(3) Tuesday Big East Games 2/8/22

[adoraz]

I think it's just more disappointing as to expectations that folks have right now. It's kind of like Providence right now- if they were to drop some games here and finish lets say 24-7(losing 2nd round of NCAA) going off of preseason, it'd be a great year. But based on where we are on 2/9/22, it'd be considered a disappointment.

I get that, but even considering today's expectations saying that both a 6 seed needs to take out a 3 and a 5 needs to take out a 4 isn't a reasonable take. As mentioned, I can agree with expecting one of the two to happen, but not both.

I'm not placing too much emphasis on any single team this year. I'd like to see at least 2 teams in the Sweet 16 and one in the Elite 8 (preferably not Nova to mix things up), though I could see the argument for expecting more than that. We have a lot of good teams this year but I'm unsure how many are good enough to make deep runs.

I guess expecting both to make it was unfair but at least one of them should. The Big East has a reputation issue when it comes to the tournament that we choke regularly (outside of Nova.) With 6 to 7 teams and 5 of those likely top 6 seeds, a good tourney would be 3 in the sweet 16 for me. There is always variance, but the Big East is due for a good collective NCAA tourney.

Yeah I agree, 3 teams in the Sweet 16 would be solid.

[GumbyDamnit!]

It's going to be interesting if the league end of the day will be able to have 5 top 6 seeds.

Providence, Nova, and Marquette seem definite top 6 right now.

UConn still has 3 definite Q1 games, home game with Seton Hall(they're #33) and road game with Creighton(they're 76). Out of 8 games left. That's a lot of tough games there.
Xavier still has 4 definite Q1 games, home game with Seton Hall(they're #33). Out of 8 games left. Again a lot of tough games there.
(oh, and both have to play @ St John's- one of those tricky Q2 games that probably is closer to a Q1 level type of game without the reward)

They play each other 2x still. If they split, I think the league gets 5 top 6 seeds. If one of them sweeps, that's going to get pretty tough.

None of this is happening in a vacuum. Every team in the B12, SEC and B!G10 will be in similar situations. The bottom line is there are a lot of difficult games that pose either a jump or a slight drop in current seeding projection. It's not specific to the BE nor to these specific programs. You can replace UConn and X with Iowa, or Iowa St, Indiana, Ohio St, TCU, Arkansas, Alabama, or a handful of other Power conference teams who still have the rest of their schedules ahead of them. The teams need to play the games and win more than they lose and the rest will fall into place.

[stever20]

It's going to be interesting if the league end of the day will be able to have 5 top 6 seeds.

Providence, Nova, and Marquette seem definite top 6 right now.

UConn still has 3 definite Q1 games, home game with Seton Hall(they're #33) and road game with Creighton(they're 76). Out of 8 games left. That's a lot of tough games there.
Xavier still has 4 definite Q1 games, home game with Seton Hall(they're #33). Out of 8 games left. Again a lot of tough games there.
(oh, and both have to play @ St John's- one of those tricky Q2 games that probably is closer to a Q1 level type of game without the reward)

They play each other 2x still. If they split, I think the league gets 5 top 6 seeds. If one of them sweeps, that's going to get pretty tough.

None of this is happening in a vacuum. Every team in the B12, SEC and B!G10 will be in similar situations. The bottom line is there are a lot of difficult games that pose either a jump or a slight drop in current seeding projection. It's not specific to the BE nor to these specific programs. You can replace UConn and X with Iowa, or Iowa St, Indiana, Ohio St, TCU, Arkansas, Alabama, or a handful of other Power conference teams who still have the rest of their schedules ahead of them. The teams need to play the games and win more than they lose and the rest will fall into place.

The thing is where Xavier and UConn are right now is already pretty precarious- already in that 6-7 range. So not much room to drop at all.

Of course there's also hope with Seton Hall I suppose. They're in Bracketville #30, so wouldn't take a ton to get them up to 6 seed line.

[GumbyDamnit!]

It's going to be interesting if the league end of the day will be able to have 5 top 6 seeds.

Providence, Nova, and Marquette seem definite top 6 right now.

UConn still has 3 definite Q1 games, home game with Seton Hall(they're #33) and road game with Creighton(they're 76). Out of 8 games left. That's a lot of tough games there.
Xavier still has 4 definite Q1 games, home game with Seton Hall(they're #33). Out of 8 games left. Again a lot of tough games there.
(oh, and both have to play @ St John's- one of those tricky Q2 games that probably is closer to a Q1 level type of game without the reward)

They play each other 2x still. If they split, I think the league gets 5 top 6 seeds. If one of them sweeps, that's going to get pretty tough.

None of this is happening in a vacuum. Every team in the B12, SEC and B!G10 will be in similar situations. The bottom line is there are a lot of difficult games that pose either a jump or a slight drop in current seeding projection. It's not specific to the BE nor to these specific programs. You can replace UConn and X with Iowa, or Iowa St, Indiana, Ohio St, TCU, Arkansas, Alabama, or a handful of other Power conference teams who still have the rest of their schedules ahead of them. The teams need to play the games and win more than they lose and the rest will fall into place.

The thing is where Xavier and UConn are right now is already pretty precarious- already in that 6-7 range. So not much room to drop at all.

Of course there's also hope with Seton Hall I suppose. They're in Bracketville #30, so wouldn't take a ton to get them up to 6 seed line.

You're falling into bad, old habits my friend, and looking at how the BE could fail, but not recognizing that they could also prevail. If your point is that the teams in the 6-7 range are in danger of dropping to 8-9 range, all the other teams I mentioned are pretty much fighting the same battle. The opposite could also happen. X and UConn could get a couple scalps down the stretch, all while Ohio St, 'Bama and Mich St. go on a losing streak. They could move either up OR down. Hundreds of games going on over the same time period that will affect all the teams in their own way. There is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage to any of it. Tough games = more opportunities to win and move up. Cupcakes games = more trap games that could hurt you. All teams have both remaining.

[stever20]

You're falling into bad, old habits my friend, and looking at how the BE could fail, but not recognizing that they could also prevail. If your point is that the teams in the 6-7 range are in danger of dropping to 8-9 range, all the other teams I mentioned are pretty much fighting the same battle. The opposite could also happen. X and UConn could get a couple scalps down the stretch, all while Ohio St, 'Bama and Mich St. go on a losing streak. They could move either up OR down. Hundreds of games going on over the same time period that will affect all the teams in their own way. There is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage to any of it. Tough games = more opportunities to win and move up. Cupcakes games = more trap games that could hurt you. All teams have both remaining.

I get what you're saying for sure. I think if UConn and Xavier split, both will almost certainly finish top 6 seeds. That would be by far best case scenario. Might even be able to finagle Seton Hall in there as well.

I just don't think you want to be in a position where if one got swept of having to go 5-1 probably the rest of the way against a pretty tough schedule. With 4/6 games really tough. That's one difference to other conferences I think- where teams in the boat aren't playing 2x against each other.