Big East Basketball Tournament

[Apis Bull]

Round 1:

Syracuse 74

Cincinnati 73

Syracuse goes on to play UConn on Thursday

[Velcro]

That may have just sealed the deal for 9 teams from the Big East!

Syracuse and Seton Hall are the bubble teams for the BE.

Cincy is already in due to their SOS/RPI/Big wins

Seton Hall is likely in unless they fall on their face and make a HUGE bad impression on the voting committee.

These 6 - UConn/Nova/GTown/Marq/WVU/Pitt - are all locks

Cuse is the only really close bubble team and that probably seals the deal.

[Velcro]

from ESPN PRIOR to Cuse's win over Cincy

Big East Conference

Teams that should be in: Cincinnati, Seton Hall

Work left to do: Syracuse

On the heels of Seton Hall's possible bid clincher at Pitt, Cincinnati might have punched its ticket by beating West Virginia. Can 'Cuse get a ninth for the conference? It looks bleak after a home loss to Villanova.

Should be in:

Cincinnati [18-11 (8-8), RPI: 31, SOS: 4] Enormous home win over West Virginia could be the win that gets the Bearcats in. They really seem to have done enough without Armein Kirkland to validate the overall profile, which is Tournament-worthy. Bearcats are 4-8 vs. RPI Top 50 (7-2 vs. 51-100).

Seton Hall [18-10 (9-7), RPI: 49, SOS: 33] One of the most inconsistent teams in the country might have punched its Dance ticket Friday night with an upset win at Pitt. Hard to believe the committee would jump Syracuse and Cincinnati over a team that will finish 1-2 games ahead in the standings. SHU needs to make sure it doesn't lose its Big East tourney opener, but right now, it looks like the Pirates should get in.

Work left to do:

Syracuse [19-11 (7-9), RPI: 43, SOS: 6] This looks like an NIT team barring some miraculous Big East tourney run. Losing at home to 'Nova to fall under .500 in league play probably was the death knell, if the 39-point annihilation at DePaul wasn't. RPI is weakening quickly, the Orange have lost nine of 13 and are only 2-9 vs. RPI Top 50. To paraphrase Doug Gottlieb's on-air comment: "This wasn't Gerry McNamara's last home game."

6 locks

2 Should be ins

1 bubble

[Apis Bull]

Round 1:

Georgetown 67

Notre Dame 63

Georgetown plays Marquette on Thursday

[South_Florida_Flip]

Seton Hall could be in trouble now.

[Velcro]

if someone other than Memphis or UAB wins it... the Big East would probably lose out on one of seton hall or syracuse (if cuse loses to UConn as expected), or even both.

[South_Florida_Flip]

Memphis and UAB haven't played yet.

[Velcro]

my bad... i didn't look at the schedule... thought i heard an announcer say they lost didn't see them on the ticker today

[Apis Bull]

Round 1:

Rutgers 61

Seton Hall 48

Rutgers plays Villanova on Thursday

[Apis Bull]

Round 1:

Pittsburgh 61

Louisville 56

Pittsburgh plays West Virginia on Thursday