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The Big East's Bad Day: Where We Throw Perspective Out The Window

by Andrew Sharp • Mar 19, 2010 9:58 AM EDT

This morning, as I sat sipping my coffee and combing through internet headlines, I was pretty shocked to see all this talk about the Big East’s performance yesterday. Mostly, I didn’t realize that major college conferences played as one team in the NCAA tournament. From ESPN:

Let’s face it: It was a dreadful day for what most consider the nation’s best conference. […]

The Big East still can avenge its poor performance with wins by top-seeded Syracuse, ninth-seeded Louisville, third-seeded Pitt and second-seeded West Virginia on Friday.

But for one day, the Big East was exposed by teams that were hungrier, a bit feistier and loaded with players that genuinely feel like they can compete on a neutral court.

And from the Sporting News:

But was it the worst day in the Big East’s illustrious history in the NCAA tournament?

Listen. We know that the 24-hour news cycle must be fed, but come on. Among the Big East’s 1-3 showing yesterday, the only loss that was “surprising” was Georgetown losing to Ohio.

Beyond that, you had Notre Dame losing to a mid-major that everyone respected, Marquette losing to the best team in the Pac-10, and Villanova surviving against Robert Morris. How is that possibly the worst day ever?

Just because the Hoyas forgot to play defense and three other teams had tougher matchups than expected, it doesn’t suddenly mean the Big East should be embarrassed. And besides, it distracts us from the real talking point emerging from yesterday’s games: Was that the best first day of games in tournament history?

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Comments

Big East Exposed

Come on. It is not just that three teams lost and the fourth only won due to horrible officiating, it is how high all of these teams are seeded. The Big East bias has inconsistent G-Town a 3, Villanova a loser at the end of the year a 2, and most unbelievably, Notre Dame a 6. The fact that Robert Morris should have beaten Nova, that G-Town lost to a 9 seed in its own conference Ohio doesn’t mean anything? Of course, it does – this is reality and facts and you easterners can’t just ignore them.

by tgmcgill on Mar 19, 2010 10:51 AM EDT reply actions

Not really

It just means those particular teams were overseeded. Just like Vanderbilt and Richmond and all the other teams that’ll get upset at some point in this tournament.

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Mar 19, 2010 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions

Being overseeded has nothing whatsoever to do with the strength of the conference. Everyone acknowledges that the G-Town loss was bad, but two middle-of-the-road Big East teams (ND, Marquette) lost to the best team in the Pac-10 and the best team in the CAA. Not sure how those two losses mean the entire Big East isn’t good.

The two best teams from the conference haven’t even played yet, so let’s hold off on judgments just yet.

by Chris Mottram on Mar 19, 2010 11:05 AM EDT up reply actions