settled on Marquette. I just, I, I, I believe in consistent winners and I, I eventually think that Shock is going to have to get into the transfer portal and, and supplement rosters that way. That he didn't do it this offseason is interesting, but I don't necessarily believe it'll, it's going to be a killer for this particular team. Like I said, I think it catches up with you eventually, but I don't necessarily believe it'll be this season. I've got St. John's Yukon, Creighton, Marquette, top four and all four of those schools in the NCAA tournament. After that I go Providence, Villanova, Xavier DePaul and like the Providence Villanova, Xavier I think you can almost twist up in, in any order. There's not much on paper roster perspective that I think separates them. None of them I have projected to make the NCAA tournament and then yeah, you know, the rest are just sort of filling out. The interesting thing there at, at Butler, you know, you probably need to be better than this to, to keep going down this path. I, I think that's widely understood throughout the industry. And then the Georgetown thing, you know, you're pick ninth in an 11 team league. This is year three for Ed Cooley. Like this was supposed to have already happened.

[Matt Norlander]

Well, this was the one storyline that I didn't put on our top five. But it will be if Ed's still there in a year from now, it's going to be in the top three and I was going to get into. I, I agree with you. Like you made the move you by the way, Providence fans are loving you right now. You've got Kim English at 5 and Cooley and Georgetown at 9. So they're going to be trying to make you about 37 friar before long here might be but you Cooley left Providence a place he could have coached at until his death and been beloved there. You know, grew up there, the whole deal. But he, he leaves and he stays in conference and scoots on down 995 and goes to DC and I'm higher on Georgetown. We'll get that in just a second there. But Cooley has done a good job at Providence even at Fairfield prior to that. But this is. You got to be a mover this year. And you putting them at 9th would. This would be a. This would be a failure if you wind up being correct. And it's within the realm of possibility that you will be correct if Georgetown can't get out of the cellar. And I would define the biggie seller as 9 through 11, personally.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah. And, like, I'm somebody who believed this would work. Like, I'm. I'm a Ed Cooley fan, like a. Like personally and professionally. And like, I'm, you know, I was born in the late 70s, raised in the 80s, like, Georgetown basketball is a big deal in my life. And for it to struggle the way it struggled, particularly under Patrick, that was tough to watch. But I thought Ed would fix this, and he still might. And it still might happen this season. But if you would have told me, GP It'll be in the nil revenue sharing era. So, like, you can buy players, rebuild it overnight if you want to. Pat Kelsey's doing it at Louisville, Mark Pope's doing it at Kentucky. You know, this is something you can change a whole program in a matter of months. If you would have told me we're going into year three at Georgetown with Ed, hadn't sniffed anything positive in the first two years as it pertains to, like, postseason stuff.

[Matt Norlander]

Right.

[Gary Parrish]

And now isn't projected to get there again in year three, I would have said that doesn't make sense to me. Like that. That's a program that should have the resources, and they've got a guy who I know is good at this or has been good at this. He'll get this thing flipped much more quicker than that. And I bet you Ed would have told you the same thing. So, again, I'm not firing off alarm bells like, what is going on in the nation's capital. Actually, I do want to know what's going on. If you got a minute to the basketball program. No big alarm bells. But, like, I thought this would be going better, and it. It should be going better.

[Matt Norlander]

Well, I do think it will go better. Not a flip up my standing. We've got major disagreements, which I actually, it's refreshing to see. I've got Marquette third. I've got Creighton fourth, Villanova fifth. I have the Hoyas finishing sixth in the conference this season. I have Butler finishing seven. So the two teams that GP And I are the widest apart on are the Hoyas and the Bulldogs. There. I've got Providence at 8, Xavier at 9, DePaul at 10, Seton hall at 11. Let me tour just through a few of these roster situations right now. Creighton over the weekend, exhibitions, folks, they mean just so, so, so little. But Creighton did look nice. They beat Iowa State. And you know, I know Creighton fans who are very interested to see, you know, Ryan Coffin are not there anymore. Four time defensive player of the year in the conference. Losing him, losing Ashworth, Pop Isaacs isn't on the roster. Jamiah Neal, they lost some real important pie. And now you're gonna have to see like, guys like Jason Green, Isaac Trout, Jackson McAndrew. What can they do? I know there's a lot of optimism for this player. Nick Graves out of Charlotte. He had some really nice moments over the weekend there. Owen Freeman from Iowa, good score. Josh Dix, both a couple of Iowa players are involved there. And I do, I won't say where they're slotted, but I've got Marquette and Creighton both inside my top 30 in my rankings. So I do think that the biggies will, over the course of the season establish itself to have at least four, like, you know, quality teams that should be wearing home whites on that first Thursday, Friday in the NCAA tournament. So I, I will ride with McDermott to get it done there and being at fourth. But yes, I have, we talked a lot about Marquette, so I have Marquette third. I am going to. This is a, this is a faith play by me. Okay? This is a faith play. Well, Shaka, I say you're going to be the third best team in the Big east and may well prove to be a top 25 team. If this is off, then I will re. Shaka will and I will. Then we'll both reassess, we'll have a meeting. I'll say, Shaka, got to start talking about this portal thing.

[Gary Parrish]

That's right.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay. Don't embarrass me. All right? I'm putting you preseason top three in the league. Preseason top 25 status. Don't embarrass me, okay? And so with that, all you need to say to your team is, there we go. Let's go. Let's have a season. I've got Villanova at five. Kevin Willard's squad. We just talked about him. You know, there's, there's a lot of pieces to, to figure out. Sometimes just a, a good old fashioned reboot can be really good for an institution. And I'm gonna say that Willard coming in and trying to start fresh is, is enough to get them top half of the League 11 team, league top five is technically top half. You want to argue six, we can have that discussion. But I've got them going five and then yes, I will take Georgetown, whose roster this isn't like, this isn't me being like, let me just throw a dart and see if it hits. Malik Mack is back. I think he's going to be one of the better players in the league and I think he's going to make a major, major jump. And I, and I really like the pieces they brought in the portal. If they click like, this should be a good team. K.J. lewis from Arizona, that's a good player. Langston Love from Baylor can be a good contributor. Can be a double digit score for the Hoyas. They've got Jeremiah Williams from Rutgers. I think his role will be different and better from when he, you know, played a season ago. Vince Iwachukwu from St. John's comes in, gives them some good defensive presence. I'd like to see him actually. Really? He's been a player that's had a lot of talent. He obviously had the hard issue going back to his time at usc, but can he step in and be a really valuable guy? I think he can. And so yes, I will, I will say Georgetown is six and then Butler, I put Butler at seven because they bring back a couple of pieces. The names they bring in in the portal aren't going to like blow you away. Now Michael Ajayi from Gonzag is probably the biggest, biggest one. But in just checking in across the league, I do know that Thad Mata and his staff, I this is such an easy obvious go to talking point, but I do believe it. They feel as optimistic about their prospects heading into this season more than any other that they've been there. And part of that is because they had more nil to work with by far than any other previous season. Mata is a good coach. Like is it really gonna, it could Paris, is this really gonna. Let's just go off the off ramp here and I'll tee up before I finish out with the rest of the standings here. But like is it, is his coaching career really going to end with 4 mediocre to bad seasons at Butler after being, you know, what he was at Ohio State. He is a good coach and I, and I think that he is going to have his best season yet. But I know you had butler at 10.

[Gary Parrish]

I mean we'll see. But like this is the way these things go sometimes, right? I mean, tell me how you remember Ben Holland's career Ending at Mississippi State.

[Matt Norlander]

Exactly. Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

I mean, sometimes it's just like your Wikipedia page looks great, you get the next job and it's just like, you know, this stuff's hard. You know it. So I'm not wishing that and I'm not even predicting it, but.

[Matt Norlander]

Well, I mean, you are predicting 10th, so to be fair.

[Gary Parrish]

Well, yeah. Okay. Well then like, yeah, it's you, it's. It's possible. Sure. And I think even you as a believer would acknowledge it's possible.

[Matt Norlander]

It's definitely possible. Yeah. Yes, it's definitely possible. I. Part of this is also getting a funky feeling off the Big East. Just. I don't know, with. With a lack of like. For sure. Okay, here are five teams that come on. All these got to be NCAA tournament teams. It just feels like there's going to be a few teams that gotta just make some serious jumps and maybe a couple teams that kind of wow us and finish three or four spots below what we thought. But we've got enough variety of thought here, which is pretty interesting. I've got Providence next after that. Jalen Sellers, Jason Edwards, two really good players. They got this international player, Stefan or Stefan Vax, who I know is. Has looked good. I don't think he'll start, but I know he's looked good to. To start the season there. Kim English, not on a hot seat season, but they weren't good a season ago. They do bring back enough of a core. And you know, Edwards from Vanderbilt, they also got this Georgia Tech transfer, Duncan Powell, who I think is gon have some nice moments there. I think they're going to be up and down. I think Providence is going to be the team in this league where at the end of the season they'll have picked off like three wins against the top four teams in the league, but maybe have three losses against the bottom three teams in the league. It's just going to be a little bit all over the place there. I think we've got them relatively close to each other. Overall, you're a little bit higher on the Friars than I am, but I put them 8th. Xavier 9. First year under Richard Patino. We'll just see. At this point, I don't know. You told me. I think Xavier is practically a lock to be as good as 7 or as low as 9. Maybe maybe 10, I guess. It's a huge portal class as you expect with coaching change there. And man, what a drastic change that's going to be from Sean Miller to Richard Patino. I put to Paul 10 almost reluctantly Parrish. Chris Holtman did make good gains like from a metrics ranking standing year one. Like they made a big jump but they did take their lumps. They were well below 500. I think they can get to 15 or so wins. C.J. gunn is back. He's a really good player. Laden blocker is back. I know that they're feeling good about a couple of guys that got in the portal there as well, but I put him 10 in the seton hall last and unfortunately least here. You know, when they hired Shaheen Holloway it was the go get him, make it work. And he was the right hire. But Seton hall is by far the lowest in nil Biggie.

[Gary Parrish]

I feel sick for him. Like.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, and it's, it's. Listen, it's obviously possible that we're gonna whiff and Holloway is going to do a really great coaching job. And like what if he gets him to, you know, sixth or seventh in the league? I won't be surprised by it happening, but this is the, I think near universally, not universally. I think I've seen at least one projection that had to Paul at the bottom of the standings. But I don't know. It wasn't a good team last year. The transfers coming in. Not that where you play doesn't mean that you're going to be a bad player. But this, they, they, they picked up some, some bit guys at some, at some high majors and then you know, guys at Pacific and Fordham and Merrimack and Elon and we'll just see if, we'll see if those guys can actually be real contributors and make a difference there. But someone's got to finish last and we've got, we've both got the hall bringing up the caboose.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah. It's just, you know, he does what he does at St. Peter's he gets the big offer at his alma mater. It's like a great story. And then the sport changes.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

And just makes his job, I guess Seton hall job in the Big east is, is always a hard job, but it just made it a million times more difficult. And there was the press conference a few years ago where Rick Patino was talking and he was like, yes, I came and got Shaheen's best player but guess what? It's not because he wanted to play for me and he would rather play for Shaheen than me. I just had a lot more money to offer. And like I, I did, I did like that other coaches in his league were like verbalizing. You don't know what this guy's up against. None of us could. None of us could win there under these circumstances. And I just. That just must stink. Like, there was a point in Shaheen's life where he was like, man, can you imagine if I could ever be the head coach in the Big east at my alma mater? And now you are that. And it must just. You must feel like, well, now what am I supposed to do? Because you, you, like, you are competing with Yukon and St. John's and a.

[Matt Norlander]

Lot of money and Villanova. Yes.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah. I mean, like, it's just. Yeah. You could take Dan Hurley, Rick Patino, and give them that Seton hall job right now, and it'd be really hard for them, too. And so I just. I don't. I, I, I. I don't like the idea of Shaheen getting this big job at his alma mater. Dream come true. And then him just basically having to do the job with at least one of his hands tied behind his back. It makes it a real poor experience.

[Matt Norlander]

And I don't know. I don't know Shaheen super well know a little bit. I can promise you what the one thing he has not been doing, it's feeling sorry for himself. And, And I'm.

[Gary Parrish]

I bet he has a little bit.

[Matt Norlander]

I don't. Not the way that he's wired, man. He's not.

[Gary Parrish]

I would. I would feel. I feel sorry for. I feel sorry for Shaheen, and if I were Shaheen, I would feel sorry for myself.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay, well, you're not built to coach Seton hall, so that's, that's what I think. That's the lesson learned there. Let's. Let's get to the over under on. On Biggie. I. Parrish, I guess, spoiled this like, 30 minutes ago, but what can you do? Here I am setting the over under, actually. Trivia time. Okay, how many bids on average has the Big east received since UConn joined up five years ago? 6.4.6. 4.6 on average. So that being said, the over under 4.6 teams that make the 20, 26 big dents, I believe you are going under.

[Gary Parrish]

I'm going under.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah. Which I appreciate from you because you had like.

[Gary Parrish]

I gotta get.

[Matt Norlander]

I gotta get this.

[Gary Parrish]

I gotta get this balance back out. If I'm gonna have 13 out of the SEC, I gotta. I gotta make up for it somewhere else.

[Matt Norlander]

Yes.

[Gary Parrish]

I got four in the Big east, it is St. John's Yukon, Creighton, and Marquette will cut everybody else off right there. The rest of you, y' all can go play in Las Vegas or somewhere. Okay.

[Matt Norlander]

Last season the Biggie sent five. Johnny's were a two. Yukon was an eight. Creighton was a nine. Marquette was a seven. Xavier went to the first four, played Texas and then Sean Miller went from one sideline to the other.

[Gary Parrish]

That's right.

[Matt Norlander]

Five teams in last season. I will go over, I will say five teams again. I will say Yukon gets in and is a one. Say the Johnny's get in our three. I'll say Marquette, Gitson and is. I'll say Marquette's a six. I'll say Creighton makes it as an eight. And give me Villanova to Dayton in the first four. Kevin Willard gets to the NSIBA tournament in year one. Let's go. Preseason awards, some hardware. Player of the year, Freshman of the Year and the toy, the transfer of the year. Not. I want you to toss up GPS honors here so we can get a peek at him. What do you got?

[Gary Parrish]

GP Zubia, four Preseason Player of the Year. I just think he's the right pick for, you know, If I've got St. John's winning the Big east, he's got to be my pick. But, you know, I could easily see solo ball winning that or even, you know, Ian Jackson or another St. John's player. But I'll start the conversation with Zubiage. Four freshman of the year. Braylon Mullins, he's the next great one to come through there. Highest rated incoming freshman in the Big East. That's the obvious pick there. And then transfer the year. I mean, we'll see. But there was one time a Hall of Fame coach told me this was the next great St. John's Point guardian, Jackson. That's what I was told by Naismith Memorial hall of Famer. He said the next great St. John's point guard is Ian Jackson. So if he's going to be the next great St. John's point guard, then he's got to be the transfer of the year. But again, circling back to the beginning of the pie, he's no longer the point guard. Not great or otherwise. He's no longer the point guard.

[Matt Norlander]

So.

[Gary Parrish]

But I still think he's going to score a lot of points for a really good team and that could make him the transfer of the year.

[Matt Norlander]

Fair enough. All right. Nada wants to toss up mine because look at that. We agree on the transfer of the year, but not the other two. I've got Ian Jackson also as the transfer of the year, but I, I think that the transfer situation in the Big east and the guys that are going to step in and be high producers. I Something tells me we're going to miss and it's not going to be someone on St. John's or UConn and it sure as hell can't be anyone on Marquette. But there could be just someone that steps in and is a major player and someone else winds up being the best inbound transfer. But we both agree. Ian Jackson by virtue of taking UConn to win the league, I have Solo Ball being the player of the year and I and I did take narrowly over zubi edge of 4 I I can see a situation in which Yukon wins the regular season, is the better seed in the tournament, but Ejafor is just such a stat beast and so valuable to what St. John's does that he actually winds up winning the league player of the year even if St. John's doesn't win the regular season championship. I will go with Solo Ball there. So Solomon Ball is also going to have competition within his own team. But I I We'll see if I'm right. We'll see if I'm wrong. I think Solo Ball is going to have a litany of moments this season where he's going for 20 plus and hitting huge shots from deep, one of the best three point shooters in the country and being the most prominent face on a on a resurgent Yukon team that gets back into the title winning conversation. And then Freshman of the Year. I hinted at this earlier. I shied away from Mullins because of how much Yukon has. I think a Caden Lewis at Villanova is going to be the player that gets them into the tournament. I've got Nova making the the field of 68 and I think that he's going to have the ball in his hands a ton and wind up being a guy that just has the highest usage and it' a pretty damn good freshman. So I will go with the Kaden Lewis at Villanova being the biggest freshman of the year. I like this pod GP We've had, we've had some good disagreements there. A little variety of thought. I don't like it when we always wind up on the same page on a ton of stuff here. And so I think this, this conference more than really any other, we've, we've gone our, we've gone our different ways on it. So that's, that's good stuff.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah. But like one more thing before we get out of here because I don't think we've touched on it but I need to get your thoughts. It's the biggest preview.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay I don't know where you're gonna go right now, folks. If you're listening to the pod and hear Paris's tone when he talks, I think you're like, what is he gonna say? Just know I'm right there with you. I have no idea what the hell's coming next.

[Gary Parrish]

I just feel like we didn't touch on it. And it's a Big east preview. Gotta ask the question.

[Matt Norlander]

Oh, boy. Let's go.

[Gary Parrish]

How do you believe Dan Hurley is going to behave on the sidelines this season? Oh, my God.

[Matt Norlander]

Gosh. Just like, this is, like, a serious question.

[Gary Parrish]

I thought.

[Matt Norlander]

I thought there was some random who knows what.

[Gary Parrish]

No, no. It's the most unserious question. I don't care. I don't care. Because I was listening. I got asked this. Okay. The last couple of weeks, and I'm.

[Matt Norlander]

Like, it's fair if that. I didn't put that on the screen.

[Gary Parrish]

I hope it's never mentioned. I don't care. Here's where I am on Dan Hurley's side of my behavior. I don't care. Okay? He's an awesome basketball coach. He's going into the hall of Fame someday. He's got a beautiful family. His bosses don't seem to care that much. His fans don't seem to care that much. He is either going to continue to do what he does and be successful, or he'll stop doing it at some point, or he'll cross a line at some point. And we'll deal with that when we have to deal with it. But outside of that, just like. Whatever, man. Like, the thing I promise to talk about less than anything else on this podcast this season is. Is the way Dan Hurley looks or acts on the sideline. I'm done with the story. I don't care. Like, he could do anything, and I don't care. Unless it clearly crosses a line where his bosses care. Short of that, I'm over it, man. Do whatever you want to. Put your pants on your head. It doesn't matter to me. Two rings.

[Matt Norlander]

Like that one. I also like this one. Squirrels. Squirrel. Squirrels. Squirrel person squirrels. But a squirrel. I think that's a squirrel. I need. I. Dan, we need. We need another. We need another drop here because I think that's a squirrel. I love the squirrel drop. Any. Anyone that leads their podcast talking about Dan Hurley's sideline, Demeter, in advance of the 25, 26 season. I think that's a squirrel. I think that's a squirrel.

[Gary Parrish]

So definitely a squirrel.

[Matt Norlander]

By the way, we're that's a show we're about done. But I gotta be honest here. I don't feel like, okay, squirrel is one. But I need you to, I need you to random. I don't have a lot of no context preview material from this one. So a squirrel can be one. But I need you just to three random things off the top of your head that I can just, that I can tease the folks with no context. They can't be basketball related. Just three random things.

[Gary Parrish]

Sure. The Perfect Neighbor on Netflix. New documentary.

[Matt Norlander]

Never heard of it.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay, great, great.

[Matt Norlander]

I watched industry season one and I'm like, people say this show is good. It did nothing for me, but I'm going to stick.

[Gary Parrish]

I don't know.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay.

[Gary Parrish]

I haven't watched that one. New documentary on Netflix. One episode, like an hour 40 minutes. So it's not like I'm trying to get you to watch 10 parts. It's hour 40. The premise is, you know, it looks like a low income neighborhood, you know, just families, kids running around, the whole thing. And one old ass white woman, Karen, moves into the neighborhood. And I'll just. The entire documentary is basically police body cam footage. And you, there's no narrator. You're just watching this.

[Matt Norlander]

I got no desire.

[Gary Parrish]

Like I'm telling you it is great. And, and you won't know it's great as you're watching it. Like for the first 10, 20, 30, you're like, all right, what are we doing here? Like, I got it. It's just potty cam footage. I got it. All right, here we are again. Same thing. I got it. And then you're like, what in the. It just, it grabs you and I'm telling you we watched it it Saturday.

[Matt Norlander]

Night and not a says scared the crap out of him.

[Gary Parrish]

So my wife and I at this exact same time burst into tears watching this.

[Matt Norlander]

No desire. What do you want to watch? Something that's going to give you, that's going to scare the crap out of you and might cause you to cry. I'm good.

[Gary Parrish]

We, I, I looked up like we're having a good night, everything's fine and we're both tears coming down our face. It's. If you want to feel something when you watch a documentary, this will make you feel something. Probably anger. Hopefully anger. But it's terrific. I can't recommend it enough.

[Matt Norlander]

Two other two other things.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay. I, okay, task. You want another tv?

[Matt Norlander]

No, no, no, no, no. Second TV show. No, no.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay.

[Matt Norlander]

What's the last thing you ate? What's the last thing you Ate? What's the last thing you ate?

[Gary Parrish]

I haven't eaten today yet.

[Matt Norlander]

You haven't eaten a thing. It's two o' clock your time. You haven't eaten today?

[Gary Parrish]

No, I'm fasting in the mornings.

[Matt Norlander]

It's not the morning, it's mid afternoon.

[Gary Parrish]

I know, but I've been talking for like four straight hours.

[Matt Norlander]

What's the first thing you're going to eat today?

[Gary Parrish]

I will pick my boys up from school here in about an hour and I will say, hey boys, are you hungry? And they will normally say yes, unless they want to get home for some specific reason to play a game or something. They will say yes and I'll say what? What sounds good? And it might be a smoothie. We tend to go by Smoothie King.

[Matt Norlander]

Smoothie Smoothie.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, smoothie king. Oh, three. Three smoothies these days. Run about 30. 30 bucks. It is wild. You can get double vodka sodas cheaper than you can get a smoothie. What are we doing?

[Matt Norlander]

Crazy. I got. I got the last. No context.

[Gary Parrish]

I trade you Savage. Do you know about trade you Savage?

[Matt Norlander]

No.

[Gary Parrish]

Oh man, he's great. Blue Jays pitcher one game six last night. 22 years old. He started the season.

[Matt Norlander]

I didn't watch the game. Yeah, I knew they were playing. I had it on mute.

[Gary Parrish]

He was. He's 22 years old, started the season in low A ball. Okay. Played college at East Carolina. What I'm about to tell you is true. In the year 2024, he pitched against the University of Memphis in Memphis.

[Matt Norlander]

It's always a Memphis connection.

[Gary Parrish]

All right. Struck out like 12. Just killed them. Got drafted. First round pick. Started the season in A ball, worked all the way up through the majors, got three starts in the regular season, has now three starts in the postseason. He's beaten the Yankees and last night beat the mariners in Game 6. This is like one of those things you can't see in other sports. Like this is unique to baseball. You are not going to watch the NBA playoffs next this upcoming season. And Game 6 of the Western Conference finals, some dude that started in the G League and has only played in six career NBA games is the star of game six. Like that does not happen, right in the NFL. It does not happen in the NBA. And I get it. Apples aren't just different way. They do sports, whatever. But I love stuff like this. Treya Savage. Wonderful story. He'll be watching game seven tonight after guiding the Blue Jays to a game six win.

[Matt Norlander]

Well, okay, last thing and let's get out of here. Who are you Both of these teams are eminently rootable for.

[Gary Parrish]

Yes. Who are you?

[Matt Norlander]

Who do you want to see win game seven?

[Gary Parrish]

Seattle. Because they've never been there.

[Matt Norlander]

Yep, never been there.

[Gary Parrish]

Big dumper. Big dumper.

[Matt Norlander]

I just, me and my buddy Ken Griffey Jr. Just got to know each other a month ago at the Ryder Cup. Plenty of reasons to root for Seattle.

[Gary Parrish]

And then, you know, it's America against Canada. On the other hand, we could get an La Vers vs. Toronto World Series. Squabble up. Squabble up.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay.

[Gary Parrish]

Squabble up. We could get Toronto against la. Squabble up.

[Matt Norlander]

I'm good with either. I, you know, my. We can wrap. But since we're on the topic of baseball real quick, my wife on Friday just was like, I'm tired. I'm gonna go to. It was like 8:40 and I was like, you're going to bed at 8:40. She's like, I'm just exhausted. I was like, fine. But that enabled me to have Dodgers on the big TV and to just watch Shohei Ohtani put on one of the all time sports performances ever. I was, I was glad that like I was able to watch that was happening and not like catch it in the eighth inning. Like I saw it basically from start to finish. And Friday night was actually an awesome night in general between the other game and.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, yeah, I got set with my family and watch it and it was like I, I was, I love Friday night because I was able to recognize in real time like I'm, I am experiencing something right now with my kids that they are going to watch for. They'll see this for the rest of their lives and they'll remember this for the rest of their lives. Because I told this story earlier, like Kurt Gibson's game one homer 88 World Series. I remember being at Uncle Hole and Aunt Pammy's house. I saw that live. I was at my cousin's house. I have that memory. You know me. I don't remember Final Force, but I remember that I told Bobby Hurley this story when Duke upsets UNLV in the NCAA Tournament. Final Four. Undefeated unlv. Like I was at my dad's friend Bernie. I was at Bernie's house. We watched that together. I remember watching that with my dad and my brother and Bernie. Like, I don't know why that stands out, but there's something about historically significant sporting things, sports events that just, that can stay with you and you remember not just the event but like where you were at and who you were with. And I just. I'm confident my kids got to do that and I got that. We all got to do that on Friday night. And that was in terms of individual sports performances, that's as. That is. That is as good as it gets for people who aren't aware. Six innings pitched, 10 strikeouts, gave up zero runs, 3 for 3 at the plate, three home runs, including one that went out of the GD Stadium.

[Matt Norlander]

He had more home runs than hits allowed, I believe. I think that was three to two in that game. I think he allowed two hits and had three, three homers.

[Gary Parrish]

Just, just incredible. Awesome, awesome stuff. Awesome stuff.

[Matt Norlander]

That's a college basketball podcast.

[Gary Parrish]

That's the college basketball podcast. Let's get out of here. Shouts to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester, S.C. shouts to Terry Teagle. He's a legend. Hulk Larnell. Thank you guys once again for watching and listening to the Ion college basketball podcast. You're not subscribed, please go subscribe anywhere you subscribe to podcasts, Apple, Spotify. There's more of us than there are of them. That should be reflected in the comments. So please do that. We'll talk to you again real soon. Till then, take care.

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[Gary Parrish]

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[Matt Norlander]

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