|
Big East
Basketball Tournament Preview
3/10/09
It is that time again, college basketball conference tournament time
and do we have some compelling tournament match ups this time
around!
There are plenty of conferences out there chalk full of talent, but
few, if any can match that of the talent in the Big East conference.
All season long in college basketball Big East teams have just
dominated the competition. Every year the Big East has entertaining
teams with NBA type talent, but this season sticks out amongst the
rest.
This year has been full of great games and competitive match ups in
the Big East conference as they have had arguably the best teams in
the country. With that being said the Big East tournament could
shape out to be one of the best conference tournaments in college
basketball history. It is a bold statement, but even the lesser
teams in the Big East are far better than some of top teams in other
conferences.
If there were to be a favorite coming into this tournament it would
have to be the Pittsburgh Panthers who are coming off another huge
win over the now former number one team in the country in the UConn
Huskies. The first win over Jim Calhoun’s team was huge, but the
recent win over the Huskies showed that the Panthers will be a force
to be reckoned with in both the conference tournament and the Big
Dance.
It will not be an easy road in the Big East tournament for the
Panthers by any means though as they have some pretty tough
competition ahead of them. Somehow, someway Rick Pitino’s Louisville
Cardinals were able to pull out the rug beneath both Pitt and UConn
and come away with the Big East title, but I get the distinct
feeling that the celebration will be cut short for the Cardinals in
their conference tournament.
Coming into the conference tournament Louisville, Pittsburgh, UConn
and Villanova are the top four teams who will not play until the
Quarterfinals. The winner of this conference tourney will most
likely be one of these four teams, but there are a few teams to keep
your eye on to pull off the upset.
There are only two teams in the Big East tourney that I think could
surprise some people. The Marquette Golden Eagles lead the Big East
conference for quite some time this season until they hit the
toughest part of their schedule which knocked them out of the
running for the Big East title. They haven’t had much success
against the top four teams, but if they get the right match ups in
the later rounds they could make some waves. Notre Dame is another
team to look for as they have arguably the best scorer in the
conference and quite possibly the country in Luke Harangody. It has
been an incredibly rocky season for the Fighting Irish, but when
they are playing at the top of their game they can compete with
anyone.
Although there could be an upset here as the conference tournaments
always seem to have at least a few, the winner of the Big East will
either be UConn or Pitt. As of right now, I would say that Pitt has
the best chance to win the Big East tournament after the way they
handled the Huskies, but if Pitt somehow gets knocked out in the
early rounds UConn will have the edge.
Current Odds to win the Big East Tournament
Courtesy of
Sportsbook.com
Connecticut +250
Louisville +250
Pittsburgh +175
Villanova +700
Field (Any Other Team) +400
|
