Big East Conference Preview

This podcast is a recap of what I’ve seen in 206 college basketball games the last 2 seasons. The 5 biggest takeaways:1. There’s nothing like single elimination college basketball2. 90% of teams, effort isn’t an issue3. Just how fickle and unpredictable this game is4. How impactful team sports is. The journey 5. Kindness and goodness all over this countryPlus:- Best Venues- Favorite Coaches- Favorite Players- Star Mid Major Newcomers in the Power 5- Outlook for mid major basketball this season- Year 3 scheduling plans

In this episode I got to interview head coach Bucky McMillan for a 2nd time. He's led the Bulldogs to 3 straight 21 plus win seasons, including a 23-4 start this year. He took over a program that was 75-141 (34.7%) in their time in the SOCON, and in 2 years turned them into a SOCON contender. They play one of the fastest tempos in the country and apply an unselfishness to their game that makes them a joy to watch. Coach McMillan is without a doubt one of the brightest young stars coaching in all of college basketball. 

It was an honor to get to interview the great John Becker, who has has the most dominance of any coach in a 1 bid league over the last 8 seasons. Vermont has won or shared 7 straight conference regular season titles, and show no signs of stopping that run anytime soon. Becker has never won less than 20 games in his tenure at Vermont. John went from coaching as a part time gig, to just 5 years later being the head coach at Vermont. A unique journey to the most dominant, consistent program in all of 1 bid college basketball. 

Year 2 of coaching interviews kicks off with Merrimack head coach Joe Gallo. Coach Gallo has had an interesting tenure at Merrimack now in his 8th year. He's in his first year coaching the team at the D1 level, but just his first year where the team can qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Despite that he's led Merrimack to 2 regular season NEC Conference titles along with 1 conference tournament championship last year when the loser, Fairleigh Dickinson, won 2 games in the NCAA tournament as a 16 seed. His fascinating zone defense has Merrimack a top 65 rated defense in the country according to Kenpom, and behind that, they just might have the potential to be a Cinderella! 

1. Kansas2. TCU3. Baylor4. Houston5. Kansas St. 6. Texas7. Iowa St.8. Oklahoma9. Oklahoma St.10. Texas Tech11. West Virginia12. BYU13. Cincinnati 14. Central Florida

1. Marquette2. UConn3. Creighton4. St. John’s5. Villanova6. Providence7. Seton Hall8. Xavier9. Butler10. Georgetown11. DePaul

1. Texas A&M2. Kentucky3. Tennessee4. Arkansas5. Alabama6. Mississippi St.7. Auburn8. Florida9. Missouri 10. Vanderbilt11. Georgia12. South Carolina13. LSU14. Ole Miss

1. Purdue2. Michigan St.3. Wisconsin4. Illinois5. Maryland6. Northwestern7. Rutgers8. Indiana9. Iowa10. Penn St.11. Ohio St.12. Michigan13. Nebraska14. Minnesota

1. Duke2. Clemson3. North Carolina4. Miami5. Virginia6. North Carolina St.7. Wake Forest8. Syracuse 9. Virginia Tech10. Georgia Tech11. Pittsburgh 12. Florida St.13. Boston College14. Louisville15. Notre Dame

1. USC2. Oregon3. Arizona4. UCLA5. Colorado 6. Stanford7. Washington8. Utah9. Arizona St.10. California11. Oregon St.12. Washington St.