Van Pelt On Big East

[Mucrisco]

Yep, that's the ultimate litmus test, FBOW.

I had to look up what FBOW meant and I agree. For example, look at the thread where people listed Marquette losses that still haunt them.

[mufan2003]

Just this past Saturday, as I posted here, ESPN.com's own Eamonn Brennan broke down each major conference by "Locks," "Should Be In," and "Work Left To Do." All 6 Big East teams were "Locks." Someone should have shared that article with Scott Van Pelt.

Gottlieb might get the crown for "over-the-top" ridicule of the Big East. He had a problem with Georgetown's seed, Xavier's seed. Villanova, the 2nd overall #1 seed, he would have had Arizona as a #1 over Villanova. If he said Arizona over Wisconsin, at least that is removing the last #1 seed for the highest #2 seed.

[TrevorCandelino]

The only answer is to win. Right now the commentators are simply parroting a talking point - it's the unfortunate reslity of the new 24 hour TV/ online news cycle. Gotta talk about something.

Send teams into the second weekend and hopefully at least one into the third.

Do it this year, do it next year and the year after. Then this type of talk goes away.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

The only answer is to win. Right now the commentators are simply parroting a talking point - it's the unfortunate reslity of the new 24 hour TV/ online news cycle. Gotta talk about something.

Send teams into the second weekend and hopefully at least one into the third.

Do it this year, do it next year and the year after. Then this type of talk goes away.

You hit it on the head here, the Big East had a disappointing tournament last year so we need to play well this year to get that respect. I look at it this way, ESPN is to the Big East what the Badger fans are to Marquette. There is no need to listen to them because they have an agenda. The Big East could send all 10 teams to the tournament and they would find a way to down play it... Not even worth our time to care what they are saying. Another big opportunity comes when the Big East/Big 10 challenge begins, do well there and that will quiet folks too...

[TheSultan]

It goes beyond the BE. Gottleib is a CBS guy and CBS broadcasts BE games. Time will tell if their objections were accurate.

[MU/Panther]

Even when Seth Greenberg gives Nova a compliment by saying they are really good and picking them to make the Championship game, he can't help but sneak in a dig at the Big East. He prefaced his Nova pick by saying a lot of people aren't aware of how good they are because they aren't seen much on TV.

That's funny I havn't seen so much Villanova, Georgetown, St. John's, Seton Hall, DePaul, Providence, Creighton, Xavier & Butler basketball in my life the past two year. I'm sure I seen everyone of those schools games the past two years.

[Phantom Warrior]

My guess is only one of the six BE teams makes it to the Sweet 16 - Nova.

GTown is definitely over-seeded.

Not one of the other BE teams has been consistent this year. They are all good teams, but there is a reason no other BE teams got even as high as a #5 seed.

[TheSultan]

My guess is only one of the six BE teams makes it to the Sweet 16 - Nova.

GTown is definitely over-seeded.

Not one of the other BE teams has been consistent this year. They are all good teams, but there is a reason no other BE teams got even as high as a #5 seed.

I think Providence has a good shot too. When your best player is a point guard, good things can happen. And if seeds hold out, Oklahoma is ridiculously inconsistent.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Not one of the other BE teams has been consistent this year. They are all good teams, but there is a reason no other BE teams got even as high as a #5 seed.

Honestly, I think this is just buying into ESPN's anti-Big East bias. Look at Louisville getting a 4-seed and Butler getting a 6-seed:

Butler is 6-8 against the top-50, Louisville is 3-7. Both teams went 12-6 in league, but Butler did it in a tougher league. Yes, Louisville beat Virginia (without Anderson) but Butler has more top-25 wins and more 26-50 wins. The Bulldogs certainly shouldn't be two seed lines behind Louisville, especially a Louisville team without Chris Jones.

Does Georgetown have their knocks? Sure. But they also have zero losses outside the top-50. How is Oklahoma ahead of them with FOUR sub-100 losses? Yes, they have a better top-50 track record, but 4 is a ton of bad losses. Not saying Georgetown is underseeded, but none of the non-Big East teams on the 5 or 6 line can claim zero sub-50 losses and all of them played an easier schedule than the Hoyas.

Compare Providence's resume (with their #5 SOS) to Arkansas, Northern Iowa, Utah, or Louisville, all seeded ahead of them, and tell me why the Friars are as low as they are.

Xavier...well, I can't explain Xavier. They're overseeded, probably because of their appearance in the BET finals. St. John's I think they got about right.

I've been hearing ever since the bracket came out how the Big East is overrated, overseeded, and I just don't see it. Georgetown is about right. Maybe not them, but one of those three (Georgetown, Butler, Providence) should be on the 4-line and the other two should be on the 5-line. Our conference is very, very tough. Unfortunately, I think difficult draws (GT likely playing two road games, Butler seeding into a 3/6 instead of a 4/5) will cost us second weekend teams. I think 'Nova and Providence can get there, but don't like anyone else's odds.

Everyone is saying "this isn't your dad's Big East." Maybe it isn't, but every single ranking has it as a tougher league than the ACC, Big 10, SEC, or any mid-major out there. Honestly, the committee didn't give that the respect it deserves. 12-6 or 11-7 in this league is a pretty impressive accomplishment.

[mufan2003]

The only answer is to win. Right now the commentators are simply parroting a talking point - it's the unfortunate reslity of the new 24 hour TV/ online news cycle. Gotta talk about something.

Send teams into the second weekend and hopefully at least one into the third.

Do it this year, do it next year and the year after. Then this type of talk goes away.

I agree that is the only way to shut up the critics. In reality, in the NCAA tourney upsets happen and do not always reflect the worthiness of the team that lost or their seeding. Was Duke as a #2 seed last year, with Jabari Parker and Rodney Hood, an overseeded team because they lost to Mercer in their first game? No, that was a good Duke team and earned their #2 seed throughout the regular season. Mercer played their best game against Duke.

It has been popular to say Georgetown was overseeded, but are they if they finished 2nd (12-6) in the Big East, the 2nd best RPI Conference. Winning @Butler, giving Villanova 1 of their 2 losses by 20 points, only losing to Wisconsin by 3, nearly beating them. I think their lackluster showing in their big East Tourney game has created the perception they were overseeded. I think they make the Sweet 16 along with Providence and Villanova.