Big East Tournament, Cincinnati News, Connecticut News, DePaul News, Georgetown News, Louisville News, Marquette News, 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

2011 BIG EAST TOURNAMENT AT A GLANCE (PART I)

One week is left in the 2010-2011 BIG EAST regular season and the seeding picture for the 2011 Big East Tournament is very unclear. There is plenty to play for this final week as 11 BIG EAST teams are also in the mix for NCAA Tournament invitations as well as 11 of the 16 teams in the league are currently 9-7 or better in the mega conference.

The current magic number for Pittsburgh to claim the outright conference title is 2 with two games remaining. The Panthers have lost two of their last three games, falling to St. John’s at Madison Square Garden by one on a last second score by Dwight Hardy and at Louisville yesterday in overtime. Pitt finished the regular season this week at South Florida on Wednesday night and then hosting Villanova on Saturday at 6 PM. Any combination of two wins by the Panthers or losses by Notre Dame will give Jamie Dixon’s club the outright regular season title, quite an accomplishment this year in college basketball, which many believe will result in a No. 1 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Pitt has clinched a double-bye in the 2011 Big East Tournament, meaning their first acton will come on Thursday (March 10) at Madison Square Garden.

**********************************************************************************************
BIG EAST and college basketball fans better not miss the 2011 Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden next month. You can visit the NBE 2011 Big East Tournament & Tickets page for the event schedule and links to purchase tickets to each and/or all sessions. Even though the event is sold out to the public, NBE is uniquely partnered with TicketNetwork.com to bring our readers Tickets to All Sporting Events during ANY season. WE HAVE YOUR SEATS!!
**********************************************************************************************

For travel arrangements and acomodations for the 2011 BIG EAST Tournament, click here: Book Air and/or hotel for NYC and 2011 BIG EAST Tournament

——————————————————-

Currently holding the #2 spot in the BIG EAST is Notre Dame at 12-4, one game behind Pitt. The Irish hold the tie-breaker over the Panthers by virtue of their 56-51 win at the Peterson Events Center back on January 24th. Mike Brey’s club finishes up the regular season with a tough schedule, hosting Villanova tonight in a BIG MONDAY showdown in South Bend and then closing the regular season Saturday afternoon at Gampel Pavilion against UConn. Mathematically, ND could finish as the league’s outright champion or fifth in the standings depending on the outcome of this week’s games.

The dogfight for the final double-byes for the 2011 Big East Tournament really get interest at the 3rd, 4th and 5th position in the standings today. St. John’s (11-5), Louisville (11-5) and Syracuse (11-6) all currently sit with 11 conference wins, with the Orange a 1/2 game behind the other two currently. The Orange will close out their season on Saturday by hosting DePaul on Saturday afternoon. The Redstorm travel across the river Wednesday night to meet Seton Hall in Newark (NJ) and will close out the regular season in Carnesecca Arena hosting South Florida Saturday night. The Cards host Providence on Wednesday night before a road trip to Morgantown to face West Virginia at high noon on Saturday.

St. John’s (11-5) and Louisville are both mathematically alive for the #1 seed in the 2011 Big East Tournament with two wins and two loses by Pitt as each own a win over the Panthers in their lone head-to-head meetings.

One can not even begin to sort out the next level of BIG EAST seeds as six of the 16 BIG EAST teams currently have 7 losses. Georgetown sits tentatively a half game ahead of the traffic jam with 10 wins. The close their conference schedule at Cincinnati on Saturday and will be without senior point guard Chris Wright who had surgery last week to help heal a broken left (non-shooting) hand. The Hoyas have lost three of four, including a 58-46 decision at home to the Bearcats in the game Wright suffered the injury early on in the second half. They also fell to Syracuse over the weekend, 58-51, without Wright.

Cincinnati, Connecticut, Marquette, Villanova and West Virginia all sit at 9-7 in conference play with two games left to play. Along with Georgetown, these five teams are battling for a first round bye in the 2011 Big East Tournament, a luxury only three will receive while three others will be in action on Tuesday (March of this year’s tournament.

Villanova, expected to challenge for the conference title in the preseason, faces the toughest road to avoid playing on Tuesday in Madison Square Garden as they close the regular season with road games at Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. Maybe the road will be a welcomed sight as they have lost three consecutive home games down the stretch.

On Wednesday night West Virginia and Connecticut meet in Morgantown while Cincinnati and Marquette meet in Milwaukee in a night that will help sort some of this mess out. The Bearcats and Golden Eagles will also be making another pitch to the NCAA Tournament committee on why they deserve to be safely in the field of 68 this season and not sweating out Selection Sunday on the bubble.

On Saturday, WVU hosts Louisville, UConn hosts ND, UC hosts Georgetown, Marquette visits Seton Hall and ‘Nova travels to Pitt as nobody finishes anything off easily as they try to secure position in the top 8 of the conference.

The drop-off to the rest of the conference is quite steep as Seton Hall (5-11), Rutgers (4-12), Providence (3-13), South Florida (3-13) and DePaul (1-15) are all guaranteed to be playing on Tuesday in Madison Square Garden next week and will look to play the role of spoiler this week and next.

As a BIG EAST fan, you can not afford to miss the 2011 BIG EAST Tournament if at all possible. BIG EAST commissioner John Marinatto has announced that, for the sixth consecutive year, all tickets to the BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship presented by American Eagle Outfitters at Madison Square Garden have been sold in advance. All ticket packages for the 2011 Championship have been purchased by the 16 member institutions, negating the need for a public sale at Madison Square Garden.

However, you can still get tickets. Below is the schedule for the five days of basketball and a link to see available tickets. Pricing go up each and every day, but you can still buy now and have your tickets in plenty of time before the prices go through the roof. Act now so you can be part of the action!

2011 BIG EAST TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (with ticket purchase links):

ROUND ONE: TUESDAY, MARCH 8th:
– No. 16 vs. No. 9, 12 Noon.
– No. 13 vs. No. 12, 2 PM.


———————————-

–No. 15 vs. No. 11, 7 PM.
–No. 14 vs. No. 10, 9 PM.


—————————-

ROUND TWO: WEDNESDAY MARCH 9th:

–16/9 Winner vs. No. 8, 12 noon.
–13/12 Winner vs. No. 5, 2 PM.


—————————————

–15/11 Winner vs. No. 6, 7 PM.
–14/10 Winner vs. No. 7, 9 PM.


————————————-

QUARTERFINALS: THURSDAY MARCH 10th:

–16/9/8 vs. No. 1, 12 noon.
–13/12/5 vs. No. 4, 2 PM.


————————————–

–15/11/6 vs. No. 3, 7 PM.
–14/10/7 vs. No. 2, 9 PM.


————————————–

SEMIFINALS: FRIDAY MARCH 11th:


—————————————

CHAMPIONSHIP: SATURDAY, MARCH 12th:

************************************************************************
For the best deal for 2011 BIG EAST Tournament Tickets, by an all-session strip:


*************************************************************************

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

Be Sociable, Share!

•