The Big East, Overrated?

[Orange and Brown]

WOW!!! I think the Big East has been exposed! All year all we have heard about is how great the Big East is from top to bottom and now they are dropping like fly's.

[The_Legend_of_Northwest]

I don't think they're overrated yet, but if none make it out of the weekend then its a yes.

But the teams that have lost:
Marquette played alot of close games all year and it bit them in the behind
Georgetown looked absolutely heartbroken when they lost to WVU and didnt even look interested in the game against OU
Notre Dame wasnt even into the tournament until the Big East Tournament
Nova didnt play well the lost few weeks of the season
Louisville lost in an 8-9 game

All these teams were teams that could go out early. Georgetown should be the only surprise.

[Just_A_Fan]

When you have 8 teams make the tourny your going to have more teams exit the tourny than anyone else.

[FANOSPORTS]

I don't think they're overrated yet, but if none make it out of the weekend then its a yes.

But the teams that have lost:
Marquette played alot of close games all year and it bit them in the behind
Georgetown looked absolutely heartbroken when they lost to WVU and didnt even look interested in the game against OU
Notre Dame wasnt even into the tournament until the Big East Tournament
Nova didnt play well the lost few weeks of the season
Louisville lost in an 8-9 game

All these teams were teams that could go out early. Georgetown should be the only surprise.

I agree. I think after the grind of the Big East tourney some of the teams came out flat and tired and other didn't seem like they want to be there. Also, as another poster said, if you have that many teams in the tourney some of them have to lose. WVU, SYRACUSE and PITT will carry the flag. By the way O&B, you don't really think OU could beat Georgetown in a best of 3,5 or 7 series do you ?

[theassassin]

i think villanova had lost something like 5 of last 7 going into the tournament.
notre dame was probably seeded to high to begin with.
marquette the BE #5 or #6 loses a close game to pac 10 champion
as for georgetown.... totally outplayed by ohio.

[avalanche]

Michigan State went 5-5 down the stretch and won thier 1st game.

The Big East is not the best conference, deepest, yes. The top teams are just as good if not better then the top teams in the Big East. Don't forget that ESPN is located in the heart of Big East country, that does have something to do with it. The Big East has not won a NC in going on 6 years, but every year they claim they are the best conference in the nation. If you play in the best conference in the nation and you want to stake calim of it, then you have to own up to the fact that you should be better prepaired then other teams come tourny time. If you want all of the bright lights and glitter that come with being the best then you have to own it when you get exposed.

[The_Legend_of_Northwest]

National Championships have no bearings on the Best Conference.

BTW Villanova went 4-6 in their last 10 before the tournament and won their 1st game so your MSU comment makes 0-3% sense

[Orange and Brown]

I don't think they're overrated yet, but if none make it out of the weekend then its a yes.

But the teams that have lost:
Marquette played alot of close games all year and it bit them in the behind
Georgetown looked absolutely heartbroken when they lost to WVU and didnt even look interested in the game against OU
Notre Dame wasnt even into the tournament until the Big East Tournament
Nova didnt play well the lost few weeks of the season
Louisville lost in an 8-9 game

All these teams were teams that could go out early. Georgetown should be the only surprise.

I agree. I think after the grind of the Big East tourney some of the teams came out flat and tired and other didn't seem like they want to be there. Also, as another poster said, if you have that many teams in the tourney some of them have to lose. WVU, SYRACUSE and PITT will carry the flag. By the way O&B, you don't really think OU could beat Georgetown in a best of 3,5 or 7 series do you ?

more than likely not but why are you asking? I didn't say I thought the Big East is overrated because GTOWN lost to OU

[Orange and Brown]

It just seems to me that the "Best Conference" in college basketball should win when it matters!

[avalanche]

Well since you made the point that Villinova struggled down the stretch, so did MSU in a supposed weaker conference and were able to pull out a win despite being a lower ranked seed. Purdue is another team that was able to squeak by a great PSU team, beat Minnesota (a team who would not have made it in until the BT Tourny), and then lost first round of the BT Tourny. Purdue struggled but still won. Excuses, there are 1000 of them. The Big East is deep, no one is arguing that, but being deep does not make you the best nor does it mean anything come tourny time. The best teams win---period. You can come up with a million different scenarios and everyone of them can be debated by another, but all that matters is those teams lost.

National Championships have no baring on a conference that claims to be the best every year? Really?!?!

[The_Legend_of_Northwest]

No National Championships have nothing to do with your conference. If Syracuse or WVU wins the title is Greg Monroe from GTOWN going to be on the court celebrating with them NO WAY. Do you think that if St Mary's or Gonzaga win the title that everyone is going to look at the West Coast Conferene and say 'what a dominant basketball conference'. Doubtful. The NC is for the best TEAM not the best CONFERENCE.

[qualified101]

way overrated.

[avalanche]

So the best conference shouldn't produce the best team? What kind of logic is that?

If you want to talk all year about how dominant your conference is, then you have to live up to it once the REAL tourny rolls around.

[avalanche]

Final Fours this decade. I am not buying the Big East is so muc better then everyone else.

BT 8
ACC 8
SEC 4
PAC 10 5
BE 7
B12 6

[mister b]

In the all-time NCAA tournament wins list for the top 16 schools listed, as broken down by conference....

Big East - 5 schools
Big 10 - 3 schools
SEC, ACC and Mountain West - 2 schools each
Big 12 and Pac 10 - 1 school each.

[seofan_via_dublin]

The Big East is very good as a conference.
They can lay claim to being deep, but when you have 16 teams, you should be able to place
7 or 8 in the NCAA tournament every year.
The bottom of the Big East is about as crappy as any one conference can get,
but on the other hand the top end is quite deep, and the middle is strong too.

The biggest contributor to the hype of the Big East is not the performance on the court,
it is the location of the conference, smack dap in regards to TV marketing, the selling of their souls to
ESPN, and the fact that alot of the talking heads in the sports media are alumni of Big East schools.

[Peake]

Agree with everything you said dubs. People in the North East think they live in the center of the universe anyway.

What does the top 16 teams of all time have to do with the recent success of the Big East?

You can't keep telling everyone how great your conference is and how playing the best competition will make you better because you play a tougher schd and then lay an egg. Lets not forget these teams aren't losing to top 10 programs, they are losing to lower seeds. Syracuse or Pitt would have had to play thier butt off to win the Big Ten or Big 12 if they were in that conference, just tired of hearing the hype and the excuses that follow.

[The_Legend_of_Northwest]

So the best conference shouldn't produce the best team? What kind of logic is that?

If you want to talk all year about how dominant your conference is, then you have to live up to it once the REAL tourny rolls around.

I'm using the right logic, not sure what you're using

[Peake]

Best conference should produce best team, right? Otherwise you are debating that your 5th place is better then whoever elses 5th place. That is a wasted argument because no one really cares.

[seofan_via_dublin]

Was the ACC the best conference last year, or was the Big 12 the best the year before?

Once the tournament starts, it's a crap shoot. A crap shoot that the best teams SHOULD survive
during the sorting process known as the first round.

The Big East has 3 out of 8 teams left, the Big 10 has 3 out of 5.
You could have 5 or 6 teams in the elite 8 that are from those two conferences.