Big East?

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Ironman92's avatar

Ironman92

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Mar 18, 2011 11:40 PM
9 of their 11 teams were fairly significant favorites and Nova and Marquette were slight underdogs accordingto their seeds........so far they seem fairly overrated.

#1 Pitt took care of business
#2 Notre Dame did enough to win but nothing impressive
#3 UConn continues to look scary dangerous
#3 Syracuse is up 8 at the half against Indiana St
#4 Louisville LOSES to Morehead St
#5 WVU was handed a gift by the tournament by playing Clemson with jet lag....retarded planning
#6 UC looked good
#6 St Johns laid a decent egg
#6 Georgetown is getting killed by VCU
#9 Villanova loses to George Mason
#11 Marquette played and represented well

It's not overwhelming or anything but it takes the super conference down a notch so far.....of course Pitt, ND and UConn in the Final 4 would cause a thread of the opposite.


What do you think? I know Laley said all along they weren't as good as they seemed......right now I'm siding with him.
Mar 18, 2011 11:40pm
killer_ewok's avatar

killer_ewok

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Mar 18, 2011 11:56 PM
Pitt, ND and Uconn in the Final 4 would be remarkable. It won't happen but if it did that thread would be more warranted than this one.
Mar 18, 2011 11:56pm
Cleveland Buck's avatar

Cleveland Buck

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Mar 19, 2011 12:00 AM
They also had a lot of nice matchups because of the seeding they got. Look at their opponents:

13 Morehead State
11 VCU
15 Akron
16 UNC Asheville
11 Gonzaga
14 Bucknell
11 Missouri
14 Indiana State
6 Xavier
12 Clemson
8 George Mason

7-4 against that bunch is pretty weak.
Mar 19, 2011 12:00am
D

dave

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Mar 19, 2011 12:00 AM
9 were fairly significant favorites, where you come up with that? WVU, UC, and St Johns were barely favorites, basically toss ups. 7-4 is ok, 8-3 would have been very impressive.
Mar 19, 2011 12:00am
Mulva's avatar

Mulva

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Mar 19, 2011 12:01 AM
I feel pretty much the same way I did a month ago. I see 3 very good teams (Pitt, Notre Dame, and Syracuse), a bunch of pretty good ones, and no real title threats.

I think they'll be a bit overrepresented in the Sweet 16, because they're guaranteed 2 spots (2 intra-conference match ups if Syracuse hangs on).

I still think it's the best top to bottom conference, but definitely not a good performance to open the tournament.
Mar 19, 2011 12:01am
Laley23's avatar

Laley23

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Mar 19, 2011 12:04 AM
Ive thought all along that Pitt, ND and UCONN were very solid (I will say I wasnt high on UCONN with their in conference sturggles) but the BET and the Maui were enough for me to belive in them. But I was never high on the middle of the road teams, and thought a lot got over-seeded. I WILL say Marquette and Cincy really showed up and surprised me. But GTown, Nova, SJ, Lville did about what I expected. I mean, I didnt think LVille would lose, but I neevr thought they were that good.

Syracuse and WVU are up in the air. Syracuse is a very solid squad with no "star", so they seem to go unnoticed this year. They started strong, hit the lull, but seem to be putting it together. WVU, well they got the gift as you said, and Clemson was never any good to begin with. They can prove themselves versus UK though.

In short, the top teams are very good and showed that (ND was shaky, but were never in danger) and the middle teams that made it (5-11) are less than stellar, which is what I always thought. I just think those teams were getting credit for great wins, when they were just good wins, and it helped the perception of the league as very deep.

Last year, and the year before...ridiculous. This year, not sold.
Mar 19, 2011 12:04am
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killer_ewok

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Mar 19, 2011 12:06 AM
Mulva;717259 wrote:I feel pretty much the same way I did a month ago. I see 3 very good teams (Pitt, Notre Dame, and Syracuse), a bunch of pretty good ones, and no real title threats.

I think they'll be a bit overrepresented in the Sweet 16, because they're guaranteed 2 spots (2 intra-conference match ups if Syracuse hangs on).

I still think it's the best top to bottom conference, but definitely not a good performance to open the tournament.

Pitt isn't a "real" title threat?
Mar 19, 2011 12:06am
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Laley23

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Mar 19, 2011 12:06 AM
Cleveland Buck;717257 wrote:They also had a lot of nice matchups because of the seeding they got. Look at their opponents:

13 Morehead State
11 VCU
15 Akron
16 UNC Asheville
11 Gonzaga
14 Bucknell
11 Missouri
14 Indiana State
6 Xavier
12 Clemson
8 George Mason

7-4 against that bunch is pretty weak.

Thats my biggest issue with the tourney committee. They really overseeded these guys, imo. Cincy a 6??? I mean, they looked good, but as a 7/8 do they even win?

I guess my previous post would coincide with overseeding, so it isnt a surprise. But some of them didnt deserve the high seed imo. Of course, I thought that across the board it seemed like, so the weak field probably means they were actually seeded pretty accurately.
Mar 19, 2011 12:06am
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Laley23

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Mar 19, 2011 12:07 AM
killer_ewok;717269 wrote:Pitt isn't a "real" title threat?

Little confused with that. I think the middle of the BE was overrated. But Pitt, ND and outside shot with UCONN are title threats (sorry, I dont see it in Cuse past the E8).
Mar 19, 2011 12:07am
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killer_ewok

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Mar 19, 2011 12:12 AM
Laley23;717273 wrote:Little confused with that. I think the middle of the BE was overrated. But Pitt, ND and outside shot with UCONN are title threats (sorry, I dont see it in Cuse past the E8).

No prob with that except for 'Cuse wasn't a middle team in the conference. 4th isn't middle in the Big East.
Mar 19, 2011 12:12am
Ironman92's avatar

Ironman92

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Mar 19, 2011 12:20 AM
I like CB's point about going 7-4 against those teams is not very impressive.

Maybe according to Vegas they weren't fairly significant favorites but in the pool I'm running I have 50 entries with 47 picking WVU, 44 picking UC, 43 picking St Johns and 43 picking GTown....no those 50 aren't Joe Lunardi but they also aren't the village idiots of college basketball either.
Mar 19, 2011 12:20am
Laley23's avatar

Laley23

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Mar 19, 2011 12:22 AM
killer_ewok;717277 wrote:No prob with that except for 'Cuse wasn't a middle team in the conference. 4th isn't middle in the Big East.

I agree. I think they are in the top half and very good. I just dont see them as title contenders like I do the other 3. I think they are one of the 4 teams who are very good, after that I thought it was pretty average, when it was described as very good.

And yes I know LVille was 4th and UCONN was 9th(??), but UCONN was always better than some of those teams and LVille...well I have no clue how they got to 4th. I never was impressed and I saw quite a few of their games.
Mar 19, 2011 12:22am
Mulva's avatar

Mulva

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Mar 19, 2011 12:27 AM
killer_ewok;717269 wrote:Pitt isn't a "real" title threat?

Not in my opinion, no.
Mar 19, 2011 12:27am
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killer_ewok

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Mar 19, 2011 12:28 AM
Laley23;717286 wrote:I agree. I think they are in the top half and very good. I just dont see them as title contenders like I do the other 3. I think they are one of the 4 teams who are very good, after that I thought it was pretty average, when it was described as very good.

And yes I know LVille was 4th and UCONN was 9th(??), but UCONN was always better than some of those teams and LVille...well I have no clue how they got to 4th. I never was impressed and I saw quite a few of their games.

L'Ville was 3rd if I recall correctly. 'Cuse was 4th. Semantics I know but still. Again, no problem that you don't consider the Orange a title contender. Not sure they are either. LOL
Mar 19, 2011 12:28am
Laley23's avatar

Laley23

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Mar 19, 2011 12:29 AM
Mulva;717291 wrote:Not in my opinion, no.

So there are only, what, 2/3 threats? That seems a bit odd.
Mar 19, 2011 12:29am
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killer_ewok

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Mar 19, 2011 12:30 AM
Mulva;717291 wrote:Not in my opinion, no.

Okay. I think you're wrong but that's your opinion.
Mar 19, 2011 12:30am
Laley23's avatar

Laley23

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Mar 19, 2011 12:30 AM
killer_ewok;717292 wrote:L'Ville was 3rd if I recall correctly. 'Cuse was 4th. Semantics I know but still. Again, no problem that you don't consider the Orange a title contender. Not sure they are either. LOL

Curious so I looked it up. SJ, Cuse, and Ville all at 12-6 in conference. ESPN has Cuse in the 3rd slot. Not sure if thats official or not lol.
Mar 19, 2011 12:30am
killer_ewok's avatar

killer_ewok

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Mar 19, 2011 12:31 AM
Laley23;717298 wrote:Curious so I looked it up. SJ, Cuse, and Ville all at 12-6 in conference. ESPN has Cuse in the 3rd slot. Not sure if thats official or not lol.

The BET had 'Cuse 4th and L'ville 3rd.
Mar 19, 2011 12:31am
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Laley23

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Mar 19, 2011 12:34 AM
killer_ewok;717299 wrote:The BET had 'Cuse 4th and L'ville 3rd.

gotcha. Ill go with them over ESPN.:D
Mar 19, 2011 12:34am
Mulva's avatar

Mulva

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Mar 19, 2011 12:46 AM
Laley23;717294 wrote:So there are only, what, 2/3 threats? That seems a bit odd.

I would be shocked if anyone other than Ohio State, Duke, or Kansas wins the title, so pretty much 3 threats, yeah. Notre Dame would be a distant 4th for me.

I would give 0 chance to Pitt winning a 2 game playoff against Kansas/ND and OSU/Duke. I do think they might make the Final 4 finally though, because the Southeast is easily the weakest region in my eyes.
Mar 19, 2011 12:46am
Laley23's avatar

Laley23

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Mar 19, 2011 12:51 AM
Mulva;717312 wrote:I would be shocked if anyone other than Ohio State, Duke, or Kansas wins the title, so pretty much 3 threats, yeah. Notre Dame would be a distant 4th for me.

I would give 0 chance to Pitt winning a 2 game playoff against Kansas/ND and OSU/Duke. I do think they might make the Final 4 finally though, because the Southeast is easily the weakest region in my eyes.

Yeah, that region blows.

I guess that reasoning makes sense. I look at it as if you can get to the FF, you can win the title. That actually why I have FLA and Wisconsin as title threats...cause that region is so weak they can get to the Final Four!
Mar 19, 2011 12:51am
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dokken

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Mar 19, 2011 8:27 AM
When you have a conference put 11 teams in the tournament, fans outside the conference will look to destroy it using many angles. The only way the Big East would have lived up to he hype would have been to go 11-0 or 10-1 in the first round, then advance about 8 to the Sweet 16, then 3 to the Final 4.

The Big East will have a minimum of 2 more losses in the round of 32 because there are 2 all BE matchups.

The only real surprise was Louisville. Gtown was squandering, St. John's is awful outside of the NY region and they played in Denver and Nova lost 11 of their last 16.

All in all, a 7-4 first round was about par, hard to determine for either arguement.
Mar 19, 2011 8:27am
P

Prescott

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Mar 19, 2011 9:46 AM
I think it is surprising that both Georgetown and St. John's were dominated and never threatened in the second half of their games. Gonzaga controlled St.John's from start to finish and this isn't a highly regarded Gonzaga team. The Zags would not have made the tournament had they not won their conference tournament.Georgetown looked out of sync all noght. Maybe, they get a pass because of Chris Wright's injury.
Mar 19, 2011 9:46am
Ironman92's avatar

Ironman92

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Mar 19, 2011 9:54 AM
I wasn't looking to destroy at all....if anything I was callling myself wrong as I thought UConn, Louisville and St Johns were seeded a slot lower than they should have been because of the strength of this conference. I imagine a vast majority of us had the Big East going 9-2 in the 1st round....with probably as many 10-1's as 8-3's.

IMO I would call 8-3 par considering the matchups and the seedings....and the fact Georgetown laid a complete egg, Louisville was on the wrong side of the biggest upset in the tourney and St Johns stunk add up to my thoughts.

As the tourney rolls on it will likely prove what most of us thought about the Big East....but I thought they were less than stellar in the 1st round.

I imagine most brackets had 5 Big East teams in the sweet 16, 2or 3 in the Elite 8 and 1 in the Final 4....we'll see how it plays out.
Mar 19, 2011 9:54am
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Ankle Breaker

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Mar 19, 2011 10:21 AM
Cleveland Buck;717257 wrote:They also had a lot of nice matchups because of the seeding they got. Look at their opponents:

13 Morehead State
11 VCU
15 Akron
16 UNC Asheville
11 Gonzaga
14 Bucknell
11 Missouri
14 Indiana State
6 Xavier
12 Clemson
8 George Mason

7-4 against that bunch is pretty weak.

This pretty much sums up the whole story so far. For the second straight year, I bought into the Big East ESPN hype and paid for it early with a busted bracket.
Mar 19, 2011 10:21am