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XU85 wrote:If forced to choose one or the other, would you rather your team win the BET or the regular season? I would rather X win the regular season.

I'd choose the regular season title over the tournament title, no question, because in the end, I mainly care about the big tournament. While the conference tournament champion is officially guaranteed a bid, the regular season champion from the Big East is virtually guaranteed a bid and will likely have a good seed too. I would definitely feel differently if this was the MAAC or if we wound the clock back to the days before at-large bids for the NCAA tournament, but as it currently stands, the regular season championship is more beneficial than the tournament championship.

By the way, it may have been said before, but I hate the comparisons to pro sports (e.g. Mockingly giving the Patriots the AFC title before the playoffs have started). Conference tournaments are fun, but they're really a sideshow to the Big Dance if your bid is already virtually secured (as it is for power conference regular season champions). It's not like Villanova's season was over when they lost, whereas the Patriots' season obviously will be over if they lose in the first round.

As long as the Big East is a good enough conference where the regular season champion is a near-lock for the tournament, I'd prefer to win the regular season. If you ask someone who the best team in the Big East was last year, no one will say Providence.