The Big East.

[Puertorique]

This years Big East has to be the toughest confrence in the nation. You have Villanova, Syracuse playing great then you have other teams that can step up and beat you including the top 2 on any given night. Georgetown, West Virginia, Uconn, Seaton Hall, even teams like Louisville and Cincinatti can upset. Very tough confrence this season.

[Finn Man]

Some amazing guards in Big East. Hazell & Reynolds amazing scorers. Vaughn, Dyson, Rautins & Sosa are great seniors who can do pretty much everything. Gibbs has really improved.
Really tough conference, fun to watch!

[chuckleslove]

The Big East is really good this year. You also have a young and inexperienced Marquette game that has lost 6 games by a combined total of 18 points(at one point they were at 4 losses for a combined total of 6 points). Top to bottom by far the best conference in college basketball this year. Early in the season it looked like the Big Ten might be able to be as competitive as the Big East but Minnesota and Michigan have severely underperformed compared to their pre season projections.

[bringinhinkie]

was the toughest last year by a nice margin as well.. there was talk of 4 big east #1 seeds for a bit (ended up with 3, unc was the 4th)

big east is a bit deeper this year but not as good as last year with uconn/pitt/louisville all going from 1 seeds to just middle of the pack big east teams(though pitt has come on strong).. nova has improved overall but then again last year reached the final 4 after getting hot(so who knows if they can replicate that)-reynolds is much improved but lost dante who was so consistent, cuse has improved as well despite losing flynn, georgetown isnt very deep but is much improved, marquette is always a huge threat, wvu is about where they were last year when i think they were a 5 or 6 seed

it really sucks for some of the middle of the pack big east teams that will miss the tourney, but are better than a number of the teams that will make it by default.. there are just so many good teams that every team is gonna suffer losses and records wont look as good as they would if they were playing in another conference.. but even teams like providence (4-11 in the big east/ 12-15 overall) put up some very tough games against teams like nova/cuse/etc.. st johns was even respectable this season (though still an obvious disappointment compared to what it used to be)

[writerman]

was the toughest last year by a nice margin as well.. there was talk of 4 big east #1 seeds for a bit (ended up with 3, unc was the 4th)

big east is a bit deeper this year but not as good as last year with uconn/pitt/louisville all going from 1 seeds to just middle of the pack big east teams(though pitt has come on strong).. nova has improved overall but then again last year reached the final 4 after getting hot(so who knows if they can replicate that)-reynolds is much improved but lost dante who was so consistent, cuse has improved as well despite losing flynn, georgetown isnt very deep but is much improved, marquette is always a huge threat, wvu is about where they were last year when i think they were a 5 or 6 seed

it really sucks for some of the middle of the pack big east teams that will miss the tourney, but are better than a number of the teams that will make it by default.. there are just so many good teams that every team is gonna suffer losses and records wont look as good as they would if they were playing in another conference.. but even teams like providence (4-11 in the big east/ 12-15 overall) put up some very tough games against teams like nova/cuse/etc.. st johns was even respectable this season (though still an obvious disappointment compared to what it used to be)

it really sucks for some of the middle of the pack big east teams that will miss the tourney, but are better than a number of the teams that will make it by default

Like the Mid-American Conference Champion, for instance? LOL...

[Livno]

1st day

Won: (2) Villanova vs. (15) Robert Morris after OT!!!
Lost: (6) Marquette vs. (11) Washington
Lost: (3) Georgetown vs. (14) Ohio
Lost: (6) Notre Dame vs. (11) Old Dominion

8 teams from the Big East????

[Wiscfan92]

Ohio just dominated G-Town, I don't get it...

[Warspite]

Weak non conferance schedules, overly physical styles and major East coast bias. Anyone else notice how Big east teams that play each other on ESPNs big monday rise up in the polls that week? When was teh last time Syracuse went west of the Mississippi or south of the Mason Dixon line in non conferance. Boeheim wont play the Lady Vols on the road much less go into Knoxville vs the men. Teams like Kansas, Kentucky, UNC and Michigan St. will travel and play anyone anywhere and play elite teams that play differant styles in hostile enviroments. Big East teams generaly dont do that.

[Reks]

Weak non conferance schedules, overly physical styles and major East coast bias. Anyone else notice how Big east teams that play each other on ESPNs big monday rise up in the polls that week? When was teh last time Syracuse went west of the Mississippi or south of the Mason Dixon line in non conferance. Boeheim wont play the Lady Vols on the road much less go into Knoxville vs the men. Teams like Kansas, Kentucky, UNC and Michigan St. will travel and play anyone anywhere and play elite teams that play differant styles in hostile enviroments. Big East teams generaly dont do that.

Frame it. I'm a Nova fan but they were the weakest 2 seed in the tourney. The Big East is typically overrated by the media. Let's win it Kentucky!

[jman3134]

I'm going to go ahead and say that the Big East was not overrated this year. Syracuse lost to a Butler team that was hitting their stride and otherwise were without Onuaku. West Virginia beat UK and went to the Final Four.

Yet, somehow a Final Four team isn't enough? Given, it was a huge disappointment in the tournament, but that does not mean we should institute revisionist history here. It was a tough conference from top to bottom all year. Teams like St. Johns had solid nonconference wins, only to be demoralized against some of the big boys.

Overly physical styles? What does that mean? I suppose you could say that they have some fairly aggressive teams on both ends of the floor. But, how in the world is that a bad thing?

And who the heck is proposing that this is East Coast bias? That has absolutely no basis at all. I would hope that that same person actually took a break from watching NBA games and turned on a Pac 10 contest. There was a notable drop off in not only play, but talent this past season. They were more than lucky to get 2 teams in. This is coming from the premier West Coast power conference! Get a team in the Final Four this year and then we will talk about the Pac and other West Coast conferences deserving more respect.

The Big 12 was up there with the Big East this year. Yet, people are not shouting about Kansas losing against Northern Iowa, and they were a 1 seed.

Duke won the title- so much for East Coast bias.