Conference Tourney Time

The Big East

The Big East Tourney kicked off today at Madison Square Garden. Cincinnati started things off by completing their late season collapse and losing to DePaul 67-57. Let's not forget that DePaul was 0-16 in regular season conference play. The Bearcats had a very good shot at making the NCAA tournament but ultimately lost 6 of their final 7 games. Some of these games were seen as easy wins for Cincy. Instead, they defied the odds and lost at South Florida and at home to Seton Hall. Tragic.

DePaul now advances to face a Providence team that has everything to play for. Providence is the face of NCAA tournament bubble teams. They are 18-12 (10-8) and 6-6 in their last 12 games. The Friars knocked off #1 Pitt during that stretch and also defeated Syracuse. But Providence does have scars on their resume. They lost to Northeastern and Baylor during out of conference play, and have recently been blown out by the likes of UConn, WVU, Louisville, Notre Dame, and Nova (all NCAA tournament caliber teams). So what does Providence have to do to make the field of 65? For starters, they absolutely must beat DePaul (preferably by a large margin). Winning this game will advance them to a quarterfinal match-up with #1 seed Louisville. If the Friars pray (yes, that is supposed to be PRAY) hard enough and beat the Cardinals, then everyone from Joe Lunardi to Digger Phelps will agree that they deserve a spot in the dance. However, I feel that as long as they play Louisville close, they will receive serious consideration from the committee and get one of the last bids. But if they lose by more than 10 in an uninspired effort, look for them in the NIT.

Look for the Hoyas to make some noise in the Big East Tournament. They face a very beatable St. Johns team in the first round, and will most likely advance to play against a struggling Marquette team. Marquette has lost 4 straight since losing Dominic James for the season. Those 4 games were against UConn, Louisville, Pitt, and 'Cuse, but the Golden Eagles have been a completely different team without James. Marquette has made a Duke-like 24-79 three point attempts during their final 3 games, a lowly 30%. Yes, they still have Jerel McNeal, who has been on a roll all season (20.1 ppg), but I don't see the Eagles winning a game in either the Big East or NCAA tournament. Back to the Hoyas. Assuming they win these 2 games, the Hoyas would then face Nova in the quarterfinals. In their only meeting of the season, Georgetown won at Nova by a final count of 56-54. Scottie Reynolds did have a terrible shooting night and only finished with 12 points for the Cats, but the fact of the matter is, Georgetown won at Nova. Look for the Hoyas to make it to the semi-finals against Louisville, but fall just 2 games shy of earning the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

So who wins the Big East Tournament? This is a tough one because the Big East boasts 3 of the best teams in the country with Louisville, Pitt, and UConn. I anticipate Louisville beating Georgetown to advance to the finals against the winner of the Pitt vs. UConn semi-final. Pitt will defeat UConn for the 3rd time this year and then knock off Louisville for the crown. Pitt won't stop there, because they're going to win the whole thing. That's right. You heard it here first. The Pitt Panthers are going to win the NCAA Tournament. Sam Young, Levance Fields, DeJuan Blair, they are unstoppable. Pitt is awesome, as is this time of year.

Go watch some hoops.