Big East: the most overrated conference ever

[BDKJMU]

Or maybe I should call it the Big Least. Big East Record in Tournament: 7-7. In 13 of those 14 games the Big East team has come in as the lower seed. In 6 of them they’ve lost. Of the 7 Big East teams seeded #1-#6, only WVU has done as predicted and not gotten upset.

Biggest tournament upsets by seed differential:

1. #14 Ohio over #3 Georgetown by 14 97-83!
2. #13 Murray State over #4 Vanderbilt
3. #9 UNI over #1 Kansas
---#10 St Mary’s over #2 Villanova (and that was after Nova had to go to OT to beat #15 Robert Morris)
---#12 Cornell over #4 Wisconsin
6. #12 Cornell over #5 Temple
7. #11 ODU over #6 Notre Dame
---#11 Washington over #6 Marquette
9. #5 Butler over #1 Syracuse
10. #6 Xavier over #3 Pitt
---#10 Ga Tech over #7 Ok St

Plus, you had #9 Louisville beat by # 8 Cal

[dbackjon]

No doubt - Big Least was pimped/hyped by ESPN so much, and it worked to get them more teams/higher seeds than they deserved. Loving the Big East smackdown.

[Shellin]

No, you guys just don't understand, the Big East just had to play so many challenging games during the regular season that they ran out of gas. They all just beat up on each other too much

[BlueHen86]

I think the Big East was the best conference this year, but the difference between the best conference and the rest is not very big. But, I agree that the Big East is overrated because even though they may be the best, it's by a razor thin margin.

[AZGrizFan]

No, you guys just don't understand, the Big East just had to play so many challenging games during the regular season that they ran out of gas. They all just beat up on each other too much

[collegesportsinfo]

The Big East was in no way overrated. I will say that the teams were over-seeded though. And other teams in other conferences like Cornell, St. Marys were under-seeded.

MY take on the SEEDINGS:
Just look at the point spreads for the 1st round "upsets". Sorry, it isn't a huge upset if a team was favored by only 4 points. In the 1st round, only the Ohio win over GTown is a true upset in my book. Just because a committee gives a number like "11" to a team and "6" to another, doesn't make it an huge upset when #11 wins. If #11 is only a 2 point underdog in vegas, then obviously the committee did a poor job seeding:


Georgetown (3 seed) vs Ohio (14 seed): Georgetown was 13.5 point favorite
Vanderbilt (4 seed) vs Murray St (13 seed): Vanderbilt was 4 point favorite
Temple (5 seed) vs Cornell (12 seed): Temple was a 4 point favorite
Notre Dame (6 seed) vs ODU (11 seed): Notre Dame was 2 point favorite
Marquette (6 seed) vs Washington (11 seed): Marquette was 2 point favorite
Richmond (7 seed) vs St. Mary's (10 seed): Richmond was a 1 point favorite
Oklahoma St (7 seed) vs Georgia Tech (10 seed): OSU was 1.5 point favorite
Clemson (7 seed) vs Missouri (10 seed): Clemson was 1.5 point favorite
Texas (8 seed) vs Wake Forest (9 seed): Texas was 4.5 point favorite
Florida St (8 seed) vs Gonzaga (9 seed): point spread was 0
UNLV (8 seed) vs UNI (9 seed): UNLV was 1 point favorite


And BTW...#2 seed Villanova was only a 4 point favorite vs. St. Marys...a #10 seed.

[GannonFan]

I think they were overseeded and overrated, but it's not like people didn't see this coming. 'Cuse loses a starter to injury during the Big East tourney, G'town was probably the most up and down team anywhere this year, nova couldn't play a lick of defense and Scottie Reynolds decided to go all Mark Macon all of a sudden, and WVU loses their point guard just before the Sweet 16 (although they still persevered). But the other teams in the tourney from the Big East were just flat out overseeded.

Oddly, the Big East has the same percentage of teams in the tournament in the Elite 8 that they did when it was a field of 64, and really, the only shocker of a team that isn't still playing is 'Cuse. Anyone who really thought the other 6 teams would still be around right now weren't watching this year.

[FargoBison]

No league had dominate teams this year, nothing like last year, it was a situation ripe for parity and upsets. The Big East was probably overrated, it may have been the top conference but it wasn't the juggernaut that some people made it to be.

[SuperHornet]

And it wasn't too long ago that TWO Big East teams were taken out in consecutive years by a Big West team, and it was ALMOST three in a row. Pitt and Providence were taken out, and Boston College just BARELY sneaked away with a win....

[SDHornet]

Great thread...and I agree.

[BlueHen86]

No league had dominate teams this year, nothing like last year, it was a situation ripe for parity and upsets. The Big East was probably overrated, it may have been the top conference but it wasn't the juggernaut that some people made it to be.

[BDKJMU]

I think they were overseeded and overrated, but it's not like people didn't see this coming. 'Cuse loses a starter to injury during the Big East tourney, G'town was probably the most up and down team anywhere this year, nova couldn't play a lick of defense and Scottie Reynolds decided to go all Mark Macon all of a sudden, and WVU loses their point guard just before the Sweet 16 (although they still persevered). But the other teams in the tourney from the Big East were just flat out overseeded.

Oddly, the Big East has the same percentage of teams in the tournament in the Elite 8 that they did when it was a field of 64, and really, the only shocker of a team that isn't still playing is 'Cuse. Anyone who really thought the other 6 teams would still be around right now weren't watching this year.

Yeah, but the way the Big East seeds were distrubuted, they should have had more in each successive round. Going by the seeds of the 8 Big East teams in the Big East should have had in the:
2nd round: 7. They ended up with 4.
Sweet 16: 5. They ended up with 2
Elite 8: 3. They ended up with one.
Final 4: 1. My guess is KY beats WVU and they end up with 0.

[BlueHen86]

West Virginia beats Kentucky and advances to the Final Four. Nice win for WVU and Bob Huggins. On the the NBA for John Wall.

[tampajag]

West Virginia beats Kentucky and advances to the Final Four. Nice win for WVU and Bob Huggins. On the the NBA for John Wall.

and Cousins (emotionally they'll eat his lunch) , Bledsoe and Patterson

[Seahawks]

West Virginia beats Kentucky and advances to the Final Four. Nice win for WVU and Bob Huggins. On the the NBA for John Wall.

Is the Big East still the most overrated conference ever?

[dbackjon]

West Virginia beats Kentucky and advances to the Final Four. Nice win for WVU and Bob Huggins. On the the NBA for John Wall.

Is the Big East still the most overrated conference ever?

The CAA mafia has clearly established that one team doesn't make a conference.

[BlueHen86]

West Virginia beats Kentucky and advances to the Final Four. Nice win for WVU and Bob Huggins. On the the NBA for John Wall.

Is the Big East still the most overrated conference ever?

No. Thanks to Billy Packer, the ACC will always hold that title.

[BlueHen86]

Is the Big East still the most overrated conference ever?

The CAA mafia has clearly established that one team doesn't make a conference.

True. But it is an unreasonable standard to say that the Big East is overrated because they only got 1 team into the Final Four.

The Big East is overrated (as are all the other "power conferences") because the top high school players either:
A - go right to the NBA
B - only stay in college for one or two years
C - go to Europe instead of college

The so called mid-major conferences have caught up because they typically have players for all four years and their extra experience makes up for not having the top talent.

[putter]

The Big East was in no way overrated. I will say that the teams were over-seeded though. And other teams in other conferences like Cornell, St. Marys were under-seeded.

MY take on the SEEDINGS:
Just look at the point spreads for the 1st round "upsets". Sorry, it isn't a huge upset if a team was favored by only 4 points. In the 1st round, only the Ohio win over GTown is a true upset in my book. Just because a committee gives a number like "11" to a team and "6" to another, doesn't make it an huge upset when #11 wins. If #11 is only a 2 point underdog in vegas, then obviously the committee did a poor job seeding:


Georgetown (3 seed) vs Ohio (14 seed): Georgetown was 13.5 point favorite
Vanderbilt (4 seed) vs Murray St (13 seed): Vanderbilt was 4 point favorite
Temple (5 seed) vs Cornell (12 seed): Temple was a 4 point favorite
Notre Dame (6 seed) vs ODU (11 seed): Notre Dame was 2 point favorite
Marquette (6 seed) vs Washington (11 seed): Marquette was 2 point favorite
Richmond (7 seed) vs St. Mary's (10 seed): Richmond was a 1 point favorite
Oklahoma St (7 seed) vs Georgia Tech (10 seed): OSU was 1.5 point favorite
Clemson (7 seed) vs Missouri (10 seed): Clemson was 1.5 point favorite
Texas (8 seed) vs Wake Forest (9 seed): Texas was 4.5 point favorite
Florida St (8 seed) vs Gonzaga (9 seed): point spread was 0
UNLV (8 seed) vs UNI (9 seed): UNLV was 1 point favorite


And BTW...#2 seed Villanova was only a 4 point favorite vs. St. Marys...a #10 seed.

Sounds like Vegas knows more about college basketball than the committee. When do you have the difference between a 2 and a 10 seeds only 4 points???

[collegesportsinfo]

Exactly, putter. The committee did what they were supposed to do: present the most appealing TV product. It wasn't about being balanced. It was about creating a first weekend with games people would watch. I have a hard time believing that the committee is so feckless that they wouldn't have a sense for what a spreads would be. And some moves were quite clear: teams like Temple who played in the #6 ranked conference, ranked all year long, and won BOTH the regular season and tournament should have been a 3 seed. A 4 seed would have ben fine if it were to make the brackets work (happens often to avoid 1/2 round rematches, same conference schools from potentially playing). But the committee instead game Temple a 5 seed...vs a team that was projected to be a 10 seed, Cornell, who ultimately got a 12 seed. Same with #10 St. Marys vs #7 Richmond...a 1 point spread.

So I stick by it: can't say the Big East is overrated when they proved themselves in the regular season including OOC games. But many of the teams should have been seeded lower...and point spreads would have been more realistic.

Again, the only real upset was Ohio over GTown. And congrats to that Ohio team for playing such a great game.

[93henfan]

Ain't it gonna be a bitch for you Big East haters if WVU wins it all? It must suck going through your life with East Coast envy.


Btw, I am not a Big East fan. I have no dog in this fight. I'm pulling for Michigan State for no other reason than I saw the feature about Tom Izzo on HBO RealSports and he seems like one heckuva decent guy.

[SuperHornet]

Ain't it gonna be a bitch for you Big East haters if WVU wins it all? It must suck going through your life with East Coast envy.


Btw, I am not a Big East fan. I have no dog in this fight. I'm pulling for Michigan State for no other reason than I saw the feature about Tom Izzo on HBO RealSports and he seems like one heckuva decent guy.

Go Butler!!!

[BlueHen86]

Ain't it gonna be a bitch for you Big East haters if WVU wins it all? It must suck going through your life with East Coast envy.


Btw, I am not a Big East fan. I have no dog in this fight. I'm pulling for Michigan State for no other reason than I saw the feature about Tom Izzo on HBO RealSports and he seems like one heckuva decent guy.

I'm a Tom Izzo fan as well. He does seem like a good guy, and he's a great coach.

I still want Butler to beat Mich St though.

[Silenoz]

I think they were overseeded and overrated, but it's not like people didn't see this coming. 'Cuse loses a starter to injury during the Big East tourney, G'town was probably the most up and down team anywhere this year, nova couldn't play a lick of defense and Scottie Reynolds decided to go all Mark Macon all of a sudden, and WVU loses their point guard just before the Sweet 16 (although they still persevered). But the other teams in the tourney from the Big East were just flat out overseeded.

Oddly, the Big East has the same percentage of teams in the tournament in the Elite 8 that they did when it was a field of 64, and really, the only shocker of a team that isn't still playing is 'Cuse. Anyone who really thought the other 6 teams would still be around right now weren't watching this year.

Yeah, but the way the Big East seeds were distrubuted, they should have had more in each successive round. Going by the seeds of the 8 Big East teams in the Big East should have had in the:
2nd round: 7. They ended up with 4.
Sweet 16: 5. They ended up with 2
Elite 8: 3. They ended up with one.
Final 4: 1. My guess is KY beats WVU and they end up with 0.

Only a crazy person thought Pitt and Georgetown deserved 3 seeds

[93henfan]

Ain't it gonna be a bitch for you Big East haters if WVU wins it all? It must suck going through your life with East Coast envy.


Btw, I am not a Big East fan. I have no dog in this fight. I'm pulling for Michigan State for no other reason than I saw the feature about Tom Izzo on HBO RealSports and he seems like one heckuva decent guy.

Go Butler!!!

Now I'm with you!