Disappointing...again.

[MullinMayhem]

Michigan State? They're always making deep runs. The only team we have that consistently does so is Villanova. I'm not arguing against the Big East, I'm arguing facts. Our deep runs are the exception and not the rule thus far. Yes we are still a new conference, but it's troubling.

[SJU1987]

St. John's and DePaul have to step up their programs . But we need more teams in this conference. Who cares about the round robin in March. It's what we do in March and April that matters. Gotta add UCONN and Gonzaga and maybe a team or two from the AAC. The more teams the better. Just look at the ACC and how long they last in the Tournament. Maybe if we had 9 teams in the tournament we'd have 3 or 4 in the Sweet 16.

[pc5151]

I think Georgetown and Marquette returning to top programs is more important than St Johns and DePaul. These are two programs with big basketball budgets, top facilities and the ability to land 5 star kids. If they can get back to the top they will improve the conference recruiting as well, the best want to play against the best. Sidenote: I think Marquette is going to be very good next year.

[stever20]

I think Georgetown and Marquette returning to top programs is more important than St Johns and DePaul. These are two programs with big basketball budgets, top facilities and the ability to land 5 star kids. If they can get back to the top they will improve the conference recruiting as well, the best want to play against the best. Sidenote: I think Marquette is going to be very good next year.

Marquette has a huge year for them next year. Not quite the pressure that Seton Hall had 2 years ago(the year they won the BET) but pretty close.

[SJU1987]

I think Georgetown and Marquette returning to top programs is more important than St Johns and DePaul. These are two programs with big basketball budgets, top facilities and the ability to land 5 star kids. If they can get back to the top they will improve the conference recruiting as well, the best want to play against the best. Sidenote: I think Marquette is going to be very good next year.

St. John's is a long way off, but them coming back is more important for the conference because it's NYC. Every team is important. We gotta show the best basketball is in the Big Cities and that's where we generally are.

[gtmoBlue]

From my perspective up here in the nosebleed section... it's important that Creighton returns to the top (2) to
Solidify the conferences position out on the Western front. Gotta have a strong showing out here in B12/B1G territory. CU gives hope to all the Catholic schools west of the Mississippi!

Good point about more teams & winning in March, sju1987, improved March performance = improved public perception.

[Bill Marsh]

I agree that single elimination tournaments allow for anything to happen and it's unfair to totally judge a team based on that, but that's what the public and the media measures teams by. That's the yardstick that is used for better or worse. That being said, it's not just one isolated year...

the Big East has been pretty bad in the tournament overall.

This isn’t even factually accurate.

If we look back just over the past dozen years before this year, one of the current members of the Big East has advanced at least to the Elite Eight 9 times with this season yet to be determined and being possibly a 10th. We’ve missed only 3 times. Those 9 finishes have included:

1 NC
5 Final Fours
9 Elite Eights

And yes, those were not all by Villanova. Four other members are responsible for those finishes as well.

[Bill Marsh]

I thought I’d extend my search a little further to address the argument that the Big East is top heavy, that only Villanova has had tournament success. So, I thought afair comparison would be with the Big 12 since they are the only other conference with 10 members. Clearly Kansas is the big dig in that conference, but what about the rest?

In those same dozen years, exclusive of Kansas and Villanova, here’s how the rest of the 2 conferences compare:

Big 12 —- 7 Elite Eights, 2 Final Fours, 0 NC
Big East - 6 Elite Eights, 3 Final Fours, 0 NC

Pretty much a wash.

[stever20]

Kind of a funny time frame going back to 2007....

last 10 years(2009 thru this year)
Big 12 minus Kansas 6 elite 8's, 2 final 4
Big East minus Nova 4 elite 8's, 2 final 4

you are doing a bit of fudging of the numbers.. Because in 2008- both Texas and Xavier make elite 8 to help both out.
In 2007 Georgetown makes final 4 helping the Big 12 out. In 2006 though, no Big East team, but Texas makes elite 8.

So from 2006-current(so 12 completed tournaments)
Big 12 minus Kansas 8 elite 8's, 2 final 4
Big East minus Nova 6 elite 8's, 3 final 4

take it to 15 completed tournaments and it's even more stark (so 2003)
B12 minus Kansas 12 elite 8's 4 final 4's
BE minus Nova 8 elite 8's, 4 final 4's

Yeah a pretty big difference. If it's 10 years or 15 years- Big 12 has a big advantage. But you choose 12. I wonder why..

[Bill Marsh]

So, I asked myself, who is getting their teams deep into the tournament? Now I’m all in. Here are the conferences ranked by Elite 8’s per conference member with totals in parentheses, for the 12 years in question, using current membership:

1.47 - ACC (22)
1.40 - B12 (14)
1.21 - SEC (17)
0.90 - BEC (9)
0.79 - B1G (11)
0.64 - P12 (9)
0.67 - AAC (8)
0.29 - A10 (4)
0.20 - WCC (2)

Each of the top 4 conferences has produced at least 1 NC in that period with the ACC being phenomenally successful with 5. Only UConn from the rest has won a NC. In fact neither the Big Ten nor the PAC 12 has a NC since 2000. The Big East members have won 2 in that period.

The doomsday voices say that we haven’t done anything in the tournament. Well, we have. They want to focus on 2014-15 when we missed a deep tourney run. The Big Ten missed in 2016-17. So? The Big 12 missed in 2013-15. I think you get the point about small sample sizes. I think the rest of the country knows that this is a collection of schools with a proven track record, any of whom can rise up and produce a team that will make a deep tournament run. Since 1997, 7 of 10 conference members have made a run to the Elite 8. I wonder how many other conferences can say that? Let me check . . .