No one can argue that the Big East conference wasn't the strongest in the NCAA this year. Louisville, Connecticut, and Pittsburgh all nabbed #1 seeds in the Big Dance. #3 seeds Villanova and Syracuse have also shown that they have the talent and toughness (eg: Syracuse 127, UConn 117, 6 OT) needed to make it to the Final Four.
However, one conference sent more teams to the tournament than the Big East. The ACC filled an amazing 7 bids, to the Big East's 6. #1 seed North Carolina is still probably the favorite to win the tournament. Duke won the ACC tournament, getting a #2 seed thanks to their deadly accurate shooting and solid defense. Wake Forest was the number one team in the country at one point this season and, despite their shaky conference record, was picked by Sports Illustrated to make the Final Four. The other four ACC teams in the tournament (Clemson, Boston College, Florida St. and Maryland) all beat Duke or North Carolina during the season. So would these seven teams from a fiercely competitive conference give the Big East a run for their money? Not in the least. By the time the first round ended, only three teams were left, and the ACC's status as a basketball power conference was looking very fragile indeed.
Of all the ACC teams in the tournament, Boston College played the lousiest. BC let USC shoot over 50% from the field, including Trojans forward Taj Gibson, who was 10-for-10. Up by four at halftime, the Golden Eagles were outscored 42-21 in the second half. All-ACC Second Team point Guard Tyrese Rice will graduate this spring, and will be sorely missed. But the Golden Eagles have some very talented young players in Joe Trapani, Rakim Sanders and Corey Raji. Expect BC to be back in the NCAA tournament next year if those three players don't leave for the NBA.
Article comments
1 - Josh Mandell
I made a mistake; 7 big east teams actually made the tournament.
I forgot that marquette was in the big east!
so 6 of 7 big east teams made it to the second round.
2 - Sliding
I think you made at least 2 mistakes...BC's mascot isn't the "golden eagles", rather just the "eagles." I think you were thinking of Marquette again. Just nitpicking. I agree with the remainder of your analysis.
3 - Mick
You messed up your story line. The Big East sent as many schools to the tourney as did ACC. Both sent 7.
4 - Wojo
your analysis as far as weakness of ACC is accurate.Most difficult part in analyzing the strength of conference by the number of participant in sweet 16 is the fact that good Big East teams were not picked and invited.Big east deserved to have 9 teams out of 16 teams in the conference but their relative strength cannot be validated as only 7 were invited!
5 - zingzing
i'd bet against villanova. if duke plays their game, they can beat just about anyone. and i hate duke.
as a wake fan, i must say that wake had horrible times on the road (or away from winston-salem at least). in w-s, they could beat anyone (as they did duke, carolina, clemson and nearly everyone else). unfortunately, their poor performance in the acc tournament robbed them of their chance to play in greensboro, just 20 miles away from w-s... a lot of people called on cleveland's style and speed to be a major problem for wake, and i think they just overlooked them. sad, sad. get what you deserve, i say.
anyway, i'd put duke and unc up against any big east team. we shall see what happens. chances are, we'll see plenty of those matchups. fuck duke. (fuck unc, too, but not as hard.)
6 - Deejay
'Nova might be the second best BE team, so I wouldn't pick Duke to beat them. Something to think about: who is going to match up against Dante Cunningham, who just might be the second/third-best player in the BE (after Terence Williams and/or Sam Young)?