SLU Women's Soccer Thread

[courtside]

On 10/23/2023 at 11:22 AM, courtside said:

SLU in the polls:

Top Drawer Soccer: 11

College Soccer News: 15

……………

TDS:

BYU 4

SLU 11

Brown 12

Nebraska 15

Xavier 25

 

…………….

CSN:

BYU 5

Brown 14

SLU 15

Xavier 20

Nebraska 22

Dayton 25

……………

 

United Soccer Coaches Poll:

SLU 22

…………

BYU 7

Brown 14

Xavier 17

Nebraska 19

SLU 22

………….

 

[Taj79]

I don't b other to read the courtjester ..... so if we are upset, are we still in?

[Lord Elrond]

They still use RPI in women’s soccer, we are currently 14th in RPI, 11th to 22nd in various rankings, and it’s a 64 team tournament. Just like in MBB, if someone is ranked that high going into their conference tournament and gets upset, they are probably still in, what’s affected is where they fall in seeding. That matters more in women’s soccer, the top 32 seeds host 33-64 at their home field, not a neutral site. Just my 2 cents, the NCAA doesn’t listen to me about anything, so in that at least they show good judgement.

[Pistol]

1 hour ago, Taj79 said:

I don't b other to read the courtjester ..... so if we are upset, are we still in?

 

1 hour ago, Lord Elrond said:

They still use RPI in women’s soccer, we are currently 14th in RPI, 11th to 22nd in various rankings, and it’s a 64 team tournament. Just like in MBB, if someone is ranked that high going into their conference tournament and gets upset, they are probably still in, what’s affected is where they fall in seeding. That matters more in women’s soccer, the top 32 seeds host 33-64 at their home field, not a neutral site. Just my 2 cents, the NCAA doesn’t listen to me about anything, so in that at least they show good judgement.

nm

[Taj79]

roger.  thanks.

[courtside]

On 10/24/2023 at 6:50 PM, Lord Elrond said:

They still use RPI in women’s soccer, we are currently 14th in RPI, 11th to 22nd in various rankings, and it’s a 64 team tournament. Just like in MBB, if someone is ranked that high going into their conference tournament and gets upset, they are probably still in, what’s affected is where they fall in seeding. That matters more in women’s soccer, the top 32 seeds host 33-64 at their home field, not a neutral site. Just my 2 cents, the NCAA doesn’t listen to me about anything, so in that at least they show good judgement.

Let’s see if I can help since there seems to be some confusion as well as a deleted post. The NCAA is reasonably good at using RPI. They are often curious at best with matchups and geography. Let’s take a look.

Top 32 teams are seeded and, they all host a home game. Then after that, it changes.

Each of the four regions are seeded 1-8 and all of those teams host a non-seeded team in round one.

In rounds 2 and 3, the best remaining seeded team in that section of the region will host 4 teams, 3 games.

Example: SLU finished 8th in RPI and they were given a #2 seed which seemed reasonable. Hosting Memphis instead of SIUE or Missouri State, made less sense. #4 seed Northwestern and #3 seed Arkansas did that. 

Had they defeated Memphis, they would have hosted #7 seed Mississippi St., as well as #3 seed Arkansas. Then they would have traveled to #1 seed Florida St. for the regional final. 

Because SLU lost to Memphis, Arkansas was next best and they hosted #6 seed Ohio State, and Memphis, before traveling to #1 seed Florida St. for the regional final. Memphis defeated #7 Mississippi St. 4-0 at Arkansas. And they lost 3-3 (PK’s) at Arkansas. Some would like this to change to one game a week and more schools hosting.

Memphis by the way went on to back uo their big playoff run with a strong season this year. Ranked 3, 8, 9, in the polls with an RPI of 17.

SLU of course is safely in the NCAA Tourney. What matters most are NCAA matchups, styles of play, available personnel, formations etc…the actual seed number matters less unless a team gets to host more games because of it. Some schools play better or worse vs different teams or playing styles.  also play better in snow or 80 degree weather than others. This is where knowing the other teams well helps.

SLU can win out and hope for certain results from some other schools and hope for the best seed possible to try to host more games. Top 8 overall or a 2 seed, guarantees 3 home games. They will need some help if they come up short of that. Many schools ahead of and behind SLU in the RPI are good, and, are of a similar level of ability. Parity increases every year. 

You never know what change the NCAA will make in a given year. 

……………..

RPI’s are essentially unchanged this week with few exceptions (BYU for example) this week until tonight. Lots of big games beginning tonight and running through the end of next week. And that will impact the RPI.

BYU 2

Brown 7

SLU 14

Xavier 21

Nebraska 23

Dayton 58

Utah St. 71

Creighton 128

………….

 

[courtside]

Scouting VCU for Friday night’s game.

The Rams like to play a 4-3-3, but lately they have gone more with a 4-1-3-2. Bagley and Matsuhisa on the attacking wings are the keys to their offense as they are skilled high motor wingers who make diagonal runs, and they like to even cut in on their end line runs. And they will switch sides during the game as well. They can move the ball on offense.

If VCU plays more of a 4–2-3-1 as they have before bs SLU, they will drop Bulatovic down and move Bagley to the middle. 

Bagley is a premier playmaker who is among the nation’s leaders in assists. Can’t give Bagley space or isolation. She will take a lot of free kicks too where she often finds Bulatovic in the air. Matsuhisa has some flare as well and she is unafraid to shoot from distance. Their whole team is willing to do that, which requires knowing when to close out a little higher. Sarver cleans up inside the 18. They score a lot of failed clears, 50/50 balls inside the 18. 

The back is less experienced but solid led by Kraszula in the defensive midfield who organizes well. She does a nice job of clogging the middle. If SLU can stretch the middle of the field, they can get some transition opportunities. The first game saw about 13 SLU through balls slide long with a brisk wind at their back. That will be less of a factor this time. SLU would take a game of space in the middle and matching front 4 vs back 4. I would expect SLU to pressure the VCU back 4, very high, to begin the halves. There will be set piece opportunities for SLU as well. 

VCU plays an organized, physical, tight marking style from the opening whistle. They are well coached. It will however be a challenge for them to keep that up over 90 minutes. SLU has made a couple of small tweaks since their first meeting. 

 

 

 

[Lord Elrond]

Looks like the forecast for the game is calling for rain, with the greatest chances between 6-8pm. Or what the English call a delightful summer evening…

[courtside]

On 10/23/2023 at 2:11 AM, courtside said:

SLU 3 Saint Joseph’s 0 

4-2-3–1 for SLU. 

It is the 7th game in a row that SLU has scored in the 24th minute or sooner, sometimes much sooner. This is when Gaebe has started. It’s SLU’s 5th game in a row starting Gaebe at forward, Kelly and Larson on the wings, and, Groark in the middle. It’s been effective for SLU. 

SLU is a well balanced team. But the strength of its teams is, forcing turnovers, winning 50/50 balls, combination play in transition. 

……………..

SLU’s goals vs Saint Joseph’s were scored in typical SLU fashion, of winning 50/50 balls in the middle of the field with its defensive midfielders, combination play transition, and set pieces.

22nd minute. Lawler wins the 50/50 ball at midfield, and she distributed to Kelly on the wing, who sends Gaebe in space in on goal. 1-0.

56th minute. Earning corners, and finishing them in a variety of plays are practiced often at SLU. Luebbert to Heckel, to Gaebe, 2-0.

88th minute. Nice play by Gary in the middle of the field to J Preusser on the wing who curls for Sawyer behind the defense. 3-0.

Lots of pressure and chances all game. SLU sat 3 of its best attacking players with a lot of time left, hoping to tack on one or two more with the next 11. 

……………

Shots 25-2. SLU is 6th nationally in shots per game. SLU is 7th nationally in assists per game. SLU is top 4 nationally in scoring offense. SLU is top 7 in assists per game. 

………………

SLU won its 5th A10 regular season title in its last 6 seasons. They are seeking their 6th straight A10 Conference Tourney Title.

……………….

Brown: Ivy League Champs.

Nebraska: Big 10 Co-Champs.

Xavier: One more game for Big East Co-Champions.

BYU: Likely finishing 2nd by a half game in the Big 12.

Utah State: Playing for 2nd place next week in Mountain West. 3rd at worst. 

…………….

Arkansas won its 4th SEC Title in 5 seasons. They made the Elite 8 the year they didn’t win it. SLU is 2-0 v Arkansas in the past few seasons.

…………….

Current NCAA Top 16 seeds:

12 of 14 won their weekend games. 2 play Monday. Both should win. Number 1 lost but they will still be top 16. 1 will drop out. More will eventually lose in conference tourneys. 

………………

RPI after Sunday:

BYU 3

Brown 7

SLU 14

Xavier 21

Nebraska 23

Dayton 57

Utah State 70

Creighton 127

………………

SLU hosts VCU Friday night in the A10 Conference Tourney.

……………..

RPI after Thursday:

BYU 1 (2 seed Big 12 Tourney)

Brown 6 (1 seed Ivy Tourney)

SLU 14

Xavier 21 (1 seed Big East Tourney)

Nebraska 23 (2 seed Big Ten Tourney)

Dayton 58

Utah State 61 (2 seed MW Tourney)

Creighton 146 (season over)

...................

 

[OkieBilliken]

I'm a bit nervous about this one.   I attended the VCU game in Richmond this year and it was very close.  I believe it was the only conference match in which we were outshot.   SLU was outplayed in the first half, despite leading 1-0.  VCU had the better scoring chances and pace.  SLU played much better in the 2nd half, but Puricelli had to make an amazing save to retain our advantage.   The Dayton game is the only blemish on the Bills conference record, however SLU had alot more offensive pressure in that match.   Playing for their lives, VCU needed a goal in the final minutes at Loyola to even qualify for the tournament.    Lets get a couple of Gaebe goals early and end my anxiety please.  

[Pistol]

3 minutes ago, OkieBilliken said:

I'm a bit nervous about this one.   I attended the VCU game in Richmond this year and it was very close.  I believe it was the only conference match in which we were outshot.   SLU was outplayed in the first half, despite leading 1-0.  VCU had the better scoring chances and pace.  SLU played much better in the 2nd half, but Puricelli had to make an amazing save to retain our advantage.   The Dayton game is the only blemish on the Bills conference record, however SLU had alot more offensive pressure in that match.   Playing for their lives, VCU needed a goal in the final minutes at Loyola to even qualify for the tournament.    Lets get a couple of Gaebe goals early and end my anxiety please.  

It's not an ideal first round matchup but SLU has been unstoppable since then. Recent form plus the additional motivation of having survived a close call there - I feel good about how they're going to come out tonight.

[courtside]

8 minutes ago, OkieBilliken said:

I'm a bit nervous about this one.   I attended the VCU game in Richmond this year and it was very close.  I believe it was the only conference match in which we were outshot.   SLU was outplayed in the first half, despite leading 1-0.  VCU had the better scoring chances and pace.  SLU played much better in the 2nd half, but Puricelli had to make an amazing save to retain our advantage.   The Dayton game is the only blemish on the Bills conference record, however SLU had alot more offensive pressure in that match.   Playing for their lives, VCU needed a goal in the final minutes at Loyola to even qualify for the tournament.    Lets get a couple of Gaebe goals early and end my anxiety please.  

First game recap. 2nd game scout links below.

I will respectfully disagree about the first game assessment. Notes about that in the link. 

It wasn’t SLU’s best game, and credit to VCU. But, SLU had good combination play in the first half, but it didn’t result in as many shots, because 13 times they lost the ball over the end line ineffectively judging the wind. Tweaking those into more diagonal balls changes that. By contrast VCU had just 2 good scoring chances. It’s partly why VCU launched several very easy harmless shots from extreme distance in the 2nd. Sometimes shots can tell a story, sometimes not. Sometimes the very best chances in a game don’t produce a shot. It all depends. 

What you are likely to see is a similar formation for SLU but this time, Kelly and Larson will start on the wings, and, Groark in the middle. Last game SLU didn’t do this, and Gaebe and Larson were subbed out together for a long period, something else you are less likely to see.
 

VCU is very experienced in several areas. They have not had the season they expected, which includes playing to the level of their competition often, good or bad. They will be ready for SLU. But that won’t matter if SLU plays well.

Bagley is their key player. Even though they have been playing a 4-1-3-2 lately, they may revert back to a 4-2-3-1 and let her roam the center of the field. She works well with Matsuhiso and Sarver. But I expect heavy and high pressure from SLU ewely and often.

Warm weather and rain is fine soccer weather. As long as there are no lightning delays it can rain all it wants. 

https://www.billikens.com/forum/index.php?/topic/29777-slu-womens-soccer-thread/page/62/#comment-762953

https://www.billikens.com/forum/index.php?/topic/29777-slu-womens-soccer-thread/page/66/#comment-764301

 

[courtside]

Coaching Carousel:

Mark Francis retired after 25 years at Kansas. 262 wins. 9 NCAA Tourneys. 2 Sweet 16's. 2 Big 12 Titles.

KU RPI in recent years: 201, 107, 98, 125, 11, 20, 93, 25, 69, 37, 124, 78, 47, 157, 57, 27, 79, 52.

.............

Purdue has parted ways with Drew Roff after 9 seasons. 1 NCAA Tourney in 2021 when SLU played them. (Another example of strong recent SLU scheduling) Roff was successful at Illinois State and Indianpolis, prior to Purdue.

He was an All American player at Michigan State. Quick success at Indianapolis before a strong run at Illinois State. 6 MVC Titles and 5 NCAA appearances at ISU in 8 seasons.

Purdue RPI during Roff's tenure: 194, 186, 15, 225, 66, 97, 64, 180, 72.

................

[courtside]

On 10/19/2023 at 3:44 PM, courtside said:

Duquesne Dukes. Duquesne is a physical team that plays hard, with some size in the attack with Matesa and Moore. Krafchick has some undersized pace at right back and they like to play up through Matesa on the right side making diagonal runs with Moore up top. Matesa can play either wing or up top as well, mostly dribble runs, as a target or triangle combination play. Nice player. Team strength is in the central defensive midfield. (Sharpless, Muir, Majka) 

Vulnerable defensively on set pieces, and service from the wings. Pace and depth will be challenge for them. 

Expect to see two teams with 4-2-3-1’s without a lot of formation changes regardless of score.

A10 Conference Tourney Results:

Duquesne 2 UMass 1.

Duquesne was the #5 seed and UMass was the #4 seed.

Both goals scored by Maya Matesa. Two strong individual efforts beating 2 defenders on each wing. 

First home loss of the year for UMass. 

Duquesne will play either SLU or VCU next week.

 

 

[Lord Elrond]

Goal by Lyndsey Heckel off a Izzy Liebert corner 1 minute in!

[Lord Elrond]

Emily Gaebe from Julia Simon makes it 2-0 SLU in the 37th minute 

[bauman]

Gaebe is a goal scoring machine.

[Pistol]

It's wild to me that VCU finished 8th in the regular season. They look so much better than everyone else we've seen except maybe Dayton. They certainly play a style that's more effective against SLU.

Still 2-0 with a little over 15 minutes to play.

[Lord Elrond]

Emily Puricelli makes a highlight reel save on a VCU PK, still 2-0 Billikens late in the 2nd period, VCU making a fight of it

[Lord Elrond]

SLU wins, this English summer weather is cold and starting to drizzle, Dukes up next

[Lord Elrond]

1 hour ago, Pistol said:

It's wild to me that VCU finished 8th in the regular season. They look so much better than everyone else we've seen except maybe Dayton. They certainly play a style that's more effective against SLU.

Still 2-0 with a little over 15 minutes to play.

One thing about VCU really made me wonder. I looked up their regular season results against the other 7 teams in the A10 tournament, and here’s what I came up with:

1. SLU - VCU lost 1-0

2. LaSalle -VCU lost 1-0

3. Dayton - VCU lost 1-0

4. UMass - VCU lost 1-0

5. Duquesne - VCU did not play

6. St Joeseph’s - VCU did not play

7. URI - VCU tied 0-0

So VCU did not beat any of the other teams in the A10 tournament, but not even that they never SCORED A GOAL against any of them. Yet they always looked like they played tough, and they sure played us tough in the 2nd half tonight. I was afraid this would lead to a tie and a decision based on a PK shootout before the game, which is pretty close to a coin toss as far as results go.

VCU still didn’t score a goal against any of the teams in the A10 tournament, yet they sure looked good at times against us (although that was when Abbie Miller and Emily Groark were off). Oh well.

[courtside]

On 10/26/2023 at 10:33 AM, courtside said:

Scouting VCU for Friday night’s game.

The Rams like to play a 4-3-3, but lately they have gone more with a 4-1-3-2. Bagley and Matsuhisa on the attacking wings are the keys to their offense as they are skilled high motor wingers who make diagonal runs, and they like to even cut in on their end line runs. And they will switch sides during the game as well. They can move the ball on offense.

If VCU plays more of a 4–2-3-1 as they have before bs SLU, they will drop Bulatovic down and move Bagley to the middle. 

Bagley is a premier playmaker who is among the nation’s leaders in assists. Can’t give Bagley space or isolation. She will take a lot of free kicks too where she often finds Bulatovic in the air. Matsuhisa has some flare as well and she is unafraid to shoot from distance. Their whole team is willing to do that, which requires knowing when to close out a little higher. Sarver cleans up inside the 18. They score a lot of failed clears, 50/50 balls inside the 18. 

The back is less experienced but solid led by Kraszula in the defensive midfield who organizes well. She does a nice job of clogging the middle. If SLU can stretch the middle of the field, they can get some transition opportunities. The first game saw about 13 SLU through balls slide long with a brisk wind at their back. That will be less of a factor this time. SLU would take a game of space in the middle and matching front 4 vs back 4. I would expect SLU to pressure the VCU back 4, very high, to begin the halves. There will be set piece opportunities for SLU as well. 

VCU plays an organized, physical, tight marking style from the opening whistle. They are well coached. It will however be a challenge for them to keep that up over 90 minutes. SLU has made a couple of small tweaks since their first meeting. 

 

 

 

SLU 2 VCU 0

4-2-3-1 for SLU with the same lineup for the 6th straight game. VCU played a variety of formations as expected. Mostly 4-1-3-2, and 4-3-3.

………………

Opening minute goal. SLU throw in up the right wing to Kelly who flicks a header on to Gaebe, who wins the corner. Mentioned several times previously that for the past few seasons, few players nationally win more corners than Gaebe. Most people don’t notice it. 

Luebbert has provided excellent service all season with end swingers from the left side. Heckel with a text book header. Chris Allen runs all of SLU’s set piece plays and as previously mentioned, it’s a big part of SLU’s offense. 1-0.

……………

VCU as expected changed formations multiple times in the first half to give SLU different looks and it was effective enough to slow the game at times. SLU still controlled the half and had several chances to tack on more goals. Bagley moved around 3 positions, on the wing and both high and low at center mid.

……………

7th minute Kelly to the end line right side of the 18 service to Larson who fanned on the back heel goal.

……………

Lawler later missed a point blank header off of a nice set piece from Houck. She makes that most of the time. Nice keeper save. She also missed another one just over the goal in the 2nd half. VCU gave up lots of set pieces and corners while collapsing the middle and blocking a lot of shots.

………….

But SLU is very comfortable playing for corners and set pieces, and executing them. Lots of opportunity there but not efficient enough. There was also a lot of making the final play defensively for VCU throughout the game. And there was some hanging on to stay in the game for VCU throughout the first 20 plus minutes. Once the game settled down they were able to show off what they can do with their front 5.

……………

37th minute SLU’s 2nd goal was another SLU type of goal. Heckel’s long ball was flicked on by Simon and Gary. The defender didn’t get a good enough clear. Forced turnover and Simon takes a good shot, Gaebe following the rebound. 2-0. 

…………..

SLU wasn’t sharp at times and they were just a little bit off connecting some combination play. Sometimes the adjustment is to be more deliberate and sure with giving and receiving passes. 

……………

VCU has zero high quality first half chances. The closest was a long ball set piece that skipped through and Heckel’s clear deflected out for a goal kick. 

…………….

2nd 

SLU opened the 2nd half with a lot of pressure on VCU but couldn’t connect from the final 20 yards. No quite sharp enough there.

Finally in the 57th minute, VCU was able to win a corner and a free kick yellow on Gaebe off of the short play. Bagley can scoot, took the short corner looking for a shot. Harmless finesse free kick shot from 20.

Then Matsuhisa to Bagley to Sarver for the lay off to Bulatovic who hit a good one from 22 yards but Puricelli was there to knock it over the goal. Gaebe immediately came back with a run that she cut in side of the 18, but again, another shot blocked by VCU.

Ensuing corner was another one Lawler wanted back headed just over the bar. Missed opportunity again for SLU to keep extending to 3 or 4. 

………….

63rd minute. Good combination play right side and Sawyer cross to Larson but she was just a half step late for the tap in goal in front of Karpovic.

VCU countered with a ball in space to Matsuhisa Puricelli came out to cut the angle without a shot. 

……………

SLU was able to get the ball in space to Gaebe several times 1v1. VCU did well to force her wide at times, and I think Emily would like a few of those back that she normally would play more effectively.

………….

69th minute. Houck took a chance and a shot from deep on another free kick that was tipped over the bar by Karpovic.

………….

75th minute. Larson off of the throw curls a great ball for Sawyer in behind the defense and she hit a good low hard shot but a great save by Karpovic to keep it 2-0.

77th minute Matsuhisa from the wing hits a nice diagonal ball. a few failed clears and Bagley skies one in the box.  Higgins’ shot was blocked nicely by Houck. But the ref missed it and called a PK and a yellow because Houck’s arms were a little extended. It was the wrong call on a bang bang play. 

Puricelli likes to dive to her right on PK’s. And the she was able to reach back for the save on Sarver, and Stram had the rebound clear. Still 2-0.

…………

VCU played an organized, tight marking, physical game as expected. They hung around a bit as SLU was unable to extend to 3 or 4 despite some opportunities to do so.  Not the most sharp or efficient for SLU but good enough.

……………

SLU earned 11 corners and probably two more should have been goals. Just a few things to clean up there. And SLU had a lot of free kick opportunities. Most of SLU’s fouls were in the offensive third of the field putting on pressure. Most of VCU’s were in their own 3rd defending or in the middle of the field.

………………..

Elsewhere:

Dayton scored in the 87th minute to defeat Saint Joseph’s 1-0. La Salle had a 2-0 win over Rhode Island. SLU will play Duquesne next Wednesday night. 

………………..

No change to the SLU RPI which was 14 entering the game. 

……………..

Many of the bigger conference tourneys begin this Sunday and early next week. 

……………

End of the season for Kansas City losing 1-2 to Oral Roberts in the Summit tourney. 

……………

Emily Gaebe came into the game top 10 nationally in total goals, and top 20 nationally in goals per game. Her 14th goal of the season against VCU, puts her temporaily tied for 6th nationally in total goals. SLU opponent Eleanor Dale from Nebraska, leads the country with 23 goals. And yes she scored a nice goal in their loss to SLU.

[courtside]

RPI after Sunday’s games:

BYU 2 (Big 12 Quarterfinals)

Brown 5 (Ivy Semifinals)

SLU 13

Nebraska 18 (Dale has 25 goals)

Xavier 22 (Big East Semifinals)

Utah St. 61 (MW Semifinals)

Dayton 66

Creighton 140 (Season Complete)

SIUE 204 (Season Complete)

Kansas City 234 (Season Complete)

…………..

[courtside]

SLU in the Polls:

Top Drawer Soccer: 11

College Soccer News: 15

…………….

TDS:

BYU 4

SLU 11

Brown 12

Nebraska 15

Xavier 20

…………….

CSN:

BYU 5

Brown 12

SLU 15

Xavier 19

Nebraska 20

Dayton 24

……………..

 

[courtside]

On 10/27/2023 at 1:10 PM, courtside said:

Coaching Carousel:

Mark Francis retired after 25 years at Kansas. 262 wins. 9 NCAA Tourneys. 2 Sweet 16's. 2 Big 12 Titles.

KU RPI in recent years: 201, 107, 98, 125, 11, 20, 93, 25, 69, 37, 124, 78, 47, 157, 57, 27, 79, 52.

.............

Purdue has parted ways with Drew Roff after 9 seasons. 1 NCAA Tourney in 2021 when SLU played them. (Another example of strong recent SLU scheduling) Roff was successful at Illinois State and Indianpolis, prior to Purdue.

He was an All American player at Michigan State. Quick success at Indianapolis before a strong run at Illinois State. 6 MVC Titles and 5 NCAA appearances at ISU in 8 seasons.

Purdue RPI during Roff's tenure: 194, 186, 15, 225, 66, 97, 64, 180, 72.

................

Creighton announced they have parted ways with Head Coach Ross Paule after 9 seasons.

Paule was a stand out player on a few of the elite mid 1990’s Creighton Men’s Soccer teams. And, he had a 9 year successful MLS career. They never were able to get it going there. 2020 was one of their better seasons where he earned Big East Coach of the Year. Preseason pick this year for 3rd in the Big East, the SLU opponent, finished 10th.