Jim Boeheim, Rick Pitino Have Colorful Words for Each Other at Big East Media Day

New York City is always full of excitement, no matter what day it is.

On Wednesday however, the Big East held its annual media day and with preseason predictions and accolades being handed out, there was no doubt the topic of conference realignment would show it’s ugly head.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, whose program is moving to the ACC in 2013, had quite the response when asked about Louisville head coach Rick Pitino and his thoughts on the changeover taking place following this season.

“Rick’s full of s***t if that’s what he really said,” Boeheim told SNY.tv‘s Adam Zagoria. “If he was in the Big 12 right now like he wanted to be, he’d being saying the Big 12 is the best. That’s the bottom line.”

The remark left no doubt that Pitino himself would fire back, telling Zagoria, “I think he’s full of s**t, and so we’re both full of it. I think without question Temple and Memphis…Look, we’re going to miss Syracuse because they bring more than just a team. They bring the fans and Memphis and Temple can’t do that. But anybody who looks at where Memphis has been in the last 10-12 years, anybody who looks at the tradition of Temple and knows Franny Dunphy, would know I’m not full of s**t. If Temple played Syracuse 10 times right now, one’s gonna win six and the other’s gonna four. Syracuse and Pitt are two great teams.”

The war of words between two of the league’s top coaches certainly provides some interesting story lines heading into the final season of typical-Big East basketball. Pittsburgh will be joining Syracuse when the pair depart for the ACC following this season, while West Virginia has already made a switch of their own, preparing for their inaugural season within the Big 12.

Regardless of Wednesday’s word selection, the final conference battles between Syracuse and Louisville just got that much more interesting. The Cardinals were selected as the unanimous preseason favorite within the league, while the Orange came in at number two, according to the coaches poll.

The two squads will square off twice this season on both Jan. 19 and Mar. 2. The first of the two match-ups will take place in Louisville before the series switches back to the Carrier Dome in early March.

On Wednesday, Louisville senior guard Peyton Siva was named the league’s Preseason Player of the Year.

 

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