Starting tomorrow in the Big Apple, the Big East usually puts on an entertaining conference tournament. Unlike some previous years, the bubble picture is quite clear-cut, but a number of good teams could improve their NCAA seeding with a Big East Championship at Madison Square Garden.
#1 Georgetown - The Hoyas will have to focus out of the gates, as their first round game will be against a hungry bubble team. After that, the Hoyas could win it all. With their slow style, the games won't be blowouts, but the Hoyas don't have any losses outside the RPI top 50 all year. Very solid.
#2 Louisville - Healthy and dangerous, you have to like the Cardinals at least into the semis, where they could face the Irish. The Cardinals are the clear favorites from the bottom of the bracket.
#3 Notre Dame - The big question is whether this team can win away from South Bend. Undefeated at home, the Irish have only beaten two RPI top 100 teams elsewhere this year, K State at MSG and Villanova in Philly. The quarters against Marquette will be a huge test, as the Irish were crushed by 26 when these two teams played in Wisconsin.
#4 Connecticut - The Huskies closed the season 13-2, but the team they don't want to face is Providence. The Friars gave UConn 2 of their last 3 losses, both by double figures, and are only a win over West Virginia away from a third meeting. The Huskies are capable of beating the Hoyas, and the showdown between Thabeet and Hibbert would be fascinating.
Games to Watch:
#1 G'Town vs. #8 Syracuse or #9 Villanova - The 8/9 game is clearly a play-out game, and the winner will get a shot at the Hoyas. The Orange beat G'Town recently, and the Wildcats were a cheap late foul short of OT in DC. A win over the Hoyas would probably put either team in. Unfortunately, both the 8/9 game and this game will be at noon, and most of us will have to work.
Any game between two of the top 4 seeds - I know this is usually obvious, but it's especially true this year. All four top seeds feature dominant big men (Hibbert, Padgett, Harangody, Thabeet), and those matchups will probably determine the winner of each. For example, in the Irish's game at L'ville, Harangody went over 40 pts, while Padgett set a career high as well.
Cinderella:
This is a tough call, because the top teams are much better than the bottom half of the conference. I'll take...
#6 Marquette - It's hard to consider a team that's been ranked all year a Cinderella, but they have a good shot at upsetting the Irish.
#12 Providence - This is a real long shot, but if the Friars can pull it out over the Mountaineers, they swept UConn in the regular season. Unfortunately, WVa really needs the win to seal their NCAA berth, and they beat Providence by 27 a couple weeks ago.
Prediction:
#2 Louisville over #4 UConn.
4 Responses:
I think saying the top half of the big east is "much better" than the other teams in the conference is a crazy statement. West Virginia, Marquette and even Pitt can beat any team in the country on any given night, and they've proven that all year long. I think you have to put Pitt as the dark horse here too, which is much more realistic than Providence. Pitt consistently wins at the garden, they've played in the last two Big East finals and beat Duke there earlier this year.
In spite of Pitt's quality play at the Garden, it's hard to have confidence in them when they are 7-7 in their last 14, with only one victory over a team currently in the tournament (West Virginia at the buzzer). They haven't been the same team that beat Duke and G'Town earlier in the year, and started 14-2.
And, lest we forget, the win at Syracuse was pretty much a miracle, so Pitt's "best" two wins in the last 14 weren't particularly impressive.
Obviously, the Friars have already lost, so they're not going anywhere.
I obviously know what I'm talking about. Pitt kicked some ass.
Post a Comment