Is Providence the Big East Champ or the Tourney Champ?

[ElDonBDon]

I noticed that the BE media guides call the tournament winner "Big East Champion." For example, the 2013 champion was listed as Louisville (no mention of MU or Gtown).

So who is *the* 2014 Big East Champion? Providence of Villanova?

My boy over on the MU board noted that Fox is calling it "the Big East Tournament," while ESPN would always call it "the Big East Championship." Something I've never really noticed or paid much attention to

[redmen9194]

Big East Champion is the winner of the conference tournament. Although the league recognizes the regular season "champion", the winner of the conference tournament is considered the conference champion. That is how it has always been in the league. So this year's Men's Basketball Champion is Providence.

[TrueBlueJay]

Winning the conference tournament is so much fun and has the instant gratification that America loves, but winning the regular season is a greater accomplishment and I personally would rather win the regular season than the conference tournament....and just look at the seeds for Nova versus Providence this afternoon.

[ElDonBDon]

Winning the conference tournament is so much fun and has the instant gratification that America loves, but winning the regular season is a greater accomplishment and I personally would rather win the regular season than the conference tournament....and just look at the seeds for Nova versus Providence this afternoon.

I remember a heated 25-page thread based on this in the summer, so I won't say much on this, but it seems that the five newcomers to the league don't value the BE tourney nearly as much as the five original schools. Most likely because of tradition. The old-school BE seemed kind of unique in that being the regular season "champion" was only coveted because it got you a one seed in BE tourney. No other conference tourney has ever had the same value/prestige as the BE tourney.

[redmen9194]

Winning the conference tournament is so much fun and has the instant gratification that America loves, but winning the regular season is a greater accomplishment and I personally would rather win the regular season than the conference tournament....and just look at the seeds for Nova versus Providence this afternoon.

I remember a heated 25-page thread based on this in the summer, so I won't say much on this, but it seems that the five newcomers to the league don't value the BE tourney nearly as much as the five original schools. Most likely because of tradition. The old-school BE seemed kind of unique in that being the regular season "champion" was only coveted because it got you a one seed in BE tourney. No other conference tourney has ever had the same value/prestige as the BE tourney.

It will take time. Remember, in the past winning the Big East Tournament was just as difficult (Bobby Huggins thought moreso) as winning the National Championship. Just look back at the 2010-2011 season. Going into the BET you had 9 teams ranked in the AP poll (Pitt 3 , ND 4, Syracuse 11, Louisville 14, St. John's 17, West Virginia 20, UConn 21, Georgetown 22, Cincinnati 25). UConn won five games in five days beating DePaul, Georgetown, Pitt, Syracuse, and Louisville. And UConn was the 9 seed that year. So you essentially had to beat four ranked teams on successive days to win the BET. Now, that won't be the case again more than likely, but once rivalries get reestablished and you get a few more ranked teams coming into the event, the others will buy into it.

[XUFan09]

Winning the conference tournament is so much fun and has the instant gratification that America loves, but winning the regular season is a greater accomplishment and I personally would rather win the regular season than the conference tournament....and just look at the seeds for Nova versus Providence this afternoon.

Agreed. I'm all about what contributes most to the body of work for the tournament resume.

[PawJoe]

Winning the conference tournament is so much fun and has the instant gratification that America loves, but winning the regular season is a greater accomplishment and I personally would rather win the regular season than the conference tournament....and just look at the seeds for Nova versus Providence this afternoon.

Man TrueBlueJay Ask any BE veteran and you are way off.. So if you win 29 regular season games and get knocked off in the NCAA first round game that is better than winning 16 and going all the way to a national title?.. The tournament "is" the Big East... Sorry for your loss but if you beat PC I wonder if you would be looking at it differently.... I'm sure Villanova would trade the regular season for the "Championship at the Garden" all day long... Good luck in the NCAA's and the NIT to all our teams...

[XUFan09]

I don't know why people always make the comparison of losing in the conference tournament to losing in the NCAA tournament. It's not the same at all. If one is going to receive an at-large bid, a loss in the conference tournament is not season-ending, plain and simple.

The NCAA tournament is also much more important and seeding/placement is influenced much more by regular season performance. Maybe some of you guys put the two tournaments on an equal level, but the vast majority don't.

[FriarJ]

If any of you watched Requiem for the BE last night you would know why all of the originals feel like the BET is the only thing that matters in regards to the conference and why PC is considered the BE champs.

[SJHooper]

As a Big East fan I think it should be the other way around. How can you discount an entire season of work for 1 short week? Even the 1998 Yankees had the occasional slide. Does that mean they weren't the best team in baseball? No way. Villanova start to finish was the best Big East team and it's not even a debate really. Yeah Creighton killed them twice but other teams handled Creighton fairly well. Those same teams could not beat Nova.

Seton Hall easily could have won this conference tourney. PC is a good team but IMO not the best one. Nova and Creighton are still clearly ahead of them in terms of overall body of work. I always feel bad for Stony Brook who always seems to have a fantastic regular season dominating the conference only to lose to Albany in the finals all the time. So the best team goes home and the mediocre team goes dancing. I don't like that. The tournament makes the regular season almost irrelevant. That is exciting and that's why it's so popular and fun because of the stakes, but the flipside is that some great teams will lose to mediocre teams and the mediocre teams will take up a spot with a much worse record.