Big East Preview: Gregg Doyel of Sportsline

Gregg Doyel steps up to the line to offer a thorough preview of the 2005-2006 Big East season. Doyel predicts a 10th place finish for Marquette, along with an NIT bid. He picks UConn to win the league, followed by Louisville, Syracuse and West Virginia. Villanova is slotted for a 5th place finish --- the loss of Sumpter could be a season-killer for the Wildcats.

Back to Marquette. Unlike assessments from other prognosticators, Doyel expects MU to improve in the paint this year with the addition of Jamil Lott, and the development of Ousmane Barro and Ryan Amoroso.

Its refreshing to see Doyel look beyond MU's much ballyhooed freshmen guards when evaluating the possibilities for TC's squad. To date, much of the pre-season analysis has focused on the deep, talented and young backcourt - - - yet in this blogger's opinion, the emergence of Lott, Barro, and Amoroso will be the key to a productive season. Can this troika defend and force opponents to respect their potential on offense?

Here's Doyel's write-up on MU:

"Marquette:
Top three: SF Steve Novak, PG Dominic James, PF Jamil Lott.
NIT or bust: As if the transition from Conference USA to the Big East wasn't daunting enough, the Golden Eagles must do it at the same time they transition from a senior point guard to a freshman. Dominic James won't be Travis Diener -- nobody could be Travis Diener -- but James will be pretty good. He's a scoring point guard who doesn't shoot like Diener (again, who does?) but who can get into the lane better than his predecessor. That could mean more open looks for Novak beyond the 3-point arc, where he's a 45-percent shooter. The Golden Eagles ought to be better in the post this season, with the arrival of junior college transfer Jamil Lott and the freshman-to-sophomore maturation of Ousmane Barro and Ryan Amoroso. Lott leads a promising group of newcomers that include versatile 6-9 Tulane transfer Dan Fitzgerald and freshman guards Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews IV. "