Last year, the ACC was the best conference in college basketball from top to bottom. This year, however, that title has been passed on to the reshuffled and expanded Big East.
Although the hometown Boston College Eagles left to join the ACC, the conference added the Louisville Cardinals, Cincinnati Bearcats, DePaul Blue Demons, Marquette Golden Eagles and South Florida Bulls from Conference USA, creating a 16-team juggernaut that could easily break the record of seven bids to the NCAA Tournament.
The Big East had seven teams in last week's AP Top 25 poll. Of those seven, the West Virginia Mountaineers, Connecticut Huskies, Pittsburgh Panthers, and Villanova Wildcats are already locks for bids to the Big Dance.
The Mountaineers are at the top of the Big East and are on fire, winning 13 of their last 14. The Huskies are the top-ranked team in the nation and have only lost to Marquette. The Panthers also only have one loss, placing them at No. 10 in the polls. Villanova is 15-2 and tied with UConn and Pitt for second in the conference, with losses to West Virginia and the Texas Longhorns, both top-tier teams.
The Georgetown Hoyas and Golden Eagles are also imposing teams, and if both continue to exhibit tough competition in conference play, they will ensure their spots in the tournament. Georgetown upset the top-ranked Duke Blue Devils ten days ago, and its five losses have all come against quality opponents.
These six teams have very solid profiles thus far and display the depth and talent in the Big East.
The next group of teams is on the infamous tournament "bubble." Louisville is 14-6, with impressive wins against Cincinnati and the unranked Miami Hurricanes, but have a 2-5 conference record and have lost four of their last five games. Their struggles can most obviously be attributed to the absence of leading scorer Taquan Dean. With opportunities against the Wildcats, Mountaineers and Huskies, they will need to rebound and pick up some quality wins to keep playing in March.
The Syracuse Orangemen have lost their last four games in conference play after winning their first three, their best wins coming on the road against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Cincinnati. They are struggling lately, with a loss on Sunday to the Seton Hall Pirates. Unlike Louisville, they haven't had any very significant injuries, but are dearly missing Hakim Warrick, who left for the NBA after last season. They too will have several chances to right themselves, including a huge game against the Cardinals on Feb. 18 that could determine both teams' fate.
Cincinnati's profile is slightly better than the previous two. Although they jumped out to an impressive 13-2 start, they've lost five of their last six and are desperate for a win. The loss of forward Armein Kirkland, who tore his ACL against Connecticut, prompted their current slump, which includes a 17-point loss to Louisville. They did, however, have significant victories against Marquette and the LSU Tigers. First-year coach Andy Kennedy will need to get the most out of his players to earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
While the Bearcats, Orange and Cardinals have been relatively disappointing thus far, a few teams have exceeded expectations. Seton Hall, standing at 12-6 with a 3-3 conference mark, could sneak into the tournament. With back-to-back road wins over the Orange and the No.14 NC State Wolfpack, the Pirates might find themselves in the Dance.
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights, featuring the Big East's leading scorer Quincy Douby, and the St. John's Red Storm have also been performing well and have an outside chance at making a run. The Irish, despite their eight losses, have been in close games against several teams and could make up for their inconsistency with a strong finish.
Although not all of these 13 teams will have the privilege of a spot in March Madness, the fact that so many teams are even in the running demonstrates the talent that is distributed throughout the Big East. The conference is set to send eight or even nine teams into the dance, and the ambiguity of who'll be in and who'll be out is supplying an entertaining finish to an already exciting season of conference play.
