Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese doesn’t need Nutra-Sweet in his coffee or frosting on his flakes. His words are already as sugarcoated as they come.

Before the season, Tranghese proclaimed the benefits of having a conference without national title contenders but with plenty of competitive teams. While fans from Syracuse to Storrs, Conn., accustomed to powerhouse teams may take issue with the commissioner on the first statement, the league is enjoying one of its most exciting races in years.

When Tranghese spoke, Boston College and Georgetown were expected to contend for the East and West crowns, respectively. Coaches picked current West leader Pittsburgh to finish down the ladder in sixth place and competitive Rutgers to finish last.

‘At this point, the only thing that surprises me is there aren’t more,’ St. John’s coach Mike Jarvis said, exaggerating on the unexpected logjam. ‘Who knows what’s going to happen the rest of the year?’

The rest of the country has struggled along with Jarvis in figuring that out. Ten of 14 teams have received votes in either the ESPN or AP Poll, the highest percentage of any conference. Even now, coaches and reporters differ in opinions of where Big East squads rank.

Miami holds the highest ranking in both polls, followed by Syracuse. The Orangemen, however, have looked like the league’s worst team other than Virginia Tech and West Virginia. Pittsburgh is ranked in the ESPN poll but not in the AP, while Connecticut has earned votes in each. Boston College earned votes in the ESPN poll while Notre Dame received honorable mention in the AP despite Boston College’s meager 4-4 standing in conference and Notre Dame’s 5-3 league record.

‘I talked to my friend Steve Lavin the other day and he said the Big East, Big 8 and Big Ten are all beating each other up,’ Villanova coach Jay Wright said. ‘That’s the way it’s always going to be. The players these days are so good. You’ve got Duke and then there’s everybody else.’

For the past month coaches have scoured stat sheets, rosters and their brains for reasons why the conference has 11 teams within two games of one another. Here’s what they’ve come up with:

The NBA: College basketball’s favorite whipping boy. In this case the coaches may have a point. The conference lost underclassmen Omar Cook (SJU), Eddie Griffin and Samuel Delambert (SHU), Michael Bradley (VU) and Troy Murphy (ND) to the NBA draft last year, and Erick Barkley (SJU) the year before. All four squads remain mired in the middle of the Big East swamp. With the lost potential still in school, one of these teams could have vaulted from the middle of the pack to an upper echelon, which at this point doesn’t exist.

Athleticism: It used to be that only elite teams could nab freshmen with the potential to execute electrifying dunks. With current players practicing for SportsCenter since they were 5 years old, this year’s collection may be the most athletically talented but fundamentally unsound group from top to bottom. This allows teams lacking athletic ability but rich in the fundamentals to compete with teams that attract top recruits.

Home Advantage: Coaches seem convinced opposing gyms have become tougher to play in. With the popularity of the sport rising, raucous student sections are the norm, even in the homes of traditional bottom feeders. With one of the loudest cheering sections in the conference and fans that nearly sit on the court, Rutgers is a prime example. Things will only get tougher for road teams in the future — Villanova moved into a new arena this season and Miami, known for having off-campus crowds as brutal as Callista Flockhart in a boxing match, moves into an on-campus facility next season.

Are you kidding me?

Gary Waters, RU Waters has turned the Big East’s biggest cupcake into a meal that even the Big East’s biggest eaters are having trouble finishing off. The Scarlet Knights upset East Division-leader Connecticut, and West Division-leader Syracuse in consecutive games. It was the first time in school history that they had defeated ranked squads in consecutive contests.

Louis Orr, SHU Poor Louis woke up the beast in David Graves. The Notre Dame senior, who lost his starting spot last week after struggling to find his shot, bumped into Orr as he left the Continental Airlines Arena court at halftime. Orr pushed Graves aside and kept walking. Graves barked back at Orr, who turned and glared. Upon returning to the floor, a red-hot Graves piped up with an inordinate amount of trash talk and piped in with 13 second-half points.

Stats of the week:

73We’ve heard all the cliches about home-court advantage. Apparently no one’s kidding when they say them. Home teams won 73 percent of the games (16-6) over the past two weeks.

3-1Villanova has been turnover prone all season, losing the turnover battle in 16 of 19 games and averaging nearly six more than its opponents. Inexplicably, the team is 3-1 when its turnover margin is worse than minus-10.

On the Shelf

Justin Brown, UConn Connecticut’s backup center broke his left hand on a dunk in practice and is day-to-day. He’s currently wearing a cast and didn’t play Saturday against Miami. The 7-foot Australian averages 10 minutes, three points and three rebounds.

Impact: Unless you’re looking for a reason to put on a fake accent and mumble ‘Australian for beer, ‘ there isn’t much.

Willie Shaw, SJUThe St. John’s forward has been playing with tendinitis in his knee all season, but coach Mike Jarvis revealed this week that he also has bone spurs in that knee. Jarvis would not rule out season-ending surgery, but Shaw says he hopes to tough it out the rest of the year.

Impact: Shaw’s played over 30 minutes just once and has played under 15 minutes six times. His loss would hurt the Red Storm’s NCAA and NIT hopes, but if he can fight through it he shouldn’t play much worse than he has this season.

On Tap

Rutgers at Notre DameWho woulda thunk it? Is Rutgers primed for a ride upon that precarious tournament bubble? Not yet. A conference road win over someone other than West Virginia would go a long way toward tournament consideration. The winner also puts itself in position to catch Syracuse and Pittsburgh atop the West Division.

UCLA at Villanova With the season winding down, the three letters that matter most to coaches across the country come into play. No, not W-I-N, but R-P-I. The Wildcats have a chance to do themselves and the whole conference a favor if they can topple the up-and-down Bruins and earn a quality win.

Pittsburgh at SyracuseIs there a team less welcome in the Dome than the Panthers? This meeting will determine first place in the West, and Pittsburgh spanked the Orangemen on Jan. 22, 72-57.

Yup, he said it

Courtesy of the Palm Beach Post: Jim Calhoun went on one of the best rants of the season after he was asked about the play of Tony Robertson and Taliek Brown (14 points on 5-for-17 shooting, five turnovers) in Saturday’s 68-66 loss to Miami. Calhoun was upset about the final play when he felt freshman Ben Gordon was fouled going up for a game-winning three-point attempt. Hurricanes guard Michael Simmons was credited with a block.

”Perhaps you guys are so dumb you couldn’t see it,” Calhoun said to reporters before cursing and slamming the interview table. ‘How come every time we lose, it’s our players’ fault? Why is it always something we did wrong? Did it ever occur to you that Miami played better? We got the shot we wanted at the end. We got the ball at a terrific spot and to the best jump shooter on the floor. His shot traveled 10 feet. I don’t see how, if there was no contact on the play. I see (the final statistics) calls it a blocked shot. I saw something else. But if it says here it is a block, then we’ll call it a block, won’t we?”

Published on February 5, 2002 at 12:00 pm