Be sure to check out the Big East Basketball Report's weekly power poll which features Pitt holding onto the top spot, and the Cards falling from 8th to 9th.
1. Notre Dame (8-1) (LW: 3)
Last Week: Beat Elon (94-63)
Next Week: vs. Portland (12/19), vs. Army (12/21)
Sure they're probably not the best team in the conference, but their resume is still the most impressive by leaps and bounds.
2. Pitt (10-1) (LW: 1)
Last Week: Lost to #7 Wisconsin (89-75)
This Week: At #14 Oklahoma State (12/21), vs. Dayton (12/23)
OK, so it's kind of Bush to drop the Panthers a spot after losing to the now #4 team in the country on the road with their best player under the weather, but it was their first chance to prove themselves and Alando Tucker flat-out embarrassed them. Wins over the fighting Sean Suttons and Brian Gregorys will most likely give them a boost back into the top spot.
3. Connecticut (9-0) (LW: 2)
Last Week: Beat St. Mary's (89-73)
This Week: vs. Pepperdine (12/20)
The fact that we dropped them after they won the only game they played last week by 16 points shows how much their schedule is pissing us off.
4. Marquette (10-2) (LW: 4)
Last Week: Beat Maryland Baltimore County (68-46)
This Week: vs. Oakland (12/19), vs. Oakland (12/22)
Dominic James is really starting to come out of his shell, and no we're not referring to his game, but rather the fact that he appears to be much more of an asshole than he did in his freshman campaign. Still, he's a lot better than we are at basketball, so he'll always have that.
5. Syracuse (9-2) (LW: 5)
Last Week: Beat Baylor (94-71)
This Week: vs. Drexel 12/19, vs. Hofstra (12/22)
The Dragons haven't played since their upset win over Villanova, but they should provide a far tougher test for the Orange than once anticipated. Oh and a little FYI for you Gerry McNamara fans out there (He likes Saved by the Bell so we count ourselves amongst that group), he's left Greece where he wasn't playing but earning a significant amount of paper to do so, to play in the NBDL for not so much money. It's your world pal.
6. Villanova (7-2) (LW: 6)
Last Week: Did not play
This Week: vs. Rider (12/20), at La Salle (12/23)
It's safe to say that Curtis Sumpter is back. The 6-foot-7 forward is the Big East's leading scorer at 19.9 points per game and is averaging a team-best 5.8 rebounds.
7. Georgetown (7-3) (LW: 7)
Last Week: Beat Winston Salem 76-32
This Week: vs. Towson (12/20), vs. Navy (12/23)
Being unranked just seems to work for some teams, so does playing Winston Salem.
8. West Virginia (8-1) (LW: 8)
Last Week: Beat Savannah State (76-41)
This Week: vs. The Citadel (12/20)
Can Beilein really take this team all the way to the tournament? In a conference chalk full of big name coaches, this still relatively unknown guy may be as good as it gets.
9. Seton Hall (6-1) (LW: 11)
Last Week: Did not play
This Week: vs. Virginia Tech (12/21), vs. Penn (12/23)
The Pirates will likely try and turn Thursday's game with Virginia Tech into a track meet, which could backfire if the Hokies' talented back court duo of Jamon Gordon and Zabian Dowdell come to play.
10. Providence (7-2) (LW: 10)
Last Week: Did not play
This Week: vs. Holy Cross (12/19), vs. Harvard (12/22)
The Friars appeared in the top five of one top ten this week, of course it was Scout's top ten road wins in which Providence's ten-point loss to Brown on their home floor came in at #4.
11. Cincinnati (7-3) (LW: 13)
Last Week: Beat Xavier (67-57), lost to Ohio State (72-50)
This Week: vs. NC State (12/23)
We said we'd be impressed with one win in their week of interstate battles, and we weren't lying, Ohio has become quite the basketball state. Xavier is a good team, probably the best in the A-10, and good lord have you seen Ohio State?
12. Depaul (6-5) (LW: 12)
Last Week: Beat Wake Forest (78-63), beat Rhode Island (89-81)
This Week: vs. UC Irvine (12/20), vs. California (12/23)
Huge week for the Blue Demons, not only dominating Wake Forest at home, but picking up a solid road win over Rhode Island. Wilson Chandler and Sammy Mejia will look to keep things rolling when Cal comes to town on Saturday.
13. Louisville (5-4) (LW: 9)
Last Week: Lost to UMass (72-68), lost to Kentucky (61-49)
This Week: vs. Savannah State (12/20), vs. Miami (12/23)
Fuck.
14. St. John's (6-3) (LW: 14)
Last Week: Did not play
This Week: vs. NJ Tech (12/21), vs. Columbia (12/23)
Hopefully only having one day of rest after what is sure to be a war with New Jersey Tech won't hurt the Johnnies against Columbia.
15. Rutgers (5-5) (LW: 16)
Last Week: Beat Iona 66-51
This Week: vs. Lehigh (12/22)
We never thought it would happen, but a four-game win streak (and an awful USF loss) has gotten the Scarlet Knights out of the cellar. Pop open the Andre Piscataway.
16. South Florida (7-2) (LW: 15)
Last Week: Beat Norfolk State (87-56), lost to Texas A&M Corpus Christi (69-63)
This Week: at UNLV (12/19), vs. Missouri State (12/22)
We've got a pretty good feeling that we can count the remaining number of games the Bulls will win on one hand...our left hand which had three fingers blown off in a painting accident five years ago. We didn't really know how to paint.