Big East Tournament Bracket (Thru Feb 26th)

[anXUfan]

Big East Tournament preview and predictions: 7 NCAA tournament bids a real possibility - The Dagger - March 6, 2017



THE KEY QUESTIONS

1. Who is the favorite?
2. Who else could win the tournament?
3. Who got the best and worst draw?

BUBBLE IMPLICATIONS

Marquette (19-11, 10-8, KenPom 28, RPI 55): The Golden Eagles appear to be in pretty good shape, but a more nuanced look at their résumé shows that four of their five best wins on paper came against Creighton and Xavier after those teams had lost their star players to injuries. But, that being said, an upset of Villanova and a few nice non-conference victories have Marquette in pretty good position. A win over Seton Hall in the 4/5 game would be nice, but probably not necessary.

Seton Hall (20-10, 10-8, KenPom 54, RPI 43): Most bracketologists seemed to think the Pirates punched their tourney ticket with a road win at Butler on the season’s final weekend. They could do that definitively with a win over Marquette. Without it, they’re still in very good shape, but aren’t a lock.

Providence (20-11, 10-8, KenPom 53, RPI 52): The Friars have won six in a row, and four of the six victories came over postseason teams. They don’t have a win that stands alone at the top of their résumé, but they did beat Butler, and are 5-2 against fellow bubble teams. One more win would almost surely be enough.

Xavier (19-12, 9-9, KenPom 43, RPI 34): The Musketeers have beaten one team over the past month … and that team is DePaul. They have no signature wins, and most of what they do have came prior to Edmond Sumner’s season-ending injury. They almost surely need two wins, over DePaul and Butler, to save their season.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

ONE BIG STORYLINE

SCHEDULE

PREDICTIONS

Just sad that win at Creighton meant nothing. Or the win v. Seton Hall.