Big East Tournament, Cincinnati News, Connecticut News, DePaul News, Georgetown News, Louisville News, Marquette News, NCAA Tournament, Notre Dame News, Pittsburgh News, Providence News, Rutgers News, Seton Hall News, St. John's News, Syracuse News, USF News, Villanova News, West Virginia News

2010 BIG EAST TOURNAMENT SEEDING AT A GLANCE

Plenty left to play for in the Big East over the final eight days of the regular season beginning tomorrow

A rare two-day break from conference action allows us to go in-depth and analyze where everyone stands with three regular season games left before the postseason gets underway. We go through the scenarios and break down the seed possibilities for the 2010 Big East Tournament, which promises to be as exciting and as wide-open as a game of online roulette. This year’s ‘Garden Party’ tips off at high noon, March 9th, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Between tomorrow (2/27) and next Saturday (3/6), everyone in the Big East will close their regular season with three conference games. Everyone is jockeying for position with conference tournament seeding up for grabs, NCAA Tournament bids and NCAA Tournament seeding riding on the outcomes of the games.

Below, we break down the scenarios and lay out the postseason landscape in the Big East. Also, we provide links for fans to secure tickets to all the action, closing the regular season and opportunities to buy 2010 Big East Tournament Tickets. Later today we will do the same with the NCAA Tournament and how the Big East teams are shaping up for their shot at making, or earning a top seed, in the Big Dance.

If the Big East Tournament started today, here are your seeds:

1) Syracuse: 13-2
2) Villanova: 12-3
3) Pittsburgh: 10-5
4) West Virginia: 10-5
5) Marquette: 9-6
6) Georgetown: 9-6
7) Louisville: 9-6
8] Seton Hall: 7-8
9) Cincinnati: 7-8
10) Connecticut: 7-8
11) Notre Dame: 7-8
12) South Florida: 6-9
13) St. John’s: 5-10
14) Providence: 4-11
15) Rutgers: 4-11
16) DePaul: 1-14

The early tiebreaker between the Hoyas, Golden Eagles and Cardinals goes in favor of Marquette because of their early season win over Georgetown. The Hoyas have a win over UL in this mini-conference, but one of the final games on the schedule this week is Tuesday’s game at the Bradley Center between the Golden Eagles and Louisville which will play a key role in Big East seeding and NCAA Tournament bubble implications.

The four-team logjam of 7-8 conference teams between seeds 8 and 11 was also determined by a mini-conference scenario with Seton Hall winning two of three from the other 7-8 teams. Cincinnati owns a sweep over the Huskies, a split with the Irish and has a loss to the Pirates. Connecticut has a win over SHU and ND, but was swept by UC. They do have one game left with the Irish and Notre Dame has lost three of four to date against the other 7-8 clubs. If the tie-breaker has to be extended more, a couple key wins to note is UConn’s victory over Villanova, the likely #2 seed, and a win over West Virginia, the current #4 seed, while the Fighting Irish have wins over both West Virginia and Pittsburgh, the two teams most likely to fall into the #3 seed position. SHU has a win over Pittsburgh to their credit. The Bearcats do not have a win against anyone in the conference’s top seven to date, but will have three chances closing the regular season to do so.

Here would be the early Big East Tournament Match-ups based on today’s seeding (follow links to purchase tickets for each sesson):

ROUND ONE: TUESDAY, MARCH 9th

Big East Basketball Tournament Tickets – Session 1 March 9 2010

16) DePaul vs. 9) Cincinnati, 12 noon.
13) St. John’s vs. 12) South Florida, 2 PM.

Big East Basketball Tournament Tickets – Session 2 March 9 2010

15) Rutgers vs. 10) Connecticut, 7 PM.
14) Providence vs. 11) Notre Dame, 9 PM.

ROUND TWO: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10th

Big East Basketball Tournament Tickets – Session 3 March 10 2010

DePaul/Cincinnati Winner vs. 8] Seton Hall, 12 noon.
St. John’s/South Florida Winner vs. 5) Marquette, 2 PM.

Big East Basketball Tournament Tickets – Session 4 March 10 2010

Rutgers/UConn Winner vs. 7) Louisville, 7 PM.
Providence/Notre Dame Winner vs. 6) Georgetown, 9 PM

QUARTERFINALS: THURSDAY, MARCH 11th:

Big East Basketball Tournament Tickets – Session 5 March 11 2010

1) Syracuse vs. SHU/UC/DePaul, 12 noon.
4) West Virginia vs. MU/USF/SJU, 2 PM.

Big East Basketball Tournament Tickets – Session 6 March 11 2010

2) Villanova vs. UL/UConn/RU, 7 PM.
3) Pittsburgh vs. GTown/ND/PC, 9 PM.

Semifinals, Firday March 12th:

Session 7:

Big East Basketball Tournament Tickets – Session 7 (Semifinals) March 12 2010

Championship, Saturday March 13th:

Session 8:

Big East Basketball Tournament Tickets – Session 8 (Championship) March 13 2010

BEST DEAL – PURCHASE TICKETS TO ALL 8 SESSION (Click MSG Map Below):

————————————-

REMAINING BIG EAST REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE:

Saturday, February 27:
Notre Dame (7-8) at Georgetown (9-6), 12 Noon.
Pittsburgh (10-5) at St. John’s (5-10), 12 Noon.
Cincinnati (7-8) at West Virginia (10-5), 2 PM.
DePaul (1-14) at Rutgers (4-11), 4 PM.
Providence (4-11) at South Florida (6-9), 7 PM.
Villanova (12-3) at Syracuse (13-2), 9 PM.

The big game of Saturday’s schedule is the nightcap as the ESPN College Gameday crew will be at the Dome with an all-time NCAA on-campus record crowd in the house to watch the contest that could determine the #1 seed in the Big East Tournament. Believe it or not, you can be part of history and see the most anticipated match-up of the Big East season, follow the link below to buy tickets through our partner StubHub.com, which guarantees delivery of your tix prior to the game:

Villanova at Syracuse Basketball Tickets February 27 2010

With a win, the Orange will clinch the #1 seed in the BET, holding a two-game lead with two games to play over ‘Nova and holding the tie-breaker. If ‘Nova wins, well, it could bring four teams within two games of the conference crown with two to play if Pitt and WVU also win on Saturday.

Sunday, February 28:
Marquette at Seton Hall, 12 Noon.
Louisville at Connecticut, 2 PM.

A couple very important games on Sunday. Seton Hall looks to hold on to the #8 seed in the BET, which means a 1st round bye, and they look to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive as well. The Golden Eagles will come close to punching their ticket to the Big Dance while solidifying their 1st round BET bye. The game has more NCAA Tournament implicatons than BET seeding impact, but goes a long way in sorting out the second tier.

Another game with huge NCAA Tournament implications is UL/UConn. As of this morning, both teams are deadlocked at #40 in the RPI rankings, so the winner will likely move clearly ahead of the other on the bubble landscape. The game also is important in earning a 1st round BET bye for UConn while UL still has hopes for a double-bye, but a tough schedule to close their regular season is ahead.

Monday, March 1:
Georgetown at West Virginia, 7 PM.

The Big Monday match-up has a major BET seeding implication in the race for a double-bye.

Tuesday, March 2:
Villanova at Cincinnati, 7 PM
St. John’s at Syracuse, 7 PM
South Florida at DePaul, 7:30
Louisville at Marquette, 9:30

The nightcap is another huge game with NCAA Tournament bubble implications and two teams that will hope to be putting themselves into the mix for a BET double-bye with a win and help.

Wednesday, March 3:
Connecticut at Notre Dame, 7 PM.

Another battle that will help sort out the mess for the final 1st round bye in the BET, but also both teams are looking to make a final push for a shot in the Field of 65.

Thursday, March 4:

Seton Hall at Rutgers, 7 PM
Providence at Pittsburgh, 9 PM

The rivalry game could be an elimination game from NCAA Tournament consideration if the Pirates fall. They also will be battling for the coveted #8 spot in the BET. Pitt will be hoping to lock down a double bye in the BET over their final three games.

Friday, March 5:

St. John’s at DePaul, 8:30 PM.

Saturday, March 6:

Cincinnati at Georgetown, 12 Noon.
West Virginia at Villanova, 12 Noon.
Syracuse at Louisville, 2 PM.
Connecticut at South Florida, 2 PM.
Notre Dame at Marquette, 2 PM.
Rutgers at Pittsburgh, 4:30.
Seton Hall at Providence, 7 PM.

The Big East will have a big final day with important match-ups throughout the day. WVU and ‘Nova is the marquee game, but teams like Cincinnati, UConn, ND, Marquette, UConn and SHU will have a lot riding on this final day with their postseason chances, but a lot will be determined on how important these games are in the next week.

Hope everyone is ready…March is just a couple days away and the action in the Big East is REALLY heating up!

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****

Be Sociable, Share!

•