More lists! More rankings! That’s the bad news. The good news is I’m finally totally 100% done all of my prep work on this year’s college class. Lists have allowed me to buy some time while I sorted through all of the old notes I had, but now I’m ready for something bigger and (hopefully!) better. Henceforth, content will not be all lists all the time. Sure, there will still be lists from time to time, but the stream of never-ending lists without commentary is over.

The Big East is short on hitting and relatively deep on pitching. If, say, 40 players were drafted from the conference this summer (a very, very generous number), then I wouldn’t be shocked if the breakdown was close to 30 pitchers to 10 hitters. As mentioned, however, the depth of the pitching class is relative to the overall weakness of the conference (note: I’m talking prospects only, not quality of college play). It is extremely possible that there won’t be a single big league starting pitching prospect to come out of the Big East in 2012.

It’s also probably worth mentioning that one of the conference’s best prospects no longer actually plays in the conference. Louisburg JC SO 3B Steve Nyisztor, formerly of Rutgers, would be a slam dunk top three position player on the ranking if he had remained in the Big East. He has all the defensive tools to eventually succeed at third base, and his power upside, athleticism, and speed are all average or better. I worry a little about his pitch recognition and overly aggressive approach, but the raw tools are intriguing. So far at Louisburg, he’s hitting .400 with 4 homers and 4 doubles in 55 at bats. There’s been some inconsistency in the field (12 errors in 14 games, yikes), but that is no cause for alarm considering he’s playing at a spot (shortstop) he almost certainly won’t see as a pro. I’d probably slot him between Mazzilli and Baltz in the number two spot, but I’d understand an argument for him either above or behind both guys.

Pitchers

1. St. John’s JR RHP Kyle Hansen
2. St. John’s JR RHP Matt Carasiti
3. Louisville JR RHP Matt Koch
4. Louisville JR RHP Justin Amlung
5. Louisville JR RHP Andy Flett
6. Rutgers rSO RHP Charlie Law
7. Seton Hall JR RHP Ryan Harvey
8. St. John’s JR RHP Jerome Werniuk
9. St. John’s JR RHP Anthony Cervone
10. Cincinnati JR RHP Zach Isler
11. Seton Hall JR RHP Frank Morris
12. South Florida SR LHP Andrew Barbosa
13. Connecticut SR RHP David Fischer
14. Rutgers JR LHP Rob Smorol
15. Louisville SR RHP Travis Tingle
16. Louisville SO RHP Chad Green
17. South Florida rSO RHP Austin Adams
18. South Florida rSR RHP Derrick Stultz
19. Connecticut JR RHP/OF Ryan Moore
20. Louisville SR RHP Derek Self
21. South Florida rSO RHP Ray Delphey
22. Connecticut SR RHP Scott Oberg
23. South Florida JR RHP Joe Lovecchio
24. Connecticut JR RHP Pat Butler
25. Notre Dame SR LHP Joe Spano
26. St. John’s JR LHP Sean Hagan
27. Rutgers JR LHP Rob Corsi
28. Rutgers RHP Tyler Gebler
29. St. John’s SR RHP Kevin Kilpatrick
30. Notre Dame JR RHP Pat Veerkamp

Hitters

1. Connecticut JR 2B LJ Mazzilli
2. St. John’s JR OF Jeremy Baltz
3. St. John’s rSO OF Kevin Grove
4. St. John’s SR 2B/SS Matt Wessinger
5. Connecticut SR 3B Ryan Fuller
6. Louisville JR 1B/LHP Zak Wasserman
7. Georgetown SR OF Rand Ravnaas
8. South Florida SR 1B/OF Todd Brazeal
9. Connecticut rJR OF Billy Ferriter
10. Louisville SR OF Stewart Ijames
11. West Virginia JR OF Brady Wilson
12. Cincinnati SR 2B TJ Jones
13. South Florida rJR OF Alex Mendez
14. West Virginia rSR 3B Dan DiBartolomeo
15. Notre Dame JR C Joe Hudson
16. Cincinnati JR OF Jake Proctor
17. Connecticut rSR C Joe Pavone
18. Connecticut SR 3B Tim Martin
19. Cincinnati SR C/OF Braden Kline
20. West Virginia rSO OF Matt Frazer