Talent distribution: the Big East
Now on to the 6th part of our look at how talent is distributed in the major conferences. For definitions, sources, or other potentially meaningless bric-a-brac take a look at one of our earlier pieces. So far we've covered the Big Ten, the ACC, the SEC, the Pac-12, and the Big-12.
Today it is the Big East. Since we're assuming that you've either a) read the earlier stuff, or b) clicked the link, let's just jump right in.
The Big East currently has 56 players who were consensus top-100 recruits. This is nearly identical to the ACC (57) - though the Big East has three more teams - and more than the SEC (50), the Big Ten (40), the Pac-12 (35) and the Big-12 (31).
Here is how that talent is distributed:
Syracuse and Louisville show why they're being picked so highly in the preseason top-25s, and Georgetwon, Pitt, Villanova and Marquette all have enough top-100 talent to run out an entire lineup of elite guys. UConn and St. John's each have four, and then there's a drop to the rest. Seton Hall and South Florida are shut out.
But the majority of the 2012 NBA 1st rounders were consensus top-40 recruits. We'll back that out to top-50 and see how it looks:
Syrcacuse is still flexing its muscles with talent. Six of their eight consensus top-100 guys are also ranked at No. 50 or better. Georgetown, who lost a ton of production last season, show up next with four. Then there are nine teams behind them with anywhere from one to three.
But what about the elite of the elite - the consensus 5* players? That looks like this:
Again, Syracuse leads the way, this time with three. Pitt has two, and then a smattering of programs have one. Of course the one for Providence (Ricardo Ledo) has yet to qualify, but that's a story for later.
Keep this in mind when you're predicting the national top-25. It's probably not wise to bet against the Orange, like this guy.
