With all 16 teams participating in the conference tournament, the Big East has created a five-day marathon that is only one round short of matching the length of the NCAA Tournament. Starting Tuesday, several Big East bubble teams will hope to work their way through the Big East tournament en route to the NCAA Tournament.
While South Florida, Connecticut, Cincinnati and Seton Hall tip off Tuesday in hopes of avoiding a devastating opening-round loss, half the conference will sit back and watch. Of those eight teams waiting until later in the week to play, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Marquette, Georgetown and Louisville will be playing only to improve their NCAA Tournament seeds. Notre Dame also has a bye in the opening round and will want to avoid a loss to Seton Hall or Providence Wednesday to feel better about its at-large prospects. However, a late-season resurgence probably has the Fighting Irish in the Big Dance.
Connecticut and Cincinnati have 14 losses apiece entering the Big East tournament. Since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, no at-large team has had more than 14 losses. Unless the selection committee makes history this season, the Huskies and Bearcats will need to win five games in five days to reach the NCAA Tournament. Connecticut seems better poised to make a miraculous run because they are 2-1 against their first three opponents, with the only loss being a two-point game against Marquette. If the Huskies were to reach the Big East semifinals, they could find themselves in a Big East tournament rematch with top-seeded Syracuse. Last season, the two teams played one of the best conference tournament games of all time in a six-overtime epic won by the Orange.
South Florida and Seton Hall are in slightly better position entering the tournament because they probably can claim an at-large bid with three wins. That’s not an easy task for either team. However, the Bulls draw the Big East’s worst team, DePaul, which has won only one conference game this season. In the second round, South Florida would get Georgetown, whom the Bulls have already beaten once this season. A run to the quarterfinals would give South Florida three wins against the RPI top 25 and 21 wins.
The Pirates enter the Big East tournament with one of the most explosive players in the nation, Jeremy Hazell. The Harlem native averages 21.2 points per game and will be looking to light up the scoreboard in his hometown. Seton Hall will enter the tournament with a lot of confidence because the Pirates have wins against each of the first three teams they would play. Seton Hall won at Providence by a dozen Saturday and will look to repeat that performance Tuesday. If the Pirates win, they will look for a second win against Notre Dame en route to a critical quarterfinal match up against Pittsburgh. If Seton Hall can find a way into the semifinals by beating Pitt for the second time this season, the Pirates would have four wins against the RPI top 50 and 21 wins.
Although Seton Hall and South Florida have the talent to make a run, their NCAA Tournament hopes remain dicey. Most likely, those teams need to reach the Big East championship game to leapfrog bubble teams like Illinois, Florida and Mississippi. And they must hope that teams like Butler and Utah State can make their respective conferences one-bid leagues.
With so many teams playing for their NCAA Tournament lives, the Big East tournament will feature nonstop drama. And with several elite teams likely to meet, the match ups could resemble Sweet 16 pairings as early as the Big East tournament quarterfinals. Because Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia and Pittsburgh are all legitimate Final Four contenders, we could easily see a national championship or national semifinal preview at some point in the Big East tournament.
