Following the departure of lottery picks Terrence Williams and Earl Clark, defending Big East regular season and tournament champion Louisville has been pegged as the fourth best team in the conference by the league's coaches.

Villanova was named the preseason favorite, followed by West Virginia, Connecticut and the Cardinals.

The complete rankings look like this:

1. Villanova
2. West Virginia
3. Connecticut
4. Louisville
5. Georgetown
6. Syracuse
7. Cincinnati
8. Notre Dame
9. Pittsburgh
10. Seton Hall
11. St. John's
12. Marquette
13. Providence
14. South Florida
15. Rutgers
16. Depaul

Sophomore forward Samardo Samuels was the lone Cardinal to garner an individual honor. He was named to the league's second team.

Notre Dame's Luke Harangody was named the Preseason Player of the Year for the second straight season, joining Georgetown legend Patrick Ewing as the only players to receive the honor more than once.  

The league's first team - which does not include the player of the year selection - was made up by Greg Monroe of Georgetown, Scottie Reynolds of Villanova, Da'Sean Butler of West Virginia, Lazar Hayward of Marquette and Deonta Vaughn of Cincinnati.

Cincinnati's Lance Stephenson was named preseason Newcomer of the Year.