the big bad Big East is not so big and bad

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tjgopher

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Eight teams in the field. TWO in the Sweet 16. Four first round exits!

Syracuse - Sweet 16
WVU - Sweet 16
Pitt - 2nd round EXIT
Villanova - 2nd round EXIT

Notre Dame - 1st round EXIT
Marquette - 1st round EXIT
Louisville - 1st round EXIT
Georgetown - 1st round EXIT

I take great delight in that, while at the same time knowing the Big Ten got three of its five teams into the Sweet 16 and 4 of 5 into the second day. (Dang it Gophers!).
 


But according to lakesbison, the NDSU Bison got screwed out of a bid this year. Bummer.
 

Let the excuses (from the talking heads) begin.

Gutty, gutty performances by both Sparty and Purdue today.
 

SS...If the talking heads had brains that were dynamite, they would not have enough power to blow their noses. GO BIG TEN!!!
 


Speaking of Michigan State, I had to listen to the game on the radio as I was driving to where I work out of town, what a finish! I had no idea that Lucas had been hurt until I was able to log onto here earlier and Gopher Lady had it on a thread. PJ Carlisemo (spelling?) sounds exactly like Chris Farley's character on SNL, "I live in a van down by the river" guy. I have to admit, I'm glad Cornell won, I work with all kinds of Wisconsin guys on this job and it will make my day much easier.
 


Big Ten leads all conferences with 3 teams in the Sweet Sixteen (Big East, Big 12, SEC with two each, while ACC, Ivy, MVC, Pac-10, Horizon, Atlantic 10 and WCC claim one each).

Michigan State is the only team from last year's Final Four to advance to this year's Sweet 16.

Among all the teams in this year's tourney, I would say none have experienced as devastating losses as Purdue (Hummel) and Michigan St. (Lucas) have, one in the late stretch of the regular season, one in the midst of today's games. It speaks to the resilience and toughness of both these teams and I think, by extension, the Big 10 (especially when you consider Evan Turner was sidelined with a broken back for nine games during the season) that these teams suffered losses of All-Conference, if not All-American type players yet still were able to move into the Sweet 16 against very formidable opponents.
 

Not to mention the Big East managed to do less despite getting some favorable seeding.

Nova was not a 3-seed, not the way they finished.
Pitt was a weak 3-seed, too.
Georgetown also a 3-seed, probably a bit too good.
Notre Dame got a favorable 6-seed for what they did (they were bubble 10 days before tourney)
Marquette was probably about right as a 6-seed
Louisville probably right
Syracuse and West Va obviously were seeded properly

Meanwhile, the three Big Ten "tri-champs" got a 2-seed, a 4-seed, and a 5-seed. All advanced to Sweet 16 despite that.
 



Some more data:
Power Conference teams advancing to Sweet 16/Total Teams in Tourney
ACC 1/6 16.7%
Big East 2/8 25%
Big 10 3/5 60%
Big 12 2/6 33%
Pac 10 1/2 50%
SEC 2/4 50%

Power Conferences record as higher seed; as lower seed through two rounds
ACC Higher Seed: 3-2; Lower Seed: 2-3
Big East HS: 6-5; LS: 0-1
Big 10 HS: 6-1; LS: 1-1
Big 12 HS: 4-3; LS: 1-2
Pac 10 HS: 1-0; LS: 2-1
SEC HS: 4-1; LS: 0-1

Not only does the Big 10 have the best % for the major conferences (and all conferences save the Ivy and MVC) of teams advancing to the Sweet 16, but they also defended their seeding very well, much better than every other major conference except the SEC and Pac 10 (whose members should send Lorenzo Romar a fruit basket for giving the conference some redemption).
 

tjgopher said:
Not to mention the Big East managed to do less despite getting some favorable seeding.

Nova was not a 3-seed, not the way they finished.
Pitt was a weak 3-seed, too.
Georgetown also a 3-seed, probably a bit too good.
Notre Dame got a favorable 6-seed for what they did (they were bubble 10 days before tourney)
Marquette was probably about right as a 6-seed
Louisville probably right
Syracuse and West Va obviously were seeded properly

Meanwhile, the three Big Ten "tri-champs" got a 2-seed, a 4-seed, and a 5-seed. All advanced to Sweet 16 despite that.
Click to expand...

Nova was actually seeded as a 2, and they were nowhere near that.
 

I think it is funny the way the Big East fans often run around declaring their conference as by far the best basketball conference, and excuse their NCAA tournament losses with the old "conference schedule is such a grind that the teams are all spent by the time the NCAA tournament starts". In other words... the Big East is more important than the NCAA. I think it is great the Big 10 has advanced as many sweet 16 teams as the ACC and Big East COMBINED.

In the 'what if' department... how tough would the Big 10 look without the injuries to Hummel, Lucas, and the presence of the 'missing 3' in the Gopher lineup this year? I know... woulda coulda shoulda - but interesting to think about. I think MSU and PU will have a hard time advancing from here given their injury situations but after it is all said and done, those lean Big 10 years certainly seem to be in the rear view mirror now and the conference is again elite.
 




True this year indeed. I'm pleased by the Big Ten's relatively stronger performance too, and I've got my schadenfreude working to be sure.

However, historically the Big East in full of very strong teams. Last year they got 7 of 16 in and still had 5 alive in the sweet 16.
 

98VQueens said:
5 NIT BIG LOOSER as well;

South Florida - 1st rd loss
Seton Hall - 1st rd loss
St. Johns - 1st rd loss
Cincinnati - 2nd rd loss
UConn - 2nd rd loss

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/nit/sports/m-nit/auto_pdf/2010bracket.pdf
Click to expand...

Yeah, the Big East has pretty much flopped in every aspect of these postseason tourneys. They can make all the excuses they want, but it's no different than when they try to disparage the Big Ten for postseason failures in b-ball and football in the past. You notice even during this past bowl season people were all kinds of hesitant in giving the Big Ten their due for beating four top 15 teams, something that had never been done.
 

And Big East regular season champion Syracuse falls to a mid-major, albeit a really good mid-major.

The Big East is down to one team left.

Hope the Big Ten can send a couple into the Elite 8.
 

Bump

from http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basket...BzLvITinbevbYF?slug=jn-tourneyhighslows040610

Best Conference: Although it was never mentioned in the same breath as the Big East and Big 12 during the season, the Big Ten outdid both of them during the NCAA tournament. Three teams (Ohio State, Michigan State and Purdue) reached the Sweet 16, and the Spartans made the Final Four.

Worst Conference: Of the eight Big East teams that made the field, only two of them (West Virginia and Syracuse) reached the Sweet 16. Marquette, Georgetown, Notre Dame and Louisville all lost in the first round. Eesshh.
 

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