Just when momentum was building for the Big East, a lot of uncertainty suddenly clouds the conference as we move forward beyond this season. Similarly, there will be a lot of shuffling in this year’s conference chase, but one thing is for sure, the selection committee is watching.

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2011 in a Paragraph:

For the second straight season the Big East saw its fortunes allow for three teams to go to the Big Dance, with UConn getting all the way to the Supers. If not for being placed against eventual national champion South Carolina, we came THISCLOSE to having a Big East member back in the promised land of Omaha once again. Nice. The Big East also made big waves by getting an at-large bid from second place St. John’s, who entered the NCAAs with an RPI of 51, while uninvited LSU had a ranking of No. 26. But Seton Hall was THE story at the end of May, wisping through the conference tournament and winning an unlikely bid to the Big Dance and setting the stage for a confident squad for 2012. The rest of the conference looked up at the Pirates and said, “Why isn’t that us?”

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Conference ISR: 12

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HOW THEY’LL FINISH IN 2012:

- The Big East.

1- Louisville

2- St. John’s

3- Seton Hall

4- Connecticut

5- Pittsburgh

6- Cincinatti

7- Rutgers

8- West Virginia

9- Villanova

10- Notre Dame

11- South Florida

12- Georgetown

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2012 in a Paragraph:

This will be a mixed bag of a season for the Big East. Everybody will be playing musical chairs in the conference chase as some of the top teams lose a lot and will drop and some of the bottom teams return a lot and will gain. The pitching staffs of Louisville and St. John’s will keep them just above the water line as the rest of the conference tries to tread water and stay in contention. Seton Hall could be the biggest surprise, just as the Pirates were at the end of last season. Although I’m giving the Cards and Johnnies a little bit of an edge on the field, never count out the Huskies of UConn as Coach Penders has built up a steady contender and national power in Storrs. Pitt and Cincy could bash and dash their way to the top of the conference rungs, so don’t count them out either. Rutgers has enough firepower and clamp-down defense to make a run as well, but they must stay injury-free unlike they did last year. WVU and Villanova should be much improved with a lot of hands back on deck, while Notre Dame and South Florida should never be predicted to finish where they are this year, but they’re in a big time gulch. Georgetown should actually be much improved and will be a great spoiler for the 2012 stretch run.

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Favorites: Louisville, St. John’s

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Contenders: Seton Hall, UConn

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Darkhorse: Rutgers

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Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: St. John’s at Louisville, May 11-13.

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Best Non-Conference Series: The Big East/Big 10 Challenge, Feb. 17-19.

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Hot Coach: Jim Penders, UConn

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Hot Seat Coach: Lelo Prado, South Florida

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The “You Gotta See” Pitcher: RHP Justin Amlung, Louisville

The “You Gotta See” Player: OF Rand Ravnaas, Georgetown

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Three Non-Conference Series Big East Opponents Better Take Seriously:

1- Louisville at Alabama Tournament (Bama, Oral Roberts, East Carolina) Mar. 9-11.

2- UConn at Nike Showcase (Oregon, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Illinois) Mar. 9-11.

3- Seton Hall at Tennessee, Feb. 24-26

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Three Bold Predictions:

1- Louisville and UConn win their respective tournaments above, sending big signals to the NCAA selection committee.

2- The Big East upper crust doesn’t have the usual doldrum start and at one point in the regular season gets three teams into the national rankings at the same time.

3- Fred Hill’s Rutgers team stuns the Big East, winning the title and going to the title round of the Regionals. Hill then retires after a long career.

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- CINCINNATI (30-27, 14-13)

2011 ISR: 158

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

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All Conference Candidates:

OF Justin Glass (.326-4-45, 10SBs)

OF Braden Kline (.326-5-31)

OF Jake Proctor (.286-3-30, 21SBs)

RHP Andrew Strenge (4-5, 4.54, .258OBA)

RHP Matt RIng (4-1, 3.72, 2svs)

RHP Zach Isler (5-3, 4.41, 2svs)

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The Good News:

There were a lot of positives to the 2011 season that coach Brian Cleary can point to for hope in 2012, including wins over teams like Louisville, Ohio State, UConn and Seton Hall. Plus, in this era of new, wimpier bats, the Bearcats actually improved their team average from .251 in 2010 to .285 last season. Lots of firepower returns for 2012 as seven regulars come back in uniform, including Justin Glass (26BBs, 0Es), Braden Kline (3rd team All Big East) and Jake Proctor (25BBs & 13HBPs), who will lead the offensive surge. Also, sac machines like Sam Vandenheuvel (.275) and 1B Nic Spence (.227-6-25) will be valuable assets, especially on defense. On the bump, weekender Andrew Strenge, who started 11 games last season, will be the leaning post for a re-worked mound staff. Look for Matt Ring (18apps) and Zach Isler (24apps) to figure large in the plans this season and take on bigger roles. Also, mid-week starters like lefties Thomas Gentile (0-2, 4.59, 8starts) and Brad Mergen (1-3, 6.67, 6starts) could become even bigger contributors and will get their shot at the weekend rotation as well. They’ll throw to a block of granite catcher Jake Saylor, who only hit .222-3-20, but had a .985 fielding percentage.

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The Bad News:

That school-record 39 win season of 2008 is getting further in the rear-view mirror. Avoiding another slow start to conference play (UC limped out to a 4-7 mark last year) would be a pretty big deal too. Two of the best bats on the team will be missing in the forms of top-hitter Justin Riddell, who led the team in all three triple crown categories, and Chris Peters, a flyer for the basepaths. Also, having to move on without the two most-used arms on the staff in aces Dan Jensen and Nick Johnson, who combined for 29 starts and 159 innings last season, will be tough to overcome. As mentioned above, some returning arms will have to really make the quantum leap this season for the pitching corps to remain a strength. The defense will need to Bear down a bit as well, since the .967 fielding percentage wasn’t bad, but it was still just the 8th-best unit in the Big East. The Bearcats really need a true hammer in the bullpen to step up and lock down some wins. Last year, six different pitchers accounted for saves, but no one dominated. That’s why the ‘Cats were outscored in the 6th, 8th and 9th innings in games.

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Schedule Note:

Here’s to a mild winter.

The Bearcats will be scheduled to host 14 games in the month of March this season, including a huge litmus test weekend vs. Big 10 contender Michigan State and the Big East home opener vs. Pitt at the end of the month. In fact, as if they were some kind of SEC team or something, I think it’s unique to point out that UC will play a total of 30 games at their home confines this year. Not bad, eh? Again, let’s hope Mother Nature isn’t a wicked bitch to them. (Okay, maybe a big cold front can come through the weekend of April 5th through 7th, that’s when those sun-worshipping South Florida Bulls pay a visit)

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- CONNECTICUT (45-20-1, 22-5)

2011 ISR: 34

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

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All Conference Candidates:

2B L.J. Mazzilli (.338-3-32, 12SBs)

3B Ryan Fuller (.316-6-58, 12SBs)

OF Billy Ferriter (.284, 16SBs)

LHP Brian Ward (6-1, 3.28, .231OBA)

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The Good News:

Great googily-mooly! Where do we start with these guys? First off, take note that the Huskies have now won 36, 48 and 45 games the last three years, all of which makes Jim Penders the greatest leader since Father Flanigan. Now all that’s missing is for Penders to bring his team to Boys Town-land, near that place known as Omaha. There are still some familiar faces slated for the starting lineup, like 2B LJ Mazzilli, Ryan Fuller and Billy Ferriter, who will certainly keep coach Penders’ penchant for stealing bases at the forefront of the offense (UConn led the Big East by a wiiiiiide margin with 127 thefts last season). DH Tim Martin (.298-4-29) was a 3rd team All Big East pick and should play a huge role in the infield as a full-timer this season. Also, keep an eye on a pair of part-time middle-infielders in Tom Verdi (.230, 25starts) and Mike Friel (.264, 18starts). Friel only played in 24 games last year, but when I saw UConn play at UC Irvine and at San Diego, he was the starter at 2nd base and the leadoff hitter for the Huskies. Both should play a much bigger role this time around. Southpaw Brian Ward returns to his weekend post and might be the friday night starter. Behind him, RHP Pat Butler (3-1, 5.33) returns after starting in seven of his 11 appearances on the year, and junior righties Dan Feehan (2-2, 2.19, .214OBA) and David Fischer (2-1, 2.20, 2svs, .218OBA) combined for 51 appearances last season and both have All Big East potential. Also, Fischer returned to Storrs despite getting selected in the 30th round by San Francisco in last June’s draft. Speaking of draftees, keep watch for incoming LHP Jared Dettmann, a 6’3″ flinger who was drafted by the Twins and could be an impact arm for the Huskies.

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The Bad News:

Well, there ain’t a lot of good news, so you know the “bad news” department is pretty chock-full for these guys. (Deep breath…. okay, begin). Lots of attrition. So much my fingers might get tired of typing if I laid it all out for you. Just know that names like Mike Nemeth, George Springer, Nick Ahmed, John Andreoli and Doug Elliot won’t be around to lead the offense anymore. Yes, that’s five wicked sticks who hit .296 or better last year, accounting for a good portion of the credit for this team hitting a brisk .309 on the season. Also, 52 of the team’s 66 starts on the mound have packed up their duffle bags and moved on as well, including weekend aces Matt Barnes and Greg Nappo, who started 34 games between them and will be seen on pro baseball fields near you in no time flat. Oh, and 13-game saver Kevin Vance and 9-game starter Elliot Glynn have also flown the coop too. Somehow, and I have a secret committee of 10 investigators checking into this, the Huskies won the Big East and went all the way to the Super Regionals with the most error-filled defense in the conference with 101 flubs in the field.

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Schedule Note:

Collecting flight miles and at-large goodwill.

Connecticut will go far-and-wide once again this season in its pre-Big East portion of the schedule. And I mean REALLY far and wide. They’ll start off down in St. Petersburg, Florida for the Big 10/Big East Challenge, drawing a good trio of games vs. Indiana, Purdue and Ohio State. Then they’ll play at he College of Charleston’s Cougar Invitational, followed by a trip to Starkville to take on Mississippi State, then to the Pacific Northwest to play in the Nike Showcase vs. Oklahoma, Illinois, Oregon State and Oregon (along with a quick trek to Seattle to play SU) and finally, they’ll cap their “Flight Miles” trip with a visit to Coastal Carolina to play the Chants, along with UAB and Michigan. Damn!… if ANY team deserves the benefit of doubt title come at-large bid time, it’s these guys.

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- GEORGETOWN (23-33, 5-22)

2011 ISR: 222

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

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All Conference Candidates:

INF Mike Garza (.306-4-39, 14SBs)

RF Rand Ravnaas (.352-5-37, 26SBs)

RHP Pablo Vinent (4-3, 1.94, 28apps)

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The Good News:

Despite the last place finish, there were some positives. Their win total only went from 24 in 2010 to 23 in 2011, so they didn’t fall off in a major fashion. They also had the 6th-best offense in the Big East, hitting at a .273 clip, leading the loop with 116 doubles on the season. Strong work guys. The top hitter in the lineup was Rand Ravnaas, the first All Big East performer for GU since 2005 and who returns to the hilltop despite getting drafted by Pirates last June. He’ll join Mike Garza, who was named the Cape Cod League Playoff MVP, for a great one-two punch at the top of the order. Joining them will be OF Paul Bello (.283), who will move to full-time duty this season, and 1B Steve Anderson (.259), who had a great summer in the Perfect Games League. Four pitchers with seven starts or more return in senior RHPs Will Harris (1-3, 4.12) and RHP Tommy Isaacs (3-3, 4.17), along with junior RHP Charles Steinman (1-6, 4.52) and soph RHP Alex Baker (4-3, 5.24). But watch for relievers Pablo Vinent and LHP Thomas Polus (1-2, 3.49), a pair of diminutive fireballers who combined for 90 innings of work and had the two best ERAs on the team.

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The Bad News:

Damn! Another return to the bottom of the standings for the Hoyas. Hate to see that. And this team seemed better than just five conference wins. The offense still has some room to grow and will need the bottom of the order to step up more, since Garza and Ravnaas can’t do it all themselves. The defense improved last season, but still had a Big East-worst .957 fielding percentage. They’ll move on without their stout field leader in catcher Erick Fernandez, who was drafted by the home town Nationals last June. Not a lot of losses to the pitching staff, outside of Alex Meyer, who started 11 games going 4-3, but everyone will need to make a step up for the Hoyas. For example, RHPs Neal Dennison and Bobby Kirby were the two saves leaders out of the bullpen, but their ERAs of 6.39 and 7.16 were a blight. Not piling on here guys, I’m just sayin’.

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Schedule Note:

Avoiding the big dogs.

The slate couldn’t have worked out more perfectly for the Hoyas in 2012. Turns out they’ll avoid St. John’s and UConn in the Big East rotation this year, so look for some marked improvement in that 5-win conference mark from last season. GU will also play a lot of winnable games in the early going, facing the likes of Charleston Southern, Coppin State, UMBC, St. Bonaventure, Northeastern, Yale, Bucknell and a three-game series with inner-District rivals George Washington.

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- LOUISVILLE (32-29, 14-13)

2011 ISR: 107

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

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All Conference Candidates:

RHP Justin Amlung (10-2, 2.31, .206OBA)

RHP Jeff Thompson (2-1, 2.75)

SS Alex Chittenden (.233)

OF Adam Engel (.250, 16SBs)

OF Stewart Ijames (.247-11-45)

RHP Matt Koch (5-5, 3.48)

RHP Derek Self (3-3, 2.26, .236OBA)

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The Good News:

Hunky dory. That’s not only what the Cards are hoping to get back to, but how last year began. Everything looked like it was business as usual when Uof L raced out to an 11-3 record last season, which included sweeps of Kent State and Pepperdine. Hopes for an entire season in that shiny, happy place look promising. See, the biggest key of last season’s squad was the 3.06 team ERA, which was the 2nd best unit in the Big East, and guess what?… the Cardinals have a deep and effective arms corps coming back to the mound. All three weekend starters are return in Justin Amlung (who was drafted in the 38th round by the Reds but came back), Matt Koch and RHP Mike Nastold (3-7, 4.81). Also, All Big East candidate Derek Self, who was a 27th round pick of the A’s and was used in multiple situations last season, also returns to toe the rubber and intimidate with his low 90s heat and pinpoint control. Watch out for sophomore righties Chad Green (1-2, 1.93, .217OBA), Jeff Thompson (who was named the No. 1 pro prospect in the New England Collegiate League last summer), and Dace Kime (1-2, 3.96, .240OBA), who were a little on the young side last season but will be ready to deal this spring. And best news of all was the incredibly high talent level of the incoming freshmen class that will infiltrate the roster this year. Collegiate Baseball had Coach McDonnell’s charges ranked as the 11th-best group in the country. LHP Adam Schemenauer, who was an 11th round drafted of the Royals, should make an immediate impact with his 6’9″ frame and low 90s heat. Also look for RHP Nick Burdi (24th round pick of the Twins) to make a big splash on the mound in the years to come. Defensively, the big get was JC transfer Nick Ratajczak, a sweet-fielding 2nd baseman who wasn’t drafted, but coach McDonnell feels is a genuine diamond in the rough.

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The Bad News:

Okay, I admit, there was supposed to be a slight downward turn in 2011. Sure. But going from 50 wins to just 32 last season was a little unexpected. Once things went bad, it went to hell in a handbasket. The youthful Cardinals tended to trip over their lips when the chips were down. From April 10th to May 14th of last season, the UofL was stuck in a horrid 5-16 gulch, which ruined their post-season chances and plummeted the RPI from No. 50 down to No. 108. The one thing that stuck out like a sore thumb more than anything else was the nearly nonexistent offense, which hit a putrid .253 last season. And the even worse news is that not a single hitter in the returning lineup had a batting average better than .250. Top hitters like Stewart Ijames, Cade Stallings (.237), Ryan Seiz (.234) and Adam Engel, have got to hit better or the frustration level will quickly return and wreak havoc with this teams’ confidence. The defense wasn’t much better, fielding at a .959 clip, which was only 9th in the conference.

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Schedule Note:

The comforts of home.

For a team in a Northern conference, the ‘Ville has scheduled like a southern monster in 2012, including 33 games slated for Jim Patterson Stadium. The biggest oddity was the fact that they managed to entice warm-weather wimps like Pepperdine (March 2-4) and Ole Miss (March 13-14) to visit during the snowy month of March. Beware Jack Frost. The season opening weekend will see them take on Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan State, all expected to be challengers in the Big 10. A tournament at Alabama (with Oral Roberts and East Carolina as well) will be an RPI builder and Big East contenders UConn and St. John’s both travel to the ‘Ville.

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- NOTRE DAME (23-29-1, 13-13)

2011 ISR: 164

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 0

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (25+inns.): 5

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All Conference Candidate:

1B Trey Mancini (.323-9-34, Big East Rookie of the Year)

OF Eric Jagielo (.270-5-28)

RHP Dan Slania (2-3, 2.35, .252OBA)

RHP Sean Fitzgerald (1-2, 2.38, .218OBA)

RHP Will Hudgins (4-0, 1.73, .222OBA)

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The Good News:

As usually happens, look for a better season for head coach Mik Aoki as he heads into his second season at the helm of the Irish program. He’ll have a lot of returning talents coming back, including four of the top five hitters in the order, led by All American candidate 1B Trey Mancini (who also just had six errors all last season on 1st), plus OF Eric Jagielo, C Joe Hudson (.239) and 2B Frank DeSico (.237, 13SBs). Three of the five dirtbaggers return for this spring, which was part of a stellar .972 defense. The Irish had a good base to their squad, since not only was the defense tied for the best in the Big East, but the team ERA was 3.42 on the mound, which was 4th in the Big East. And I almost forgot to mention that catcher Joe Hudson allowed just 29 opponents to steal a base all last season. Wow. The incoming infusion of new players was pretty well regarded by most recruiting services. When basketball season ends, look for 6’5 RHP Patrick Connaughton to come over and start to throw low-90s bee bees for the baseballers. With SS and 3B positions needing to be re-stocked, incoming glove sweeps Phil Mosey and Jason McMurray would be given first dibs at shoring up the positions and excelling as newbies.

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The Bad News:

Despite the energy of a new coach and a new direction for the Irish, there was not much improvement made as the Irish went from 22 wins in 2010 to just 23 wins in 2011. It’s pretty easy to see where improvements need to be made, particularly with all three weekend starters on the mound saying sayonara to the program after last season. Cole Johnson, Brian Dupra and Todd Miller accounted for  44 starts and 286 innings of work on the bump last season. As mentioned above the left side of the infield needs to be re-stocked and hopefully the new blood can help improve on that anemic .239 offense. Yes, I just wrote “.239″ for their team batting average. LHPs Ryan Richter and Steve Sabatima both come back from Tommy John surgery and need to be 100% this year for the arms staff to keep their edge.

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Schedule Note:

West. East. South. And North.

The Irish will once again be all over the map for the 2012 season. They’ll start down in St. Pete for the Big East Challenge against Michigan State, Purdue and Penn State, then head to the Northwest to play at Seattle, then go to the Carolinas for back-to-back weekends at the Winthrop Invitational (vs. Manhattan and Winthrop), then go back again the following weekend to partake in the Caravelle Classic at Coastal Carolina (vs. UAB, CCU and Kent State). Finally, in week four they’ll host their usual Irish Classic down in San Antonio (against UT-SA, Iowa and Gonzaga). Their travels will make it full-circle beginning on March 22nd when they’ll return home to play Oakland and Illinois-Chicago in the mid-week and then start Big East play vs. Georgetown. That’s some busy traveling there people.

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- PITTSBURGH (33-23, 16-11)

2011 ISR: 127

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

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All Conference Candidates:

OF/RHP Casey Roche (.345/2-2, 6.10, 3svs)

DH Rick Devereaux (.290-2-20)

C Anthony Defabio (.337)

LHP Matt Iannazzo (8-3, 2.73, 5CGs, .241OBA)

LHP Alex Caravella (4-3, 2.81, 5svs, .233OBA)

RHP Matt Wotherspoon (5-2, 3.78, .250OBA)

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The Good News:

Coach Joe Jordano seems to be building something good in the Steel City. After placing him on my “Hot Seat” list in the 2009 preview, his Panthers have ripped off three straight winning seasons with 2011 as his second straight 30+ win season. The hopes for a fourth straight will fall on a pitching staff which returns a pair of weekend arms in Matt Iannazzo and RHP Ethan Mildren (4-5, 4.31), along with mid-week starter Matt Wotherspoon. As pointed out above, watch for Casey Roche to get more national pub as he will be a solid two-way threat, including making some appearances as another option for the closer role alongside Alex Caravella. Though they didn’t hit .356 again, like in 2010, the offense was still the second best in the Big East at .307 and returns talents like Roche and part-timers Rick Devereaux and Anthony Defabio. The incoming class of recruits got some positive vibes from Baseball America, noting how it will “build a strong foundation for the move to the ACC.” Keep an eye on RHP Tanner Wilt, originally a Coastal Carolina commit who switched to Pitt, and was the top pitcher in the state of Pennsylvania last season. Also, 38th round draft pick Boo Vazquez, a speedy outfielder, could make an immediate impact as well. Finally, don’t sleep on catcher Elvin Soto, a great prospect from New York who surprisingly didn’t get drafted last spring and comes to campus with a chip on his shoulder.

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The Bad News:

It was kind of the same old story for the Panthers last season as they once again seemed to be totally primed on offense, but still had the weakness of a sort of middling pitching staff (team ERA of 4.19, 7th in the Big East). All five fielders who made 50+ starts last season have moved on to bigger and better things, and that includes four of which hit .336 or better. So the leadership of guys like Kevan Smith, David Chester, John Schultz and Travis Whitmore will be sorely missed in the field and at the plate. So there is going to be a lot of new blood in vital positions this year and a lot of newbies at the dish going up against Big East pitching. Not a great recipe there. It could take some time for this team to get its legs underneath itself.

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Schedule Note:

Welcome back.

Last year, the Panthers had the luxury of skipping Louisville and South Florida in the Big East scheduling rotation last season. Well both teams are back on the slate and both are headed to the Petersen Sports Complex this year. Looks like they’ll avoid St. John’s (Whew! Bullet dodged.) and Villanova (Doh!) for 2012, though they will face the Johnnies at the Coastal Carolina Invitational in early March. The non-conference part isn’t too daunting, though there are games with the Chanticleers, Illinois, Michigan State and Kent State to deal with. Also, the draw of Iowa, Michigan and Northwestern in the Big 10/Big East Challenge isn’t too rigorous either.

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- RUTGERS (20-30, 11-16)

2011 ISR: 181

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

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All Conference Candidates:

OF Brian O’Grady (.228)

2B/SS Nick Favatella (.284)

RHP Tyler Gebler (5-5, 3.22)

LHP Rob Smorol (4-7, 4.10)

RHP Rob Corsi (4-4, 1.58)

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The Good News:

I saw firsthand how much potential the Knights had when they beat Miami on opening weekend last year in Coral Gables. If things fall into place – and the injury bug doesn’t smash their windshield – you *could* be looking at the best Rutgers team in a decade. No B.S., it’s true. The numbers above are a bit misleading since the Knights actually have nine players that are returning starters due to injuries. A pair of sophomore infielders who were rushed to duty last year in Pat Sweeney (.283 in 31 starts) and Nick Favatella (.284 in 35 starts) will join 2B Dan Perrine (.217, just 3Es in 23 games), who comes back from a season-ending injury last March. But overall, the .968 defense wasn’t bad and should be even better this year. Look for bigger things – literally – from 6’6″ Russ Hopkins (.213 in 41starts) and 6’8″ Bill Hoermann (.176 in 33starts), as both will man 1st base and the DH role this year. Pitching-wise, get this: of the 451 innings of work the Knights did last season, 447 of those innings return to the roster this season from a team that had a 4.46 team ERA and issued the 2nd lowest walks in the Big East, just 155 all year. Wow. Look for a big year from staff ace Tyler Gebler, who had a huge season in the Cape Cod League last summer. Joining him in the rotation is Rob Smorol and RHP Nate Roe (3-7, 5.99). Also look for the very versatile Rob Corsi (who had the best ERA and made 23 appearances) to have a big year. I was impressed with his very composed and confident outing in that win at Miami I saw. RHP Jerry Elsing (0-2, 7.16) had all five saves for this staff last year and should post much better numbers this year.

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The Bad News:

Again, the worst possible news would be for this team to have to deal with the multitude of injuries, which became such a huge bugaboo last season. Also, All American candidate SS Steve Nyzistor was given the boot in the fall semester and won’t be with the team this spring. He was a big time leader for the Knights too. As you might notice from the batting averages above, the Knights need to infuse some momentum at the dish this year. That .251 team average was pretty weak and kept them from being competitive in late innings last season. There are some strapping dudes on this offense (with guys like Hopkins and Hoermann, you’re looking at two guys who could challenge Rutgers’ basketball front wall), so cultivating more power from them will go a long way. The only two hitters that went .300+ (Michael Lang and D.J. Anderson) have both moved on. And even though we glossed on the control this pitching staff showed (155BBs), they need to establish more of a presence after throwing a Big East low 293 strikeouts last season.

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Schedule Note:

The State University of… Florida.

Looks like the State University of New Jersey should look into a retirement home in the sunshine state as they’ll spend a good portion of the first month of the season down there. The Knights will open at Miami once again this season, then will return for three weeks later and take on Florida Atlantic (3games), Florida Gulf Coast (2) and Stetson (3) to close out pre-conference play. Oh, and of course, the usual three-game series at Georgia Tech is in there as well. For the 32nd consecutive season I’ll ask the question: when are Miami and Georgia Tech gonna make the return trip to Piscataway?

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- St. JOHN’s (36-22, 18-8)

2011 ISR: 64

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

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All Conference Candidates:

RHP Kyle Hansen (8-7, 3.09, .223OBA)

LHP Sean Hagan (7-2, 4.05)

LHP Brendan Lobban (6-2, 4.22)

RHP Matt Carasiti (2-2, 2.47, 8svs, .219OBA)

RHP Stephen Rivera (4-2, 2.85, 4svs, .242OBA)

OF Jeremy Baltz (.311-6-60)

2B/SS Matt Wessinger (.273-6-42, 14SBs)

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The Good News:

How big was this for the Big East? St. John’s getting an NCAA at-large bid over LSU gave the conference a tad bit more legitimacy and proved that the selection committee is willing to give Big Easterners who travel a lot the benefit of the doubt. And that’s not even the best part here people. That would be the fact that the Johnnies return (almost) everybody from last year’s Big Dance squad. Everybody, and I mean EVERY-BODY, from the pitching staff that sported a 4.06 team ERA returns for 2012. I’m talking hulking 6’8″ Kyle Hansen and the lefty brigade of 6’6″ Sean Hagan, 6’4″ Brendan Lobban and 6’2″ Kevin Kilpatrick. Between those four uber-talented arms, they combined for 51 of the 58 starts on the mound last year. Damn!! On top of that, they’d make a pretty good front line for Steve Lavin’s basketball team too. Plus, All Big East Matt Carasiti and Stephen Rivera, both righties, combined for 12 saves and also return with their  minuscule ERAs of 2.47 and 2.85 respectively. Talk about being loaded for bear, right?  The offense/defense side of things will still have a lot of experience and potential in the mix, led by All American candidate Jeremy Baltz and potential All American Matt Wessinger, who returned to campus despite getting tabbed by the Royals in the 37th round of last June’s MLB draft. Watch for the emergence of OF Jimmy Brennan (.282-3-21) and INF Pat Talbut (.273), who both are patient hitters (combined for 41 walks) and have gap-to-gap power. A pair of part-timers who had outstanding fall camps were DH Robert Case (.258) and OF Kyle Richardson (.176), so look for possible break out years from them. A great collection of fresh talent has been imported, led by LeMoyne transfer RHP Jerome Werniuk (2-1, 3.77, 2svs for the Dolphins) is a 6’5 flamethrower who will deepen the bullpen. Also watch for incoming OF Eric Peterson, catcher prospect Vince Tranchina and speedy OF Bret Dennis as all three showed flashes of greatness in the fall scrimmages and could fill some voids this season.

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The Bad News:

After getting rewarded with that infamous at-large bid, the Johnnies went 1-2 in the Charlottesville Regional, so they didn’t really set the world on fire and state their case for going to the Big Dance. The Red Storm will lose All-Everything SS Joe Panik, who hit .398 and was the glue for the defense. They’ll also say goodbye to 1B Paul Karmas, who added power to the lineup, and stout catcher Joe Witkowski who was a reliable backstop. So some re-tooling will be needed in some key infield positions. The pitching staff has some potential dominators, for sure, but they’ll still need to deal out the pain a little bit more this season, especially since they were still just the 6th-best unit in the Big East (team ERA of 4.06). Lastly, with a largely junior-senior pitching corps, the Storm will definitely need to cultivate some new arms to replace all this talent during this summer’s exodus. It’s now or never Johnnies, don’t faceplate now.

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Schedule Note:

Should be rewarded handsomely again.

Like last year, this year’s schedule will feature plenty of toughies out there for SJU. With pre-conference games against the likes of North Carolina, Texas Tech, Coastal Carolina, Illinois, Michigan State, Minnesota, UNC-Wilmington and Liberty (all on the road, of course), this team will not only be ready for the rigors of having the “favorites” target on them in Big East play, they’ll also curry some favor with the NCAA selection committee, should they need it. They will ease into Big East play with weekends vs. Villanova, West Virginia and Rutgers. The final three weeks of the conference slate should be a meat-grinder with South Florida at home, Louisville on the road and Seton Hall at home finishing things up.

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- SETON HALL (34-25, 14-13)

2011 ISR: 88

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 6

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All Conference Candidates:

RHP Jon Prosinski (7-4, 1.91, .228OBA)

RHP Ryan Harvey (5-2, 2.62, 7svs, .201OBA)

OF Zach Granite (.290, 36BBs, 12SBs)

2B/RHP Mike Genovese (.280/1-1, 1.47, 2svs)

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The Good News:

Are you like me? Did you start feeling a little nostalgic about The Hall’s late season push and gaining a bid to the NCAA tournament. I had visions of Rick Serone and the boys as they made their way to Omaha in the 70s. (clouds part as we come back out of the dream and down to Earth again). Okay, maybe you didn’t have the same feelings… still, great run Pirates. They stood there the day after Tax Day last season, at 15-17, looking like another languid season in the tank. But it all turned around after that. SHU blitzed through with an 18-6 mark including four straight to win the Big East tournament. Man! If those swabs can muster that confidence and bravado again, the Hall could be goin’ places in 2012. Pitching and defense were all the rage for the Pirates last season, tossing the best ERA in the loop at 2.68 and fielding .970 for the second straight year. So go ahead and notice head coach Rob Sheppard over there grinning like the Cheshire Cat. That’s because he’s got 10 of his 11 pitchers from last year returning to duty for 2012, led by the Friday-Saturday duo of RHP Jon Prosinski and LHP Greg Terhune (4-4, 3.86), who could be joined in the rotation by mid-weeker RHP Brian Gilbert (2-4, 3.60), whose pitching belied his freshman status last season. Lots and lots of alternatives to choose from in the bullpen, but RHP Ryan Harvey led the brigade with seven saves (and did you check out his opponents’ average… sweet Georgia Brown!) and will also have 2B/RHP Mike Genovese (16apps, 2svs), RHP George Fernandez (3-1, 1.73, 2svs, .197OBA) and RHP Frank Morris (2-2, 3.02) among the many to lean on.

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The Bad News:

For starters, coach Sheppard made it clear that his team can’t rest on the laurels of last year. This team must stay hungry, because the talent is there. It’s all about whether they have the will to work for another great season. Obviously, the offense was a huge problem all season as for the second year in a row as the Pirates finished with the second-worst offense in the conference, hitting at a boney-armed .245. Not a single returnee went .300+.  3B Guiseppe Pappacio (.266, 11SBs) will have to handle the move over to SS seamlessly and a new catcher and 1st baseman must be found to continue the solid defense the Blue & White have played the last few seasons. The coaches are high on incoming 3B Kyle Grimm, who can play just about any position in the infield, and 1B Sal Annunziatta, but they’ll both have to pull through big time to solidify that infield.

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Schedule Note:

Home-heavy Big East slate…

Ohhhhh, but those road weekends will be tougher than anyone in the conference, believe me. The Hall will have five home weekends in Big East play, starting with Rutgers in late March. But check out the list of road trips they’ll have to make: at UConn, at L’ville, okay at Georgetown ain’t so bad, but they’ll finish the season at St. John’s. Damn, who did coach Sheppard piss off in the BE offices? Some tough non-conference games will get them ready, including a three-gamer at Tennessee and a trip to Virginia.

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- SOUTH FLORIDA (25-29, 13-14)

2011 ISR: 137

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

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All Conference Candidates:

LHP Matt Reed (5-4, 4.11)

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The Good News:

The few and far between good news items include the fact that three of the four infield positions will have an experienced returnee in 1B Todd Brazeal (.258-5-36) and middle infield prospects like Chad Taylor (.258) and part-time starter Luis Llerena (.270). They should be able to keep the defense at the .969 level it played at last season. Matt Reed and LHP Nick Gonzalez (2-3, 7.15) both have a lot of experience with nine and eight starts last year, respectively. They’ll have senior RHP Andrew Loynaz (0-1, 4.38) to back them after he made17 appearances last season. Also, two other players to keep an eye on, look for the return of RHP Ray Delphey, who was the No. 2 starter in the rotation in 2010, posting 1-3, 6.19 numbers, but had to sit out last season with an injury. Also, OF Alex Mendez is back after hitting .287 in 24 starts last season. Finally, let me say this, there isn’t anything that tenacious head coach Lelo Prado is going to be scared of, particularly a rebuilding project.

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The Bad News:

With the location, accessibility and intangibles involved, it’s almost shameful that the Bulls were near the bottom of the Big East standings last year. Just not right. They plummeted from 4th place in 2010 to 9th place last season, despite having a lot of experience returning to the team. Well this time around, the problem is that there isn’t a lot returning. Matt Reed is the only effective pitcher with a lot of innings under his belt. Longtime aces Randy Fontanez and Kyle Eastham both left their weekend starting posts and saves specialist Kevin Quakenbush (12svs) has also moved on. Three of the top four hitters have also left campus in Jonathan Koscso, Sam Mende and Junior Carlin. To say the least, last year’s .262 team average was a huge sticking point and some bottom-of-the-order guys will need to step it up in 2012, or else the Bulls will probably end up back in the bottom reaches of the Big East again.

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Schedule Note:

THAT’S more like it.

Last year, USF had only 19 home games scheduled all season. But this year, that has been ameliorated by leaps and bounds. In the first 45 days of the season, the Bulls will have played 25 home games. Yep, twenty-freakin-five. From February 22nd to April 3rd, USF will play25 home games and just one road game – at UCF. So teams like Bethune-Cookman, Savannah State, Eastern Illinois, Lafayette, Georgetown and Notre Dame will be the teams that will battle test the newbies in three-game weekends during that span. In all, USF is scheduled to play 34 home games, including the remaining home weekends vs. Louisville, Villanova and UConn.

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- VILLANOVA (20-32, 7-20)

2011 ISR: 248

Starters Returning: 9

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

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All Conference Candidates:

OF Matt Fleishman (.325-5-42)

SS Marlon Calbi (.325)

RHP Kyle McMyne (4-8, 4.75)

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The Good News:

There’s a whole mess of experience back for the Wildcats. To begin with, there are nine players back who had at least 25 starts last season, including the top four returning hitters in Matt Fleishman, Marlon Calbi, and outfielders Paul Rambaud (.283) and Steve Schrenk (.280). And better yet for coach Joe Godri, six of those nine returnees are seniors. So this will be a heavily experienced squad for 2012. On the mound, VU used 11 pitchers last season and 10 of them return to campus for this season, spearheaded by RHP Kyle McMyne and LHP Kyle Helisek (1-9, 6.23), and key relievers like RHP Stephen Ostapeck (2-2, 2.96), RHP Max Almonte (2-0, 4.63) and RHP Jerry Battipaglia (2-2, 5.28). Look for Kevin MacLachlan (2-4, 5.70) and Pat Young (2-2, 5.28), a pair of strike zone pounding righties, to take on bigger roles after combining for 13 starts last season. Oh, and another great sign is the return of 2B Tyler Sciacca, who hit .309 with 12 doubles and 20 walks in 2010, but had to sit out 2011 with an injury.

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The Bad News:

Despite all the returning experience coming into last season, the ‘Cats still had a major falling off in just about every category, including the win total, which fell from 29 Ws in 2010 to 20 last year. As you might’ve noticed from some of the numbers above, the Wildcat pitching staff wasn’t all that crash-hot last season, finishing dead last in the Big East with a team ERA of 5.19. In fact, only three pitchers return with a sub-5.00 ERA. And when your opponents hit 28 percentage points better than you do, you’re not going to win a lot of games, so the offense must pick up the pace in 2012. Maybe the return of Tyler Sciacca will help the defense, which was 10th in the conference at .965. Plus, the Cats can’t wave a white flag when a runner gets on base, ‘coz they allowed a staggeringly-high 92 stolen bases off of them last season, which was 21 more than anyone else surrendered in the Big East.

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Schedule Note:

Don’t let the opening weekend bum you out.

‘Nova has the guts to go down to Arkansas for a three-game opening weekend this year, so you know it will be a tough task just to stay competitive. But if the ‘Cats can put that opening weekend behind them quickly, there are a lot of winnable games in the pre-conference portion of the schedule. They’ll play three games against a wounded Norfolk State team the second weekend of the season, then head to Florida to take part in the Snowbird Classic. It’s an apt name too since they’ll take on fellow snowbird programs like Chicago State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Western Michigan, Miami (Ohio) and Xavier. They’ll then host UMES, Iona and Central Connecticut in the Villanova Classic in the second weekend of March. VU will actually play a relatively high 27 home games this season, so with all the experience they have back we’ll see if they can springboard that into a successful season.

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- WEST  VIRGINIA (28-27, 14-13)

2011 ISR: 168

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

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All Conference Candidates:

3B Dan DiBartolomeo (.338-6-28)

OF Brady Wilson (.330-2-27, 12SBs)

OF Matt Frazer (.357 in 8gms last year)

LHP Marshall Thompson (5-4, 4.88)

RHP Ryan Tezak (3-2, 3.81, 4svs)

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The Good News:

The best news of all is that a lot of the things that coach Greg Van Zant wrote about in Collegiate Baseball two years ago are happening now, like the road bonus in the RPI and the Big East getting a benefit of the doubt kind of at-large consideration. He’s smarter than we think people. He’ll have some serviceable arms to build his staff around, especially in expected ace Marshall Thompson and sophomores Ryan Tezak, RHP Corey Walter (2-4, 4.75) and RHP Josh Harlow (1-1, 4.55, .254OBA). In addition, LHP Eric Hinkle, who started 12 games in 2010, is back after sitting out last year and should be a huge addition on weekends. The Mountaineers had the best defense in the Big East last year (.972 fielding) and return 3B Dan DiBartolomeo, 1B Ryan McBroom (.246-3-24) and C Matt Malloy (.289) to help give the defense a good base to build around. Incoming SS John Polonius, a native of Curacao, was a 30th round draft pick of the Indians and should have an impact. DiBartolomeo and OF Brady Wilson both hit .330+ and will spearhead the offense, which hit .300 as a team last year.

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The Bad News:

Well things are about to get real serious for this program as they will head to the Big 12 in 2013. And this is a program that doesn’t have a wild amount of success and, if you’ve seen the picture on website, the home stadium is appreciably worse than any facility in the Big 12. Upgrades necessary. As for this season, there are a lot of holes to fill, particularly the top two hitters in Grant Buckner (.364) and Jeremy Gum (.339), who combined for 12 home runs and 84 RBI last season. Staff ace Andy Berry (103inns pitched) will also be gone and promising sophomore weekend starter Harrison Musgrave (4-2, 4.61) will miss this season with Tommy John surgery. Arrrrgh! Despite that great defense from last year, the ‘Neers also were saddled with a team ERA of 5.07, second-worst in the Big East. Hyper-talented OF Matt Frazer, who is a former 26th round draft pick and hit .305 as a frosh, missed the last 47 games of last year with an injury. He could be a difference-maker this year, but must stay healthy the entire season.

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Schedule Note:

Readying for the Big 12

Unlike last season, this year’s pre-conference slate will be much more arduous, and dare I say, a schedule that will get them ready for the rigors of the Big 12. Games against teams like N.C. State, Nebraska, Minnesota, New Mexico State will be tough. But then they’ll also head out to Oregon to play Oregon State, Oklahoma, Oregon and Illinois in the fourth weekend of the season. The Big East schedule is pretty kind as they’ll have road trips to lower-division programs like Rutgers, Seton Hall and Georgetown. However, the first two weekends will have them hosting UConn and going to St. John’s.