Louisville/Cincinnati for the Big East Championship?

[hoopsknowitall]

Think about that one when you are filling in your brackets for this years NCAA pool. The tourney might get real ugly for the conference this year.

UCONN believe it or not has the best chance of making the final four of any of the teams.

 

[Dougsts]

I think its nice that big east teams are in the BET final game

 

[tzznandrew]

The BE is going to get obliterated in the NCAAs.

Syracuse looks like they are going to underperform. They should minimally make the Final Four, but...
Marquette has the ability to make some noise, but if the refs call it tight, they may be in trouble.
ND will be bounced first or second round. I'd bet all of my money on that. Depending on their seed, probably first round.
Cincy - they are S16 at best. I'm not convinced we see them past the first weekend.
Georgetown - This team can make the E8, but its all on draw.
USF - If they make it, they're out in round one. Probably blown out.
Louisville - They can't score. They're deeper tournament runs had at least one guy that could go off (Garcia, Williams). I'm not sure what to make of this team, but it depends on their seed. If they get to a 3, they could be into the S16. If they're a 4 or 5, I think a veteran mid-major can take them out.
West Virginia - I think they're in. And if they are, they're out early. Refs are going to kill them.
UConn - All draw here. This team can make the final four, but can also be our round one. I woudn't bet money on them at all.
Seton Hall - If they make the tourney, they will lose round one.

I think, depending on the draw, Syracuse, Marquette, and UConn could make the Final Four. Georgetown and Louisville's peak is probably Elite 8. Everyone else will probably be done by day 2--along with some of the names in the previous sentence, since they won't all hit their peak.

I'm not putting any faith in the BE this year.

 

[bobbygt]

Both of those teams were predicted to be top 5 or so going into the year, so it's not a huge surprise. It's not like the final is South Florida vs Seton Hall.

So, with that said, yuck. I don't like either team really, esp. Cincinnati.

I give UL credit, though. They seem to do really well at msg.

Who knows, maybe the big east will do better than last year. With the exception of the National Champions, the big east did pretty awful. Granted, fours teams had to play each other in the 2nd round, but it was still a bad year.

Most likely to advance to S16: Cuse, Marquette, Gtown, UL.

Outside shot at the 2nd weekend: Uconn, Cincy

Done after the 1st weekend: ND, WVU, SH, USF

 

[Brochacho]

You could also argue that if 4 BE teams didn't play each other in the second round none would have advanced.

 

[tzznandrew]

You could also argue that if 4 BE teams didn't play each other in the second round none would have advanced.

It's a little hard to argue that when one of the four went on to win the title.

 

[Ed-D]

Well maybe now that everybody is writing off Syracuse they will surprise us. But I think they have legitimate flaws that will be exposed by the elite eight at the latest.

 

[bobbygt]

Well maybe now that everybody is writing off Syracuse they will surprise us. But I think they have legitimate flaws that will be exposed by the elite eight at the latest.

The interesting thing about Syracuse is that Joseph and Jardine do not seem to have confidence at the moment. Syracuse will not go far if these two do not get their groove back.

Sure, Waiters is probably their best offensive player, but I don't think he'll be able to do what he did last night, for 6 straight games.

I don't think there are more than a few teams better than Syracuse, if that many, even when they look so so like last night.

 

[Brochacho]

It's a little hard to argue that when one of the four went on to win the title.

I know.

I just had to be that guy.

 

[hoopsknowitall]

Wow hideous game. Absolutely hideous.

 

[Robertelamin]

This must have been a horrible day for ticket scalpers. No UConn, Syracuse, Villanova, Georgetown or any of the 3 local schools. I guess if it was USF and Depaul or Marquette it could have been worse but that is about it.

 

[61cygni]

Cinci playing really lazy.

 

[caw]

The BE is going to get obliterated in the NCAAs.

Syracuse looks like they are going to underperform. They should minimally make the Final Four, but...
Marquette has the ability to make some noise, but if the refs call it tight, they may be in trouble.
ND will be bounced first or second round. I'd bet all of my money on that. Depending on their seed, probably first round.
Cincy - they are S16 at best. I'm not convinced we see them past the first weekend.
Georgetown - This team can make the E8, but its all on draw.
USF - If they make it, they're out in round one. Probably blown out.
Louisville - They can't score. They're deeper tournament runs had at least one guy that could go off (Garcia, Williams). I'm not sure what to make of this team, but it depends on their seed. If they get to a 3, they could be into the S16. If they're a 4 or 5, I think a veteran mid-major can take them out.
West Virginia - I think they're in. And if they are, they're out early. Refs are going to kill them.
UConn - All draw here. This team can make the final four, but can also be our round one. I woudn't bet money on them at all.
Seton Hall - If they make the tourney, they will lose round one.

I think, depending on the draw, Syracuse, Marquette, and UConn could make the Final Four. Georgetown and Louisville's peak is probably Elite 8. Everyone else will probably be done by day 2--along with some of the names in the previous sentence, since they won't all hit their peak.

I'm not putting any faith in the BE this year.

I agree on almost all of this. I think WVU can ride Jones for one game against any seed 5-16 as long as Truck doesn't ef-it-up. Same with Marquette and Crowder/DJO, but without the Truck issues. UL/Cincy will depend on 3PT shooting, as demonstrated against Cuse. Cuse should make the elite 8, but I'd be surprised if they win the whole thing, may depend on other upsets to go further. UConn can win or lose any game, they are such an enigma. SH/USF ehh, who knows if either makes it.

 

[traitor71]

UCONN believe it or not has the best chance of making the final four of any of the teams.

Why do we tell ourselves things like this? We are all fans and look for the most positive outcome, but what has this team shown over a large sample size that gives us this hope?

 

[61cygni]

What a flop by Smith

 

[caw]

Why do we tell ourselves things like this? We are all fans and look for the most positive outcome, but what has this team shown over a large sample size that gives us this hope?

I think a lot has to do with the perception of how things are reffed in the BE compared to the NCAAT. Just look at the current game. Lots of handchecking and slapping at the ball with only a 10th of it being called. The Cincy player just threw an elbow, was called for it, then acted shocked that he would be called for it. Why? Because they had let stuff like that go all game. Teams that play really physical (slapping/grabbing "defense") are going to be in trouble. Bad for the regular season BE, but UConn just doesn't do as much of that as other teams.

 

[caw]

What a flop by Smith

He was elbowed. It was an offensive foul.

 

[Tenspro2002]

You could also argue that if 4 BE teams didn't play each other in the second round none would have advanced.

This is something people were saying at the time. The BE, despite the record-setting 11 bids and us winning the championship, roundly embarrassed itself in the Tournament. Since I have nothing better to do, allow me to refresh your memory:

(9) Villanova - Lost a close game in the first round; not an upset, but losing a tossup game isn't great
(5) WVU - Avoided the dreaded 5/12 upset, but fell to UK in round 2; similar story to Nova
(11) Marquette - Upset Xavier and Syracuse to reach the S16, but was thoroughly uncompetitive against UNC; the second of 2 bright spots
(3) Syracuse - Upset by Marquette; kind of a wash for the conference given the above result
(6) Cincy - Handled Missouri and then lost to us in round 2; acquitted themselves well
(3) UConn - 'nuff said

This is where it starts getting ugly:

(4) 'Ville - Upset by Morehead State in the first round; thoroughly embarrassing
(6) G'Town - Blown out in the first round by VCU; thoroughly embarrassing
(2) ND - Blown out in the second round by Florida State; thoroughly embarrassing
(1) Pitt - We all know what happened there
(6) St. John's - Blown out by Gonzaga in the first round; thoroughly embarrassing

So we're looking at one national champion (us), two teams that marginally disappointed (Nova, WVU), one team that overachieved (MU), one that underachieved (SU), one that did about as well as expected (Cincy); those seem about a net neutral. But then you have 5 teams who lost to teams at least 5 seeds beneath them, and 3 of those weren't even competitive.

We had basically 1.5 teams in the Sweet 16, out of the 11 who started in the field.

 

[61cygni]

An offensive foul and a flop are not mutually exclusive. There is no chance that that elbow should have resulted in him looking like he got whacked with a baseball bat.

Man, Ville is throwing up some awful shots.

 

[caw]

An offensive foul and a flop are not mutually exclusive. There is no chance that that elbow should have resulted in him looking like he got whacked with a baseball bat.

Man, Ville is throwing up some awful shots.

I agree, but at least it was better than what Fab Melo and some other bigs (Duke) do.

 

[Ts5034]

Well just look at Uconn last year to back up the argument. We didnt lose a single game to a non conference team but during conference play we were a .500 team...

 

[Ed-D]

WHatever. Bottom line: Loogieville is BE champs but I don't know how impressive any BE team is when you compare them to the Kentuckys and Missouris of the world. But we shall see. They play these games for a reason, after all

 

[tzznandrew]

So we're looking at one national champion (us), two teams that marginally disappointed (Nova, WVU), one team that overachieved (MU), one that underachieved (SU), one that did about as well as expected (Cincy); those seem about a net neutral. But then you have 5 teams who lost to teams at least 5 seeds beneath them, and 3 of those weren't even competitive.

We had basically 1.5 teams in the Sweet 16, out of the 11 who started in the field.

This is a good post. In a brief defense of Louisville, didn't Knowles get seriously injured? It was AJ Price syndrome. You should probably not lose to a 13, but you are no longer 9 seedlines ahead without your best player.