Weekly Wrap: Big East staying strong so far

The Big East was supposed to take a hit — a major one. UConn lost three starters, Marquette watched its three guards graduate and Providence was decimated by graduation as well. How would Villanova deal without Dante Cunningham, Dwayne Anderson and Shane Clark? Would Syracuse fall off the map without Jonny Flynn? As of right now, however, the Big East has the look and feel of the strongest and deepest league in America once again. Now, we've got to remember that there are 16 teams in the conference. But Villanova, West Virginia and Syracuse have shown that they could all be potential Final Four teams. UConn took one on the chin against Duke this past weekend, but Jim Calhoun will get a lift in the middle of December when Ater Majok becomes eligible. Georgetown remains a mystery, but the Hoyas, Seton Hall and St. John's have yet to suffer a blemish on their record. Marquette and Cincinnati, meanwhile, were each one possession away from winning their respective tournaments in Orlando and Maui. Pittsburgh is better than I thought they'd be, and the Panthers still don't have Jermaine Dixon or Gilbert Brown back yet. Even DePaul, which was supposed to be the league's doormat for the second consecutive season, has already beaten Missouri Valley favorite Northern Iowa and stuck with Tennessee down at the Paradise Jam. I've got a half-dozen Big East teams in my top 25 this week — two more than any other conference. TEAM OF THE WEEK: Billy Donovan's Florida Gators. It started with a home victory against in-state rival Florida State, but the Gators secured their biggest win since the program's second straight national title in 2007 when they pulled the upset against Michigan State in Atlantic City on Friday night. The highest ranking Florida has achieved since the second national championship was when the Gators were 17th overall a little less than a year ago. STUD (PLAYER OF WEEK): Despite the one-point loss to Florida State in the championship game of the Old Spice Classic down in Orlando, Marquette senior Lazar Hayward was terrific. He averaged 22.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in upset wins against Xavier and Michigan and also in the nail-biter to the Seminoles. Remember, this was a Marquette team that lost three senior guards — Jerel McNeal, Dominic James and Wesley Matthews — from last year's team. DUD: Endless possibilities here with Arkansas, Oklahoma and Illinois all worthy candidates. However, Ben Howland and the UCLA Bruins have no peer this past week after losing three straight while playing in their own backyard. First, it was a shellacking at the hands of Portland, then came a close loss to Butler and the exclamation point was a loss to Long Beach State. The Bruins may be young, but that's not a valid excuse to finish dead last in the eight-team 76 Classic. MID-MAJOR PLAYER OF THE WEEK: East Tennessee State's Tommy Hubbard is lucky to measure up at 6-foot-3, but the Boston native plays much bigger than his size. In three wins, including one against Arkansas and another against a Charleston team favored to win the Southern Conference, Hubbard averaged 23.3 points and 11.3 rebounds per contest. MID-MAJOR TEAM OF THE WEEK: Portland. Even though the Pilots couldn't pull off the upset against West Virginia in the 76 Classic out in Anaheim, Calif., Eric Reveno's team crushed UCLA, 74-47, and then knocked off a Minnesota team that came into the game ranked. WORST LOSS: Oklahoma losing to San Diego and Houston out in Alaska. These two setbacks could hurt come March if the Sooners aren't able to get their act together and become more defensive-minded by the time Big 12 play starts. WEEK TO FORGET: Arkansas. It's actually been a year to forget so far for John Pelphrey, who is playing shorthanded due to suspensions and injuries. But the loss to Louisville in St. Louis was legit; the two this past week to East Tennessee State and South Alabama were not. WHY I'M SMARTER THAN I LOOK: I'm still perfect on my weekly upset special. I had Texas A&M-Corpus Christi over Oregon State in the first week, then went with Portland over Oregon and had UNLV knocking off Louisville to make it 3-for-3. HEY, I'M DUMBER THAN I LOOK: I was the only one (according to Ole Miss sports information director Joey Jones) to rank the Rebels in the preseason poll, but then I took them out after their loss to Villanova in the title game in San Juan. Well, I've got them back in the top 25 this week. WELCOME BACK: West Virginia got talented forward Devin Ebanks back after missing the first three games due to personal issues. Ebanks scored 14 points and nine rebounds in his season debut in a victory against Texas A&M. USC also got a lift when Alex Stephenson, who sat out the first two games with a knee injury, came back and averaged 13 points and 10.5 boards in his first two games this past week. MOST TALENTED PLAYER YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF: Marshall's tall (he's a legit 6-foot-10) and talented freshman Hassan Whiteside nearly had a triple-double in a victory against Ohio over the weekend. Whiteside, coming off a 14-point, 12-rebound performance in a win over Lamar, finished with 14 points, 17 rebounds and nine blocks.