The Big East season officially kicks off tonight, with Pitt playing at Notre Dame and Providence at St. John’s. UConn’s conference season gets underway tomorrow night at South Florida.

As always, it’s going to be a fun couple of months keeping tabs on what I still think is the best conference in America. Some believe the Big East is a bit down this year, but I remember people saying that before last season, as well. The result: a record 11 teams invited to the Big Dance, with UConn, of course, emerging as national champion.

Not saying there will be 11 Big East invites this year, but the conference certainly has Final Four contenders in Syracuse, UConn, Louisville and possibly Marquette and Georgetown. Perennial contenders like Pitt and Villanova appear a little down, but we could see vast improvement from teams like Seton Hall, Providence and even DePaul.

And when it’s all said and done ... I like the Huskies to come out on top. Call me a homer, but I really like what I see here. They’re nine-deep (which is more than what you really need in college hoops), and that’s with Niels Giffey seeing sparse minutes lately and Michael Bradley yet to return from injury. They’ve got great size and athleticism up front (Alex Oriakhi really needs to step it up, however), they play suffocating defense and, more so than in years past, they can actually shoot the ball – fifth in the Big East at 49 percent, up from last year’s 43 percent. Heck, the Huskies lead the conference in 3-point shooting, as well, at 41 percent.

They’ve got a superstar (Jeremy Lamb) and a standout point guard (Shabazz Napier) to help make up for the loss of Kemba Walker. And they’ve got Andre Drummond, whose potential is limitless and who should only get better as the year progresses.

Anyway, here are my fearless predictions for the upcoming Big East season:

1. UConn (14-4) The potential to repeat is there, people. It really is.
2. Syracuse (14-4) I could tell you Syracuse isn’t a national title contender, but then Jim Boeheim might call me a liar who’s only out for money.

3. Louisville (13-5) Remember when Rick Pitino-Karen Sypher was the Big East’s most seedy scandal?
4. Marquette (13-5) Darius Johnson-Odom, Jae Crowder may be Big East’s best 1-2 punch.
5. Georgetown (12-6) Hoyas have won at Alabama, beaten Memphis twice already.
6. West Virginia (12-6) Think there’ll be some trash-talking when Jabari Hinds goes up against Ryan Boatright?
7. Seton Hall (10-8) New Haven’s Freddie Wilson (1.1 ppg) hasn’t had much of an impact thus far.
8. Pittsburgh (10-8) Remember when Pitt never lost at The Pete? It’s already lost there to Long Beach State and (gulp!) Wagner.
9. Cincinnati (9-9) If only Yancy Gates always played as hard as he punches.
10. Villanova (8-10) Wildcats still don’t have much up front. Now, even guard play is iffy.
11. Providence (7-11) People close to the program were bracing for the worst season in years this season. Looks like that won't happen.
12. South Florida (5-13) There’s some talent here, but it doesn’t seem to be coached very well.
13. DePaul (5-13) Who’s the better ex-UConn commit, Cleveland Melvin (18.5 ppg) …
14. St. John’s (5-13) … or Moe Harkless (14.2 ppg, 8.1 rpg)?
15. Notre Dame (4-14) Looks like loss of Tim Abromaitis for season is similar to Colts losing Peyton Manning.
16. Rutgers (3-15) Most non-descript team in Big East -- by far. But it does have the best team website in the conference, so there's that.

ALL-BIG EAST

FIRST TEAM
Jeremy Lamb, UConn
Darius Johson-Odom, Marquette
Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh
Kris Joseph, Syracuse
Herb Pope, Seton Hall
Kevin Jones, West Virginia

SECOND TEAM
Peyton Siva, Louisville
Kyle Kuric, Louisville
Jae Crowder, Marquette
Shabazz Napier, UConn
Andre Drummond, UConn

THIRD TEAM
Jason Clark, Georgetown
Scoop Jardine, Syracuse
Dion Waiters, Syracuse
Cleveland Melvin, DePaul
Malik Wayns, Villanova

HONORABLE MENTION
Hollis Thompson, Georgetown
Vincent Council, Providence
Gorgui Dieng, Louisville

ALL-ROOKIE
Andre Drummond, UConn
Moe Harkless, St. John’s
LaDontae Henton, Providence
Chane Behanan, Louisville
Ryan Boatright, UConn
Jabari Hinds, West Virginia

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Jeremy Lamb, UConn: I don’t see a candidate from either Syracuse or Louisville. West Virginia’s Kevin Jones and Seton Hall’s Herb Pope are 1-2 in the Big East in both scoring and rebounding, respectively, but let’s see if that lasts during conference play. Ashton Gibbs was the pre-season pick, but Pitt appears down this year. This could come down to Lamb and Johnson-Odom, and in the end, Lamb’s got the better team.

COACH OF THE YEAR
Kevin Willard, Seton Hall: We’ll find out fast if the Hall’s 11-1 start is legit (it opens at Syracuse, then home vs. West Virginia and UConn), but Willard certainly seems to have the Pirates on the right track. Cooley will win this award someday ... soon.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Andre Drummond, UConn: Yes, he’s still very raw in spots, but if he’s not the most gifted athletic specimen in the league, I don’t know who is. And here’s another thing: he just turned 18 in August, making him one of the youngest players in the entire conference!

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Fuquan Edwin, Seton Hall: I wouldn’t completely rule out Drummond in this category, either, but we’ll go with this 6-foot-6 swingman who leads the Big East in steals.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
Herb Pope, Seton Hall: After a near-fatal collapse in the summer of 2010, Pope never got back on track last season. But he’s been dominant so far this year and could be a shoo-in for this award. Nice story, really.

SIXTH MAN AWARD
Dion Waiters, Syracuse: There are some (Jim Calhoun included) who believe Waiters is the Orange’s best player. Only thing keeping him from this award is if Boeheim decides to put him in the starting lineup.

A few more things I think I think:

*** Syracuse and Louisville are both deep and talented, but I don't see that superstar player on either roster that's going to lead them to the promised land. Wouldn't be surprised to see either team get popped earlier than expected from the NCAA tournament.

*** With Steve Lavin back healthy and on the sidelines, and with Amir Garrett now eligible, St. John's will progressively get better, despite having just eight scholarship players. I could be very wrong about this, though.

*** Cincinnati is 4-0 since the brawl with Xavier and seems to be playing better without Gates. I wasn't too high on the Bearcats to begin with, however, and don't see them doing much this season after he returns on Jan. 4.

*** It's really too bad Farmington's Tim Abromaitis has to miss his final season after tearing his ACL. Can he still win the postseason Scholar-Athlete Award? (I'd say not, because I don't believe he's taking courses this year).

*** Another (sort of) local kid is also out for the season: Louisville's Mike Marra -- like myself, a native Rhode Islander. Can see why his family wanted him to play for Pitino.

*** As if there wasn't enough disinterest in South Florida already down in Tampa, the Bulls won't even play in their home gym this season as it's under repairs. USF is playing all its home games this season in the St. Pete Times Forum -- site of UConn's stunning first-round loss to No. 13 seed San Diego in 2008. I'm guessing there'll be as many if not more snow-bird UConn fans in the building Wednesday night than USF fans.

*** Why 14-4 for UConn? I see the Huskies losing at Syracuse and Louisville, and there'll probably be at least one home loss along the way -- maybe vs. Marquette on Feb. 19, or Syracuse on Feb. 25. Wouldn't be shocked to see them get upset at Seton Hall on Jan. 3 in their final game without Jim Calhoun, either.

According to zagsblog.com, Maurice Harkless is has de-committed to UConn and is re-opening his recruitment "just ... to make sure UConn is still the right choice."

UConn commit Maurice Harkless, a Class of 2011, 6-foot-7 forward, is here tonight with his AAU coach.

Harkless plays at Forest Hills High in Queens, N.Y.

Roll up ... roll up for the ... OK, I'll stop.

The Majok-al Mystery Tour got off to the proverbial inauspicious debut this afternoon. One point, three rebounds, one turnover, two fouls and one "F" bomb from his coach in 16 minutes of action in Ater Majok's long-awaited UConn lid-lifter. Let the record show:

 "All You Need is Love": Majok started and was the first UConn player introduced. He earned a nice ovation from the crowd of 13,685 but didn't seem to know exactly where to go after his name was called. He jumped center and got beaten bad on the jump-ball.

 "Hello, Goodbye": He was pulled from a game for the first time at 17:29, replaced by Gavin Edwards.

 "Flying": His first rebound came with 7:47 left in the first half.

 "Penny Lane": Majok's first point came on a foul shot 5:08 before halftime, earning another ovation. He missed his ensuing freebie.

 Majok didn't start the latter half, Gavin Edwards did. His first official field goal attempt was a misfired 17-footer with 17:01 left to play.

 "Goo goo ga joob": His first official public undressing by Calhoun came 20 seconds later, when Calhoun called a timeout and shouted at Majok for a defensive lapse.

 His first foul came with 10:51 to play.

 "You've been a naughty boy ...": Majok's first official "F"-bomb from Calhoun came with 2:10 left. After Majok seemed a bit confused in an offensive set and was late setting a screen for Kemba Walker, Calhoun called a timeout and yelled "Get the (bleep) out!" at Majok. The crowd just happened to be rather silent at that point, so most people still in the building heard it.

Majok seemed a bit miffed about Calhoun's reaction, blankly staring into the distance while seated on the bench. He took the high road after the game.

"It's not every day that you hear him say that, but when you hear it, there's not much you can do about it," he said. "You just step out off the court, sit down and think about what you did. He's doing it for the best of us. That's his way of telling us, 'that was wrong.' That's his way of saying I'm wrong and I did a mistake."


As for his overall game: "It's good that the bad game is out of the way. It is what it is. It's a bad game, I realize I've got a lot to work on. All I can do is go back in the gym and work on it and get back here on Tuesday. But, a win is a win. Stanley showed up, Gavin showed up, they backed us up. There's not really much I can say.

"It's difficult coming in halfway through the year. I thought it was easier, but once I stepped on the court, it's a lot more difficult because the team has been going for a while without you. You can't just step in and take every shot you take. It's a little frustrating, but we'll get through it. We've got a lot more games to go. I'm happy, at the same time, because I got that game out of the way and it doesn't happen to me in the Big East. But I'm not happy that it's my first game and I had a bad performance."

Said Calhoun: "He certainly didn't have the kind of game I would expect. I didn't necessarily think it would be spectacular, but it certainly could have been better. Alex (Oriakhi) had his worst game since he's been here, energy-wise."

"I really, really think that if you've never been around a basketball team, it's difficult … He just didn't play very well, he didn't look like he was ready to play, he was very hesitant about everything he did. He didn't block shots, or rebound, he stood up a lot – along with Alex too, by the way … He didn't play well."

As for Oriakhi, he went scorleless in 24 minutes before fouling out. He had just two rebounds and attempted just one shot.

"Alex doesn't want the ball," said Calhoun. "He made the decision a while ago, he's a conscientious objector. He doesn't want to score … he was just lousy today.

"I could have used Ater or two or three other big guys – I don't think the names it would have made a difference. Only the names would have changed."

Not Jonathan Mandeldove. He wasn't in the building, apparently battling illness but also seemingly an academic casualty. Charles Okwandu was in the house – at least physically. He didn't play.

***"Baby You're a Rich Man": Calhoun addressed reports that he and the school have agreed on a contract extension.

"It's right on the horizon, but I haven't signed anything," said the 24th-year coach. "Maybe somebody else has. My wife signs all my checks, maybe she did."

A source told the Register that the deal is done.

***Though he's a squat 6-foot-3 left-hander with goggles who looks nothing like his famous father, Marcus Jordan is indeed the son of Michael, arguably the greatest player in basketball history. He shot 5-for-10 from the floor and led UCF with 13 points.

***UConn commit Maurice Harkless, a 6-foot-7 forward, and coveted Class of 2012 big man Andre Drummond of Middletown watched the game from behind the Huskies' bench.

***We got a "logy" today from Calhoun. The extremely archaic word (pronounced "low-jee") is one of Calhoun's favorites when describing his team's lackadaisical effort.

UConn's new commitment Maurice Harkless, a Class of 2011, 6-foo-7 forward, met with the media a few minutes to go. Here's what he had to say:

"I love the campus, love the way (Jim Calhoun) coaches, he's a Hall of Fame coach, the fans are great, it's a great school."

Harkless visited St. John's and Seton Hall, and also had Kentucky – ironically enough – on his final list, though he didn’t' visit Lexington.

"I just do whatever it takes to win, really. I'll play all positions, whatever is needed at the moment. I can shoot the ball, I like to rebound, block shots, play defense."

"They expect me to come in and play the wing, maybe sometimes go down low, but it doesn't matter to me."

"I just like to play my own game, I try not to be like anyone else."

Ben Chobhaphand, Harkless's coach at Forest Hills High in Queens, believes Harkless is a "prototype UConn player."

"He's a 6-7 guy with a 7-2 wingspan, he can play more than one position," Chobhaphand said. "I think that definitely fits in at UConn. UConn leads the country in blocked shots every year, and he's a wing guard who can block shots – guards or bigs."

He believes Harkless has plenty of room to grow, physically. Harkless weighed 170 pounds last year but is up to 187 right now.

Harkless was in a cast at UConn's First Night in mid-October, a result of a minor fracture of his left foot. He got the cast off 3 ½ weeks ago and missed Forest Hills' first 2-3 weeks of practice and its first two games, returned to action on Sunday and went for 21 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks. On Tuesday, Harkless went for 16, 14 and seven.

Harkless is a soft-spoken kid, but his coach believes he'll do just fine with "The Horde."

"I know he'll get a lot of love from you guys at Connecticut. We talk about it all the time, UConn is like the pro team up there, because UConn doesn't really have a pro team, on the men's side."

***Madison Square Garden officially unveiled the top 10 moments in college basketball history at the world's most famous arena Wednesday night. They are:

10. Long Island University's winning streak snapped at 43 – Dec. 30, 1936

9. "The Sweater Game" (John Thompson wearing an ugly, Lou Carnesecca-like sweater) – Feb. 27, 1985

8. St. John's defeats No. 1 Michigan – Jan. 2, 1965

7. Joe Lapchick wins his final game, in the NIT title game – March 20, 1965

6. Oscar Robertson scores 56 points vs. Seton Hall – Jan. 9, 1958

5. Walter Berry blocks Pearl Washington's shot at the buzzer – March 8, 1986

4. Gerry McNamara's heroics in Big East tournament – March, 2006

3. Bill Bradley scores 41 vs. Michigan – Dec. 30, 1964

2. Syracuse's 6-overtime win over UConn – March 12, 2009 (this one predictably drew lots of boos from the many UConn fans when it was revealed on the big screen at halftime)

1. CCNY wins NCAA and NIT titles – March, 1950

***Jim Calhoun, his family, coaches and players will join a team of Stop & Shop employees, the Hartford law firm of RisCassi and Davis, Omar Coffee and Hartford Food Systems to provide holiday meals for 1,000 needy Hartford families tonight.

Calhoun and his team will be at the Pope Park Recreation Center on 30 Pope Park Dr. from 5:30-6:30 p.m., and at the North End Senior Center, 80 Coventry St., from 6:45-8 p.m. They will distribute turkeys and holiday meal fixings to needy families.

Couple of quick tidbits from today's practice, in advance of tomorrow's exhibition with UMass Lowell:

***Jerome Dyson and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel practiced. Donnell Beverly wasn't here, as he's still battling illness.

Dyson explained why he was held out of Wednesday night's exhibition.

"There was just some paperwork that didn't get in on time," he said. "Once we did get it in, they had to look over it. They said they didn’t get an answer back in time whether I could play or not."

Dyson wasn't about to assign blame to anyone about the mix-up, but he's confident that everything's taken care of and there is nothing else to worry about. There was one fringe benefit to sitting out the AIC game, too.

"I didn't get yelled at," he said, with a smile.

***No new information on Coombs. Jim Calhoun said "he could play tomorrow," but that would seem rather unlikely. Coombs is still awaiting word on his initial eligibility. He wasn't allowed to sit on the bench for the AIC game, but now that he is cleared to at least practice, it's possible he could be on the bench tomorrow.

***Maurice Harkless, a 6-foot-7 junior out of Forest Hills High in Queens, N.Y., was at practice – wearing a protective boot on his left foot. Harkless also visited UConn for First Night a few weeks ago.

Ex-UConn assistant Dave Leitao was also in the house.

*** It'll be a bit of a family affair on Sunday for Alex Oriakhi. His cousin, Kingsley Onyechi, is a bruising senior forward at UMass Lowell.

Oriakhi grew up with Onyechi in Lowell and the two are very tight. They worked out together quite a bit this past summer. Who got the upper hand?

"Oh me, obviously," Oriakhi said. "Even if he did, I'm not going to say it."

Onyechi played for three years at New England College but sat out a year, giving him another year of eligibility. He averaged 17.8 points and 8.6 rebounds as a senior at NEC.

He's also about five years older than Oriakhi.

"Age doesn't mean anything," Oriakhi noted. "Once that ball goes up, there's no freshman or sophomores or seniors."

UMass Lowell's point guard, freshman Scotty Tavares-Taylor, played at Tilton (N.H.) School with Oriakhi and Coombs-McDaniel.

Greetings from the Bronx, where it's cold but not raining … yet. Looking like the rain is going to hold off and we'll get in Game 2 of the ALCS tonight.

I didn't make practice today because I was driving down to the Bronx to cover tonight's game, but check out colleague Chris Hunn's story on UConn's first official practice in tomorrow's Register. I did learn that the Huskies are hosting Cory Joseph on an official visit this weekend. He was at First Night last night.

Joseph is a 6-foot-3 guard out of Findlay Prep in Henderson, NV, who is ranked as the No. 6 point guard in the Class of 2010 by scout.com.


Also at First Night last night was frequent UConn visitor Andre Drummond and a new name – Cleveland Melvin, who plays at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass. Melvin is a 6-7, Class of 2010 forward.

As mentioned last night, Maurice Harkless, a 6-6 junior forward from Forest Hills (N.Y.) High, was in the house, as well. And, of course, Roscoe Smith, who we talked to last night.

(Quiz question: What all-time comedy classic features the line, "Hello, Cleveland!"

Roscoe Smith is in the house here at First Night, on an official visit to UConn. Nice kid, and certainly not lacking in confidence.

At 6-foot-8, Smith is the No. 6-rated small forward in the nation by scout.com. But he's not about to pigeon-hole himself as just a small forward.

"I'm a versatile-type player. I can do it all," he said. "Anything the coach needs of me, I can do."

Smith has narrowed his college choices down to three: Georgetown, UConn and Duke. He visited Georgetown two weeks ago, and plans to make a visit to Durham, N.C. in another couple of weeks.

What will his final decision come down to?

"It depends on which one wants me the most," said Smith, who added that he plans to take his time with his decision after the Duke visit.

So far, he's impressed with what he sees in Storrs.

"The main thing about UConn is coach Jim Calhoun. And also, the legacy of the players that played here, like Rudy Gay, Ben Gordon, etc."

(Incidentally, Donyell Marshall is in the house tonight, as well).

Smith added that the Husky coaching staff has told him, "If I come to UConn, the world is mine."

***We got to thinking: How many famous Roscoes are there? I can think of two: Roscoe Tanner, the former tennis player, and Roscoe P. Coltrane, the "famous" Dukes of Hazard cop. Anyone we're forgetting?

***Also due to be here tonight: Khem Burch, a freshman at the South Kent School who's on crutches (not sure why). Also here is Maurice Harkless. Cory Joseph and Angel Nunez are slated to be here, too, but I haven't seen them yet. Doesn't mean they're not here.

Much more to come ...