Big East or Big Least?
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
What a disappointing NCAA Tournament for the Big East! The conference sent a record 11 teams to the Big Dance on Selection Sunday, and now they have only two remaining.
Yes, the Big East bashers are coming out of the woodwork, and who can blame them? All season long the so-called “experts” told us that this conference was far superior to any other in college basketball. Now? Their teams are simply hanging on for dear life.
UConn and Marquette are left to carry the flag for the Big East in the Sweet 16. Both earned spots in the regional semifinals by defeating fellow Big East opponents with the Huskies downing Cincinnati and the Golden Eagles edging Syracuse.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBig East supporters will say that the conference would have more than just 2 teams in the Sweet 16 if they didn’t have to play one another in the round of 32. Detractors will suggest that the conference might not have any teams remaining in the Big Dance if it weren’t for those all-Big East match-ups.
When you cut through all of the b.s., the facts are very simple. First, the Big East WAS the best and certainly the deepest conference in the country this year. That fact is indisputable.
Secondly, the 11 teams that got into the Tournament ALL deserved to be there. With the exception of the few upset winners of their conference tournaments, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is about trying to put the best 68 teams into the field. From first place Pitt to 11th-place Marquette, each and every Big East team deserved to be there.
The problem for the Big East is that the NCAA Tournament is about who is the best team on THAT day and too many of their teams weren’t the best team on THAT given day.
Did the Big East underachieve? Absolutely! You could blame the coaches for not having their teams as well prepared as they needed to be for their Tournament games or even the players for possibly taking some of their opponents a bit lightly.
The other problem the conference has this year is that they seem to lack a dominant team like a Kansas or an Ohio State.
Could the Huskies win the National Championship? Maybe. But it doesn’t seem likely despite the great run that they have been on since arriving in New York City for the Big East Tournament.
OTHER NOTES:
-Am I the only one who thinks that Charles Barkley should stay away from college basketball analysis and stick to the NBA? Don’t get me wrong, I like Chuck! I think he’s funny and, when it comes to the pro game, he can be very insightful. However, his ignorance for the college game has been on display this past week as a studio analyst. He clearly does not watch the college game like he does the pros and knows very little about the teams, their players and coaches. He speaks in generalities to try to hide his lack of knowledge and when he does make a strong point, there is usually no basis for it. Stick to the pros Chuck!
-The ACC received a lot of criticism for being down this year but they have the most teams (3) in the Sweet 16. The Big East, SEC and Big Ten each have 2 with the Big Ten and Pac Ten having 1 each. The other 5 spots in the Sweet 16 are from the non-BCS or “mid-major” conferences.
-The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee was roundly criticized on Selection Sunday for giving VCU an at-large bid. Three wins later, the Rams find themselves in the Sweet 16.
-What is it about Pitt that allows them to dominate the regular season every year but come up small in the NCAA Tournament?
-Having said that, if you didn’t feel badly for Panthers’ big man Nasir Robinson who accepted blame for the loss while in tears after the game, you don’t have a heart!
-And spare me the, “Jamie Dixon should have pulled his players off the lane before that second free throw” line because NO coach does that! You only pull your players off the lane in that situation if your team is LEADING and not tied.
-BYU’s Jimmer Fredette and Butler coach Brad Stevens are the two “rock stars” of the Tournament.
