Big East Conference Tournament Preview

Written by Kyle Hunter

The Big East Conference Tournament is set to get underway on Tuesday for the bottom eight seeds in the tournament. The Big East tournament has provided a whole lot of drama over the last few years, including the epic six overtime thriller between Syracuse and UConn last year. Are there any dark horses capable of making a deep run this year? Will the bubble teams play their way into March Madness or not? There are a lot of questions to be answered during this five day tournament in the Big East.

The Favorites

The Syracuse Orange are the clear favorites in this tournament because of their regular season dominance. Bodog.com has odds for the Big East posted, and Syracuse is set at a little less than 2/1. The Orange are a balanced team that has proven capable of beating everyone in the league except Louisville for some reason. The Orange always play well in this tournament, so they are definitely the front runner in this one. West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Villanova are also given a solid chance to win the tournament, at about 3/1.

The Bubble Teams

While some may say that Marquette is still on the bubble I have to think that they have done enough to get in at this point. In the same manner, Notre Dame is likely into the tournament after a great late season run, but they would be best served to win their first game on Wednesday just to make sure. Three teams that have a small chance are Seton Hall, UConn, and South Florida. All three of these teams will need to make a deep run in the tournament to have a real chance at dancing. South Florida probably has the best chance to make the tournament, so it will need a win over DePaul in the opening game Tuesday and then a win over Georgetown in game two.

Dark Horses

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are playing great basketball right now and I think they have a favorable match up in game one and they definitely have the potential to beat the Pittsburgh Panthers in round two. If this team keeps playing well together and playing tough on the defensive end, they could surprise some people.

The UConn Huskies can’t be taken too lightly because of the talent on their team and Coach Calhoun knowing what this team needs to get into the tournament. The way they have played of late they certainly don’t look dangerous, but if they get their act together they have the potential to win three or four games.

Predictions

I like West Virginia to get through to the final game of this tournament and face the Syracuse Orange. In the end I think Syracuse will probably win this tournament, but I think it will be a very hotly contested final game.

At Madison Square Garden the atmosphere is always great, and a whole lot of teams are playing for their tournament lives, so this one should be a great tournament!

Comments

2 Responses to “Big East Conference Tournament Preview”

LieBot on March 8th, 2010 3:37 PM

“The Orange are a balanced team that has proven capable of beating everyone in the league except Louisville for some reason”

Uhh, Syracuse lost to Pitt in their only meeting this year (at Syracuse btw).
billy on March 10th, 2010 11:27 AM

LETS GO MOUNTAINEERS!!!!!!

Got something to say?