by Doug Potter
After seven overtimes, several upsets, buzzer-beaters and questionable officiating gave us a Big East Tournament for the ages, we now turn out attention to the main attraction; the REAL tournament. Last week allowed us to recall why we take off work, call in sick, and often refer to this upcoming weekend as “The best weekend in sports.” The madness is one of the most hyped sporting events year in and year out and somehow never disappoints. When it comes to our brackets, however, we treat them like our own children. We take pride in their success and stand behind them when they fail us. The toughest thing about this time of year is that we know the madness is coming, we just don’t know who it’s coming from. Sunday jump-started it all, as Selection Sunday was well worth the wait.
Another great thing about Selection Sunday is that we no longer have to see the infamous “Last Four In” and “Last Four Out” by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. This man has the best job in America. He works for one month out of the year and tells everyone who he THINKS the committee will place in the NCAA Tournament. After seeing these rankings for the 100th time, I’m excited to actually look forward to basketball instead of speculation of who’s in and who’s out. Now all that’s left to do is get Dickie V to shut up about St. Mary’s not making the tourney over Arizona. Give it up Dick!
Despite becoming the first conference in tournament history with three #1 seeds and sparking conversation near the end of the season that it was the strongest year in conference history, the Big East only got seven teams into the dance (as did the ACC and Big Ten). Some teams didn’t help their cause during the Big East Tournament (Cincinnati, Providence and Notre Dame), while others improved their resume and earned a higher seeding (Louisville, Syracuse, and West Virginia). Here’s a look at the seven teams in the tournament and what we should expect out of them in the upcoming weeks:
Louisville (#1 Seed in Midwest Region): The overall top seed in the tournament and rightfully so. The Cardinals can say that not only were they the regular season champs of the best conference in college basketball, but they won the conference tournament as well. They’ve won 10 in a row and 20 of 22 so I guess you could say they’re hot. Not quite a Final Four lock, but anything less will be a major disappointment.
Pittsburgh (#1 Seed in East Region): There will be one question surrounding the Panthers; Will getting knocked out of the Big East tournament rather early be beneficial to them? I think so. They are now 100% healthy and in prime position for another deep run into the tourney. My Final Four pick out of the East Region.
UConn (#1 Seed in West Region): The loss of Jerome Dyson will be very apparent in the NCAA tournament due to the inexperience of Kemba Walker. The Huskies are in the West Region, which is where they won the title in 2004, but don’t sleep on the BYU Cougars in the second round. They are a smart veteran team who will force Thabeet to guard out on the perimeter, which he is not accustomed to doing. Look for BYU to put up the best fight against a #1 seed the first weekend.
Villanova (#3 Seed in East Region): The Wildcats have a VERY easy section in their bracket. The only dangerous team in the bottom half of the East bracket is Duke. UCLA is by far the worst #6 seed and will lose to VCU. Nova is also helped by playing their first two games in Philadelphia, PA. Hmmmm…? Look for the Cats to advance to the sweet 16 and taking on Duke in a very entertaining game.
Syracuse (#3 Seed in South Region): Here we go again… The Cuse are hot and on a streak, they can’t be stopped, Final Four here we come!… Not so fast. I hate this time of year for Syracuse. Knowing the makeup of this team, I wouldn’t be surprised if they got complacent and lost in one of the first two rounds. Then again, they are a three seed (2003 National Championship = three seed).
Marquette (#6 Seed in West Region): Talk about scuffling, the Eagles have lost five of six and are very inconsistent offensively without their leader Dominic James. I think they will survive a tough Utah State team, but Missouri’s Louisville-like full court pressure will be too much for Marquette to handle.
West Virginia (#6 Seed in Midwest Region): The Mountaineers are a couple wins away from being a top 4 seed (Louisville and Syracuse), but nevertheless, Bob Huggins will have his crew ready to go. One interesting fact, the last three times the Mountaineers were a 6 or 7 seed (’05, ’06, and ’08) they advanced to the sweet 16 all three times. Look out Kansas, here come the sweet tunes of Country Roads!
Doug —
It’s hard for me not to be very inclined to put a BE team as the champion in my set of brackets. Lou’ville, Pitt, Cuse, UConn, Nova all have pretty good inside and outside games. They have speed and girth. They can defend and rebound … not to mention shoot a little bit. I think Uconn is most susceptible to not making it to the F4 … Hasheem Thabeete is gonna get in foul … maybe in game 5.
Duke and UNC are very talented, but I don’t think they have enough beef inside to go all the way.
The big unknown: how good is Memphis???? Great record in a suspect conference … but I suspect they’re REAL GOOD.
It’ll be very interesting. I expect to see 2 Big East teams in the F4.
I agree 100% with 2 Big East teams in the Final Four, however, I think they will be Pitt and Louisville. UNC and Memphis will be the other two and UNC over Louisville in the championsip. I just think that Lawson healthy will give too many teams fits and they are virtually unguardable if he’s right.
At least the Selection Committee gave SU a break with a game on Friday in the Eastern time zone. That’s the least they could do for a team that provided more drama than anyone last weekend.
Complacency? I’m more concerned about whether the Orange have any emotions left in the tank. They have to still be wiped out.
Here’s hoping these Orange learn a lesson from their boy Donte Green and stay in school. This team could be deadly next year. Especially considering they have a transfer on the bench who is supposed to be the best player in practice.
Pitt will need to be healthy. They have the toughest road.
I still can’t believe Jerel McNeal fell asleep on a back cut like that in the Big East tournament. I think the loss of James will be too much to overcome. It’s a shame because I think they’re elite eight material.
I think Lousville has the easiest road out of any #1 seed. Michigan State is a very weak #2 seed in my opinion. In fact, I don’t think it will be them that the Cardinals face in the regional finals. I love Louisville and love even more that some are questioning them. I think PG play is the catalyst. They seem to understand when it is time to attack and score more than what is usual. Not big scoring threats by any means, but a smart players during crucial times.
Yeah McNeal fell asleep as did the entire Marquette squad. There was zero pressure on the ball during that sequence.