The Big East is a BIG FRAUD!!!

[tornado]

but the Valley was 0-1 in this year's field because we didn't get our conference's two best teams in....

what if the Big East had gotten only their TOP SIX teams in ??
Then they'd all be gone!!! they'd be completely shut out of the Sweet Sixteen -- so you see...getting a bunch of your conference's teams in is the real key to landing one in the Sweet Sixteen if you are a big conference...

[TheAsianSensation]

VCU absolutely should not have been in the field of 68, and anyone saying they should has revisionist history. It was on par with Air Force and Utah St in 2006 on how bad it was.

Doesn't change the fact I love their run and am rooting for it, but I can separate the selection of teams and rooting interests.

I always say to never use results of this tournament to judge if conferences were treated fairly. That said, one trend to take away is the seeding of teams that struggle heading into the tournament - Georgetown and Villanova are the two teams I'm looking at here. But other than that, I don't see how you can possibly make the argument that the Big East didn't deserve 11 teams - they were among the best 68. Just because almost none are among the best 16 doesn't mean 11 of them are among the best 68.

[TheAsianSensation]

For the largest part...
their nonconference schedules are loaded with pansies and cupcakes to assure they get good records, they play all their non-conference games at home, and they rack up gobs of conference wins against the horribly bad bottom of their league like DePaul, South Florida, and Providence.

Non-conference SoS

Georgetown 1
West Virginia 4
Connecticut 39
Louisville 57
St John's 62
Pittsburgh 103
Villanova 126
Syracuse 144
Marquette 145
Notre Dame 157
Cincinnati 288

Now, Cincy should be blasted, and Notre Dame should really know better by now. But I'm not sure attacking their SoS as a whole is a good idea.

[BradleyJD]

I always say to never use results of this tournament to judge if conferences were treated fairly. That said, one trend to take away is the seeding of teams that struggle heading into the tournament - Georgetown and Villanova are the two teams I'm looking at here. But other than that, I don't see how you can possibly make the argument that the Big East didn't deserve 11 teams - they were among the best 68. Just because almost none are among the best 16 doesn't mean 11 of them are among the best 68.

Well said TAS. I have to agree. The S16 is not the 16 best teams in the country. They are just the last 16 in the big dance. A lot is about match-ups.

[lefty]

Other than a few teams all the teams in the tourney had some clunker games. I have no problem with 11(maybe Villanova) from the BE and I'm surprised that many got in from the BT....the seeds did seem high for the BE too....but on any given day these teams can win or lose to just about anybody it seems.

[Tulsa Brave]

VCU finished 2 games BEHIND Hofstra in the CAA. The same Hofstra that some here said would have been a bad loss had Evansville lost to them in the CBI. It was stunning to see them make the field, as plenty of other teams should have been in ahead of them. Now that they are there, I hope they keep winning.

Has any team ever had an easier path to the Final 4 than Kansas will have? They have beaten a 16 and a 9, and now they have a 10, 11, and 12 left with them in their region?

[depaulfan]

St. Johns should not be included in anyones numbers for teams eliminated from the tournament. They were with out D.J. Kennedy.

Any good senior player that is not on your team should not be held against the coach, team, or conference. Right?

[pfunk880]

VCU absolutely should not have been in the field of 68, and anyone saying they should has revisionist history. It was on par with Air Force and Utah St in 2006 on how bad it was.

Doesn't change the fact I love their run and am rooting for it, but I can separate the selection of teams and rooting interests.

I always say to never use results of this tournament to judge if conferences were treated fairly. That said, one trend to take away is the seeding of teams that struggle heading into the tournament - Georgetown and Villanova are the two teams I'm looking at here. But other than that, I don't see how you can possibly make the argument that the Big East didn't deserve 11 teams - they were among the best 68. Just because almost none are among the best 16 doesn't mean 11 of them are among the best 68.

This is far and away the most sensible post in the thread.

[BradleyJD]

UConn and the Big East win the title.

[depaulfan]

UConn and the Big East win the title.

UCONN was 15-0 against teams outside of the Big East this year.

[afan]

This is far and away the most sensible post in the thread.

The Big East lost 9 of 11 games during the first weekend of the tourney
The Big East lost 6 of 8 to lower seeds
The Big East lost 2 of 8 against their own conference

Without a doubt if there was ever a conference that did not deserve 11 bids it was the Big East. At the very least they obviously were seeded incorrectly. In addition to bad seeds, etc, their non-conference schedules (in particular Syracuse and even U-conn were absolutely loaded with cup cakes and home games). There is no end to the number of teams that were more deserved to go the the dance than the Big East 11 teams (two teams in the MVC for example, Witchita State and Missouri). Have you checked last years performance for the Big East in the Tourney? It was even worse. They are over hyped year after year (not to say that there aren't a few decent teams (obviously U-conn this year)).

[afan]

UCONN was 15-0 against teams outside of the Big East this year.

They played a few good teams. The majority of the teams were major cupcakes or home games.

[BradleyJD]

They played a few good teams. The majority of the teams were major cupcakes or home games.

They played and beat:

Wichita State
Michigan State
Kentucky
Texas
Tennessee
Cincinnati(NCAA Tourney)
S.D. State (NCAA Tourney)
Arizona (NCAA Tourney)
Kentucky (NCAA Tourney)
Butler (NCAA Tourney)

They did have some "cupcakes" but I wouldn't blame them. You are not going to play in the Big East AND schedule 15 brutal non-conference games on top of it.

Those first 5 games I mentioned are good, hard games.

[depaulfan]

The Big East lost 9 of 11 games during the first weekend of the tourney
The Big East lost 6 of 8 to lower seeds
The Big East lost 2 of 8 against their own conference

Without a doubt if there was ever a conference that did not deserve 11 bids it was the Big East. At the very least they obviously were seeded incorrectly. In addition to bad seeds, etc, their non-conference schedules (in particular Syracuse and even U-conn were absolutely loaded with cup cakes and home games). There is no end to the number of teams that were more deserved to go the the dance than the Big East 11 teams (two teams in the MVC for example, Witchita State and Missouri). Have you checked last years performance for the Big East in the Tourney? It was even worse. They are over hyped year after year (not to say that there aren't a few decent teams (obviously U-conn this year)).

Well who from the Big East would you have not allowed in the tournament this year? Marquette is the only one that probably didn't deserve to go and they ended up making the Sweet 16.

Since 2003...

SEC-has 2 National Champs and 4 Final Four Teams during that span
BIG TEN-has 0 National Champs and 5 Final Four Teams
ACC-has 3 National Champs and 5 Final Four Teams (only one team wasn't UNC or Duke)
PAC 10-has 0 National Champs and 3 Final Four Teams (all UCLA)
BIG 12-has 1 National Champ and 4 Final Four Teams
BIG EAST-has 3 National Champs 9 Final Four Teams

[afan]

They played and beat:

Wichita State
Michigan State
Kentucky
Texas
Tennessee
Cincinnati(NCAA Tourney)
S.D. State (NCAA Tourney)
Arizona (NCAA Tourney)
Kentucky (NCAA Tourney)
Butler (NCAA Tourney)

They did have some "cupcakes" but I wouldn't blame them. You are not going to play in the Big East AND schedule 15 brutal non-conference games on top of it.

Those first 5 games I mentioned are good, hard games.

One didn't play in the ncaa tourney, others got beat early on in the tourney, a few were good teams. And, the majority of the teams were "cupcakes".