Big East Breakdown: Team’s have mixed expectations in NCAA Tournament

As expected, the Big East had 11 teams chosen for the NCAA Tournament, the most ever by far. The… As expected, the Big East had 11 teams chosen for the NCAA Tournament, the most ever by far. The Big East tournament was predictably unpredictable, with some outcomes expected and others surprising.

The teams that were on the decline at the end of the regular season, such as Villanova and Georgetown, turned in disappointing performances, and neither Pitt nor Notre Dame, the top two seeds, made the finals.

Kemba Walker carried the Connecticut Huskies to a tournament victory from a No. 9 seed, a feat he has accomplished in one form or another time and time again. Despite outlasting the Irish in overtime, the Louisville Cardinals could not weather the Walker storm in the final.

With that being said, here’s my outlook for Big East teams in this year’s NCAA Tournament:

Dangerous Teams:

1. Connecticut Huskies ­­— Walker has proven he can carry this team. And when his team backs him up, it is downright dangerous. There is no one who I would trust with the ball more in the final seconds of the game than Walker. The Huskies are very capable of making a deep run.

2. Syracuse Orange — Coach Jim Boeheim knows exactly what he is doing come tournament time and his Orange are peaking at the right time. They likewise are very capable of a deep run, and an upset or two could put them in Final Four position.

3. St. John’s — The Red Storm’s strong finish in the regular season did not translate into success at the Big East tournament as well as I thought it would, but they are still a team to be reckoned with. Especially considering that, during regular season play, they have already defeated the No. 1 seed in their region: Pittsburgh.

Worrisome Teams:

1.Pittsburgh — The Panthers went one-and-done at the Big East tournament. Is that so worrying? Not really, because they already had a No. 1 seed locked up and have played extraordinarily well all season.  But they have a history of unspectacular tournament runs, and that, not the UConn loss, scares me a little.

2. Villanova — Boy, have this team fallen off. Not too long ago, I would have forecast  the Wildcats upsetting No. 1 seed Ohio State. The Wildcats went from bona fide Final Four contender halfway through the season to possibly not even winning their first round game.

3. Georgetown — Like Villanova, Georgetown is not playing its best right now. The Hoyas are in a very nice place in the bracket, but they need to show up unless they expect another early exit, à la the Big East tournament.

Also, with the regular season now in the books, I’d like to recognize my All-Big East selections for the year.

All-Big East 1st Team

G: Kemba Walker, Connecticut and Ben Hansbrough, Notre Dame

F: Marshon Brooks, Providence and Alex Oriakhi, Connectiuct

C: Rick Jackson, Syracuse

2nd Team

G: Dwight Hardy, St. John’s and Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh

F: Kevin Jones, West Virginia and Herb Pope, Seton Hall

C: Gary McGhee, Pittsburgh

3rd Team

G: Austin Freeman, Georgetown and Brad Wanamaker, Pittsburgh

F: Tim Abromaitis, Notre Dame and Kris Joseph, Syracuse

C: Gilvydas Biruta, Rutgers