They were kicked around last season. Now their opponents are feeling the pain.

Boston College
BC was 11-19 last season. Now Al Skinner is a national Coach of the Year favorite with the same undersized lineup. Chalk one up for male bonding (and a summer trip to Europe). Though often beaten on the glass -- they rank seventh in the Big East in rebounding margin -- the Eagles (20-4 through Feb. 25) are outscoring opponents by 14 per and lead the league in turnover margin. Sophomore PG Troy Bell (20.5 ppg) recently played 100 minutes without a fumble. Is it the shoes? Guys who went 6-21 two seasons ago have scribbled words like "Payback" and "Revenge" on theirs. Pretty soon they may be writing "Big East Champs."

Providence
PC was also 11-19 a year ago, and things looked bleak when Tim Welsh jettisoned three Friars after an April bar fight. What a difference a Linehan makes. Injured nearly all of last season, junior PG John Linehan is now the most irritating, disruptive defensive force in the Big East. The Muggsy of the new millennium (he's supposedly 5'9") locked down St. John's Omar Cook and G-Town's Kevin Braswell while pushing Providence to 20-8 through Feb.25. And his no-name mates have the depth to play maniacally all game long. Ten Friars average double-digit minutes; eight have led the team in scoring. Divine? No. Dangerous? You bet.

St. Joseph's
Is there a theme here? The Hawks, a Sweet 16 entry in '97, had endured three straight losing seasons before the arrival of heralded playmaker Jameer Nelson. After beating Duquesne (again) on Feb.25, St. Joe's was 23-4. Nelson's scoring (12.4 ppg), passing (6.1 apg) and penetration have opened the floor for junior Marvin O'Connor (20.4 ppg) and senior Na'im Crenshaw (11.4 ppg), who in turn are playing more unselfishly. True, coach Phil Martelli is also getting more from his frontcourt, where junior Bill Phillips (12.3 ppg, 9.5 rpg) has emerged as a poor man's Christian Laettner. But credit Nelson for tying it all up in a nice package.

Georgia Tech
After inheriting a roster of unknowns and underachievers, former Siena coach Paul Hewitt has changed tempo and attitudes. Thanks to a tough preseason conditioning program, his players are running and pressing and getting pulled only when they've played too hard to keep going. Senior C Alvin Jones, once labeled lazy and soft, is a double-double machine (14.6 ppg, 10 rpg) who's blocking 3.3 shots a game. And junior Tony Akins (13.8 ppg, 4.3 apg) is finally the point man Bobby Cremins wanted. He has elevated the play of slow-footed shooters like Shaun Fein (14.1 ppg) and put Tech (16-10 as of Feb. 25) in position for a Tourney bid.

This article appears in the March 5 issue of ESPN The Magazine.