A win is a win. It’s as simple as that. After having a near-heart attack while watching the Hoyas eke out a win Tuesday night against Seton Hall—which is now a weekly occurrence—I realized that although the team played poorly for much of the game, I was happy with the result. Sure, Seton Hall isn’t the cream of the Big East crop. But it doesn’t matter.
The conference’s regular season is always a bloodbath, with many elite teams doing damage to each other. That has continued to hold true this year, but in a different way. Yes, the league has elite teams like Pittsburgh, Villanova and (as much as I hate to say it) Syracuse, but from first place Pitt all the way down to last place DePaul, the Big East is as balanced as ever.
With the first third of the season over, only the Panthers remain undefeated in conference play, and their smallest margin of victory (four points) came at the hands of basement dweller Providence. St. John’s, who isn’t even ranked, crushed No. 16 Notre Dame on Sunday. This is the same Notre Dame that got manhandled by unranked Marquette, but also beat Georgetown and Connecticut. Any team can win on any night.
The top teams won’t remain unscathed either. On ESPN’s Big Monday, UConn slipped by Villanova, and Pittsburgh beat Syracuse to keep its perfect conference record intact. The two games, decided by an average of five points, emphasized how tight the competition is. And it was no coincidence that both winning teams happened to be playing at home.
In the Big East, home teams are 33-15, showing the value and rarity of a road win in college basketball’s premier conference. Of the Big East’s seven ranked teams’ losses, 10 of 12 have come on the road. So if you think Georgetown’s wins at Rutgers and Seton Hall weren’t big wins, think again. Not only did it show that the Hoyas could win a road game in the Big East, but it demonstrated maturity and an understanding of how hard it actually is to accomplish.
Nobody in the Hoyas’ camp wanted to start the conference season off 3-4, especially after an out-of-conference schedule that saw them go 11-1, but that is where they stand right now, and it isn’t a bad place to be. I’m sure Coach John Thompson III would love to have that West Virginia game back, and maybe the last few minutes of the St. John’s game, but the Hoyas could be in a worse spot. Right now they sit in 11th place, but they are only 1.5 games behind fourth place Louisville. No team is really out of reach. Even Pittsburgh is beatable.
The Hoyas can take solace in the fact that the season is far from over. In such a competitive league there is room to move up quickly. Things are hardly rosy over in McDonough—the Hoyas have been dreadful defensively and they can’t hold onto the ball on offense—but if they can overcome these weaknesses, play better at home, and steal some road wins, Georgetown will find themselves near the top of the Big East standings—which would be impressive, considering their poor start.
The Hoya faithful needs to step away from the ledge and relax. No one can predict how many wins Georgetown will have at the end of the season. Maybe the Hoyas’ rough start in conference play helped them develop a new appreciation for wins after their sweep of Rutgers and Seton Hall. Four of their next seven games are against ranked opponents—so we’ll find out soon enough.
