What A Difference a Season Makes

Last season, the Big East conference was the darling of college basketball. It was with good reason. The conference was littered with future NBA talent, had three coaches who have won the national championship, and joined by Conference USA's cream of the crop, save Memphis. The momentum of the league came to a screeching halt when Connecticut and Villanova were upset in the space of two hours.

The down year was to be expected after the mass exodus to the NBA Draft (10 of the top 33 picks). The momentum shift just started one week too early while the season was still in session.

With that said, here are some eyebrow-raising home results thus far.

Old Dominion 75
Georgetown 62

Wofford 91
Cincinnati 90

Brown 51
Providence 41

Farleigh Dickinson 76
Seton Hall 71

Jackson St. 71
Rutgers 70

Nevertheless, slow starts can be expected for most of these teams, excluding Georgetown. Meanwhile, Marquette has needed little time in shifting to fifth gear. After being taken to overtime against Idaho State, Marquette coasted to three easy victories and then defeated #8 Duke last night. In the contest, Dominic James (25 points, 7 assists, 1 turnover) dominated the Duke backcourt en route to a 73-62 win. However, don't take too much from the result. Duke point guard Greg Paulus is just returning from injury and Coach K is adjusting to life without J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams.