With the Big East tournament expanding from four days to five so all 16 teams can take part in the event, there will be no awards banquet. The awards will be spread out over two days.

On Thursday the all-conference teams, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth-Man Award, Most Improved Award and Sportsmanship Award will be revealed. At a Friday press conference in between the two sessions, the Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Coach of the Year will be announced.

I do not have a vote (which is probably not a bad thing) but here are my picks

ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
Tina Charles, Connecticut Jr. C
Shantia Grace, South Florida Sr. G
Laura Kurz, Villanova Sr. F
Angel McCoughtry, Louisville Sr. F
Renee Montgomery, Connecticut Sr. G
Maya Moore, Connecticut So. F
Deirdre Naughton, DePaul Jr. G
Epiphanny Prince, Rutgers Jr. G
Angel Robinson, Marquette So. G
Lindsay Schrader, Notre Dame Sr. F
Shavonte Zellous, Pittsburgh Sr. G

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Renee Montgomery and Angel McCoughtry: Let me start by saying that I think Maya Moore is the best player in the conference (and in the nation while we are at it) but Montgomery is the heart and soul of the UConn team and much like the time when Sue Bird beat out Swin Cash to win the award in 2002, I think Montgomery will get the nod over Moore. All McCoughtry did was become the first player in the history of the Big East to lead the conference in scoring and rebounding (in conference games) for three straight years and her 26.6 scoring average in Big East player broke former Boston College star Sarah Behn's single-season conference record (26.625 to 26.556). You have to go back to 1983-84 for the last time there were co-players of the year and this is a year where multiple honorees seems fitting.

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Da'Shena Stevens, St. John's: I know this pick won't make UConn fans happy since Tiffany Hayes certainly could be the honoree. It's a tough call. Stevens has the individual numbers (11.7 points, 5.6 rebounds in Big East games) but the Red Storm's 4-12 league record could hurt her. Hayes is going to be an absolute star at UConn and is a player who can do it all. You could argue all day about the two, their roles on the team, being a vital cog on a championship team versus a bright spot on a team which finished one game out of last place in the league standings. But for me, it is hard to ignore the performance of Stevens, a former Trinity Catholic star, and especially her incredible effort against UConn. You just don't see freshmen light up UConn for 27 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two blocks like Stevens did. Hayes was equally brilliant with 23 points in a win over second-place Louisville. I guess it's six of one, half a dozen of another.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
Liz Repella, West Virginia: There are no lack of candidates including Louisville's Deseree Byrd, Georgetown's Karee Houlette and Notre Dame's Becca Bruszewski immediately coming to mind but how do you ignore Repella going from averaging 3.5 points to putting up 16 points per game?

SIXTH-MAN AWARD
Juanita Ward, Syracuse: Villanova's Siobhan O'Connor and Notre Dame's Natalie Novosel are probably the only realistic threats to the physical Ward. Ward's numbers in Big East play (6.3 points, 3.7 rebounds) are down a bit from her season numbers of 8.6 points and 6.1 rebounds.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Angel McCoughtry, Louisville: All the likely No. 1 draft pick in next month's WNBA draft did was finish with twice as many steals as any other Big East player (in conference play) and also ranks 12th in blocked shots.

SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD
Jill Stephens, Cincinnati: The grad student has a 3.96 grade point average while being the Bearscats' second leading scorer and rebounder.

COACH OF THE YEAR
Geno Auriemma, UConn and Harry Perretta, Villanova: The four previous times Auriemma guided the Huskies to undefeated regular seasons (1994-95, 1996-97, 2001-02, 2002-03) he has been named the Big East's coach of the year. Perretta's Wildcats were picked to finish 10th but Villanova finished in a tie for fourth with a 10-6 mark.

Sorry, there are too many variables to consider to select a Sportsmanship Award winner. I went through the bios of most of the prominent seniors but there was limited information on charity and off-court work of any candidates for me to come up with a realistic choice.