Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Villanova won 73-70 in overtime, over a 15-seed, and that was the best result the conference had on day one of the tournament. The rest was just ugly. Notre Dame, the 6-seed in the South, lost to Old Dominion, 51-50, when a put-back by All-American Luke Harangody cut the three-point lead down to one as time expired. It was just the second basket of the day for Harangody on 2-9 shooting. Notre Dame took three free throws in the entire game and went 6-26 from beyond the arc.
Marquette, the 6-seed in the East, lost a squeaker to Washington in the final seconds as well. Marquette actually shot the ball rather well, going 27-51 from the field, including 12-19 from three, and hit 12 of 15 free throws. They just couldn't stop Washington, allowing the Huskies to score 16 points above what Marquette was giving up per game this season.
And then there's third-seeded Georgetown, who lost 97-83 to an Ohio team that didn't even have a winning record in its conference. If you didn't watch the game – as CBS rightly dumped it in several big markets – it wasn't even as close as the final score. Thanks to Villanova's late-game heroics yesterday, the Georgetown loss may be the worst for a conference team since 1991, when second-seeded Syracuse lost to Richmond. Actually, that Richmond game was at least a four-point game, so with the combination of seeding and disparity in score, Thursday's Georgetown loss could be the worst loss the Big East has ever had in the NCAA tournament.
But was it the worst day in the Big East's illustrious history in the NCAA tournament?
One could make the case that last year's Final Four was the worst in Big East history, with two teams losing in their respective National Semifinal games, cementing the fact that a conference with three top seeds in the tournament didn't have one team in the Championship game. That said, it was the Final Four, so the disappointment did still include some pretty swanky banners to hang.
Thursday was just the second time since 1985 – when the conference sent three teams to the Final Four – that the Big East lost three opening-round NCAA Tournament games on the same day. In 2006, the Big East lost three teams on the first day of the tournament, but none of those teams was ranked higher than a five seed and one team – No. 10 Seton Hall – would not have been favored to win based on the seeding. The Big East teams that lost on Thursday were all expected – based on seeding – to advance to the second round.
The Big East has four teams playing on Friday and, with a sweep of the remaining opening-round games, the conference still has a chance to salvage a successful first round. There could be a bit of added pressure on the remaining four teams today, even if they may not feel it on the court. Since 1985 – the year the tournament expanded to 64 teams – the Big East has never sent less than half their tournament teams into at least the second round.
With No. 1, 2, 3 and 9 seeds still left to play in the first round – including two more serious Final Four contenders in West Virginia and Syracuse – the chances for the Big East advancing at least four teams to the second round, and beyond, still seem high. But all four teams were expected to advance on Thursday and we saw how that worked out. Today could be a very interesting day for the Big East.
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
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Could it be that some Big East teams are not as good as their rankings indicate?
by miller.garth on Mar 19, 2010 11:06 AM EDT reply actions
The refs mistook Nova for Duke since the South regional has been renamed the "Duke regional," they wear approximately the same colors, and Duke transfer Taylor King was playing for Nova.
On the other hand, you could say the "Duke Final 4 Con$piracy" had its legs cut out from under it since the refs should have been making calls to promote the upset and make Duke’s path even easier.
by tkbone on Mar 19, 2010 11:18 AM EDT reply actions
Just like last year all we hear is how great the Big East is, they seem to be only great vs each other.
by heel blue blood on Mar 19, 2010 12:25 PM EDT reply actions
Gotta love the hate…are we all still just dreaming and whining heel blood blood?
by blewdog on Mar 19, 2010 1:33 PM EDT reply actions
Big East Is a great conference…Villanova beat teams from the acc, sec this year loss’s only came in the big east. one loss came from the Temple Owl but that was a Big Five game, that is more important than some Big East Games. Scottie Reynolds did what any good player would have done, take it to the hole because no one on robert morris could check him in the second half. i watched the game and just because a player and there coach flip out over a call doesn’t mean it wasn’t a foul. Robert morris shot 26 free throws while Nova shot 40, comparing a 2 seed to a 15 not a big difference. People stop crying, robert morris didn’t score to close the game out the refs didn;t take points off the board…7 point lead with 2mins left and u can’t pull it out, sorry u deserve to lose
by ArthurKelly on Mar 19, 2010 1:35 PM EDT reply actions
Two things:
First, because I rip my team for their poor play doesn’t equal whining. I don’t use the injury of ref card, I can talk about things based upon reality. Blew you can’t, you will never make a negative remark about Duke…why?
Second Big East fans…the rest of us have had to hear for two years now how great the Big East is yet the numbers fail to back that up. The lowly ACC has won the head to head over those two years, 8 to 5 so far this year. Also, last year, considered to be the best year ever for a conference, the Big East faile to get a single team to the title game…why? Just because you look good against each other does not a dominant league make.
by heel blue blood on Mar 19, 2010 2:38 PM EDT reply actions
BEAUTIFUL!!! The Big Least has been full of themselves from the inception of this season. Good riddance to mediocre attitudes with less-than-great performances.
Rutgers should serve as an example…East teams should focus on academics, not sports. These G’Town wussies proved it.
Flaccid play, East.
by Uberbuckeye on Mar 19, 2010 2:56 PM EDT reply actions
Heel blue blood please stop lying and read…on the other board we were arguing on I said OSU and WVU had a right to agrue about being seeded over Duke…also on that board I said Duke had played horrible in the dance the last few years and I would not be surprised if Louisville beat them in the second round this year. Did you miss those posts? No one else did. My point of my comment was this…are you trying to say someone else coming on a board about Nova and making a stupid crack about Duke is not whining? REALLY? Your problem is you want to act like because you think you never say anything stupid about Duke that no one else does so Duke fans have no right to tell everyone to grow up…that sound about right? As far as the Big East goes…you won’t find anyone who agrees with you more about the Big East being overrated. I have said for years that the last 3-4 teams who make the dance each year from the Big East are only getting in because they are in the Big East. I have pointed out every year how there are teams who have winning conference records in the Big East and not beat one team with a winning record to get it. The bottom half
of the Big East stinks…I won’t say any names but someone does not want to believe it.
by blewdog on Mar 19, 2010 4:01 PM EDT reply actions
Let’s see: the Big East had 8 teams in the tournament and 3 lost thus far. Which means they still have 5. The SEC and Mountain West Conference had 4 teams each in the tournament. They each had two teams lose. Todasy (Friday) west virginia defeated Morgan State. That means when today is over…the Big East will still have 2 teams in the tournament just like the SEc and Mountain West. So, what’s the Big Deal?
by EPete45 on Mar 19, 2010 4:05 PM EDT reply actions
WHO CARES ABOUT THIS CONFERENCE CRAP! ESPN, Sporting News and all these other talking head love to compare conferences. It means nothing. Root for you team and your team only and stop all this bitterness. I root for the Mountaineers, period. I could care less whether Georgetown "choked" or not, because my team is alive. The Big East being great or not so great means nothing to WVU. WVU being great or not so great means everything to me.
by EersNDawgs on Mar 19, 2010 8:51 PM EDT reply actions
BLEWDOG…the bottom half of EVERY conference stinks, that’s why they are the "bottom half". Your point is quite pointless.
What’s ridiculous is that the Big East has 16 teams. By that rationale, and by shear attrition, there’s no way they can all win. Hence, the "bottom half".
Oh yeah, GO MOUNTAINEERS, not the Big EAst!
by EersNDawgs on Mar 19, 2010 8:58 PM EDT reply actions
Uberbuckeye…"East teams should focus on academics"?…didn’t know we were comparing academics now on the Sportingnews website. Did you mean to post this in the editorial section of The Wall Street Journal?
by EersNDawgs on Mar 19, 2010 9:20 PM EDT reply actions
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