Big East Tournament Preview

I was excited all season to do a Big East Tournament Preview. For those who may have forgotten, Big East Basketball expanded to 16 teams through the addition of normally good teams (Cincy, Louisville, Marquette) and some suspect teams (S. Florida, DePaul). I kept believing that they really were going to have a 16-team tournament, and I was prepared to pick a 12-seed over a 5-seed, no matter what the situation was.

As it turns out, the Big East decided that only 12 teams would make their tournament (giving 1st-round byes to the top 4 teams). So providence, USF, st john’s, and depaul don’t have even a shot at the tournament. Should still be one of the more interesting tournaments of “Championship Week,” especially becaue there are multiple Big East teams which still could get at-large births by making the finals (or even the semis).

Here’s how I see things shaking out, keeping in mind that conference tournaments are meaningless, and desperate teams tend to go farther here than in the actual NCAA tournament.

First round
9-syracuse over 8- CINCY – Syracuse is desperate for some wins. They got blown out by DePaul last week, who didn’t even make the tournament!
12-notredame over 5-georgetown – Of course, I’m still picking a 12 over a 5!
7-seton hall over 10-rutgers- I didn’t even realize Rutgers still had a basketball team.
11-louisville over 6-pitt – This is a dangerous matchup. Pitino will have his kids believing again.

2nd round
1-uconn over 9-syracuse – Syracuse may be desperate, but not desperate enough to make Uconn lose. I think Syracuse will still get the benefit of the doubt and enter the tournament as a 12-seed.
12-notredame over 4-marquette – Notre Dame is not your ordinary 12-seed. They lost 5 big East games by a total of 7 points.
2-nova over 7-seton hall – If I get a chance, I’d love to watch some ‘Nova basketball, who supposedly play w/ one forward, and four guards.
3-west virginia over 11-louisville – Louisville will not be able to keep the magic going. From Final 4 to NIT in one season. Yowsers.

Final 4
1-uconn over 12-notredame – And the dream comes to a crashing halt. Sorry, Notre Dame, but the run was good while it lasted.
3-w. va. Over 2-nova – This should be an especially fun game with West Virginia’s unusual 1-3-1 defense and shooting forwards against the small, quick ‘Novas.

Championship
3-w. va. Over 1-uconn – Who knows? It’s not like this will have any impact on the tourney if these teams meet in the final. Of course, my superstition is that if you are NOT a top 10 team, and you are from a power conference [i.e. West Virginia], then winning your conference tournament is a curse! But then again, its only a superstition.

Editor's Note: I will be providing my usual insane, superstitious NCAA Scouting Report sometime after the bracket is announced that will be full of darkhorses, favorites, trends, and slanted viewpoints.