UConn vs. Marquette

2/25/09

It could not be a better finish in the best conference in college basketball this year as the four top teams in the Big East have identical conference records coming down the stretch.

No conference has been even close to as competitive or as talented as the Big East this season. With the Pittsburgh Panthers and the UConn Huskies both at the top spot in the country at least once this year and Marquette and Louisville not being far behind, the conference is really starting to heat as the season comes to a close.

One of the biggest match ups left in Big East conference play is the final game between the number one and two teams in the country in UConn and Pittsburgh, but things could definitely change before the big showdown on March 7th.

Although the Huskies do have to face Pittsburgh one more time in their final three games, the Marquette Golden Eagles arguably have the hardest remaining schedule out of all the top teams in the Big East.

The first game of the final four for Marquette will be against number two UConn who have only dropped two games this season followed by a tough Louisville team, then on to Pittsburgh the top team in the country and finally finishing up at home against Syracuse.

The Orangemen aren’t the team they once were at the start of the season, but playing the other great teams in three straight games the Golden Eagles will face their biggest test yet and could control their own fate in the Big East standings.

Although the Huskies lost a disappointing game to the Panthers recently, they are still arguably the best team in the country despite dropping to number two in the nation’s Top 25 poll. UConn’s star center Hasheem Thabeet was somewhat exposed by Pittsburgh’s Dejuan Blair by being just completely outplayed in the paint, but Thabeet has rebounded from his disappointing game against the Panthers and will be looking to dominant the paint from here on out.

The final games for both UConn and Marquette will be huge to say the least. They have been put in somewhat of a playoff situation as every single game from here on out will be must win situations.

With the Big East on the path to a photo finish every possession will be big. The Golden Eagles have played great this season only dropping four games this season, but they haven’t played the best teams in their conference until now. Although Marquette is arguably one of the best teams in college basketball right now, besides couple games against Villanova, the Golden Eagles haven’t really been challenged yet.

The last four games for the Golden Eagles will show whether or not they are the real deal so they will be playing their hearts out to finish the season, but the Huskies have been tested all season long and besides losing to Pittsburgh recently they have been excellent.
I really don’t see the Golden Eagles pulling off this upset. It might be a competitive game in the first half, but the Huskies will pull away in the second half as they send Marquette to the beginning of what could be three game losing streak.