Hurricanes, Hokies prove that Big East is better

There are some who felt that Miami and Virginia Tech leaving the Big East meant “Boo” for… There are some who felt that Miami and Virginia Tech leaving the Big East meant “Boo” for football, “Yay” for basketball.

How wrong they were about the latter.

Cellar-dwellers the past few seasons in the competitive Big East basketball conference, the Hurricanes and Hokies have recently found surprising success in what is supposed to be a tougher Atlantic Coast Conference.

Each team has flourished in their new home, winning nearly as many conference games in the ACC than a season ago in the Big East. Miami currently sits at 14-7 overall and 5-5 in the conference while the Hokies check in at 12-8 and 5-4.

A season ago, the Hokies were the No. 10 seed in the Big East Tournament (a 7-9 conference record and 15-14 final record) while the Hurricanes weren’t even invited to the party at Madison Square Garden, bottoming out with a 4-12 Big East record and 14-16 season mark. Virginia Tech bowed out in the quarterfinals to Pitt, 74-61.

The remarkable thing is that both of these teams lost their top players between last year’s disappointment and this year’s success. Miami lost a sensational shooter and scorer in Darius Rice, while Virginia Tech lost Bryant Matthews, a perennial scoring threat.

What the success of both teams is proving is that the Big East is every bit as good as the ACC, just in a different manner. Both of these teams have improved as a result of playing in both of these conferences and have helped show that both conferences are very strong but in different ways.

The ACC is very top heavy; the top teams in North Carolina, Wake Forest and Duke are excellent and are, rightfully, all inside the top 10. From there, every team is very good and capable of playing well, but the bottom-tier teams, like Clemson and Virginia, are a far cry from the top.

The Big East, on the other hand, is probably better from top to bottom, fueling speculation that there may be seven NCAA Tournament bids for this conference. Even the elite teams can lose to the bottom feeders in this conference, as shown by Pitt’s loss to St. John’s earlier this month. Even Boston College, which is still undefeated, has struggled twice with Providence, which is still searching for its first conference win.

A few teams from these conferences have squared off this season. St. John’s and West Virginia both blew out then-No. 15 North Carolina State, 63-45 and 82-69 respectively, and more recently, Providence stepped out of play and blasted Virginia, 88-69. Also, Cincinnati, which will join the Big East next season, played No. 3 Wake Forest last month and fell, 74-70, in a tight game.

The ACC currently has a competition with the Big 10, known as the ACC/Big 10 Challenge every year. Before conference play begins in early January, these two conferences match up squads of equal potential and skill level, and they do battle on a national stage.

It’s a great idea, and it’s something that should involve the Big East next season. With Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette, DePaul and South Florida coming into the Big East next season, the Big East will only get stronger. Boston College leaves for the ACC, making that conference even stronger as well.

There are currently six schools that will be a part of next year’s Big East that are ranked, two in the top 10 — Syracuse and Louisville — followed by Pitt, Connecticut, Cincinnati and Villanova. The ACC — although only its top three hold rankings — had five up until this past week.

Imagine the matchups this could create. A conference with outstanding offensive play in the ACC against a conference with stellar defensive play, the new Big East. Last year, North Carolina and Connecticut squared off in a high scoring, made-for-TV game, which the Tar Heels won. That matchup could come every year if there was an ACC/Big East Challenge.

The formation would also help a team like Pitt — whose non-conference schedule is softer than cotton — play some stiffer competition than Robert Morris or Bucknell (Oh wait, they beat Pitt) and help its tournament resume. After all, from these two conferences have come the past four national champions and five of the six since 1999.

There is not even a need to dismantle the current ACC/Big 10 Challenge. It’s a great event every year, and it does wonders for all of its teams and fans. It’s actually a perfect example of what an ACC/Big East Challenge could do for teams like Pitt, which seems to play better the more skilled the opposition.

Geoff Dutelle is the assistant sports editor for The Pitt News. E-mail him at gdutes_pittnews@hotmail.com.