Interesting observation

[gtmoBlue]

I'm so proud of this conference that we are getting 6 teams in (equal to the record 11 teams in the old Big East in the 16 team league). Who else could lose Pitt, Cuse, UConn, WVU, Cincy, ND, L'Ville, and still succeed right after? I'm still surprised there isn't more hype nationally about how the Big East being pronounced dead was totally false. I think they are waiting to see how we actually perform in the tourney. If we don't advance far, the media will say we are good enough to make the tourney but we are basically crap because it doesn't mean anything if you can't go deep. Since we totally crapped the bed last year in the tourney, we are due at least a few teams making runs.

5 or 6 make the dance, most bow out in the first 2 rounds, similarly to when 11 made it a few years back.

The refs in conference play however, in spite of the rules changes of the last 1-2 years, have allowed the BE to return to the overtly physical, assault n battery style of play. The no-calls are the "elephant in the room" at most BE games. Exp: Villanova's play vs Creighton - refs no-called the the "downhill" physical fouls by 'Nova, but called any/all touch fouls on Creighton. That style of play - BE "physical assault", does not transfer well to the dance, as the refs will be forced to make the foul calls due to the high profile of the tourney. 6 teams may dance, but I will be surprised if more than Villanova make the SS.

[stever20]

I'm so proud of this conference that we are getting 6 teams in (equal to the record 11 teams in the old Big East in the 16 team league). Who else could lose Pitt, Cuse, UConn, WVU, Cincy, ND, L'Ville, and still succeed right after? I'm still surprised there isn't more hype nationally about how the Big East being pronounced dead was totally false. I think they are waiting to see how we actually perform in the tourney. If we don't advance far, the media will say we are good enough to make the tourney but we are basically crap because it doesn't mean anything if you can't go deep. Since we totally crapped the bed last year in the tourney, we are due at least a few teams making runs.

5 or 6 make the dance, most bow out in the first 2 rounds, similarly to when 11 made it a few years back.

The refs in conference play however, in spite of the rules changes of the last 1-2 years, have allowed the BE to return to the overtly physical, assault n battery style of play. The no-calls are the "elephant in the room" at most BE games. Exp: Villanova's play vs Creighton - refs no-called the the "downhill" physical fouls by 'Nova, but called any/all touch fouls on Creighton. That style of play - BE "physical assault", does not transfer well to the dance, as the refs will be forced to make the foul calls due to the high profile of the tourney. 6 teams may dance, but I will be surprised if more than Villanova make the SS.

I think this is a very real problem. The national head of officials have said that the refs in the Tourney would be graded based on the new rules. So these refs that are allowing the old style play just won't be reffing in the tourney.

I would say though that just as problematic are the seeds:
MW-from Lunardi today
Xavier 9 seed vs 8 Ohio St, then 1 Kentucky in Louisville
Butler 6 seed vs 11 Purdue, then 3 Notre Dame in Columbus
W Bracket-
Nova 1 seed vs 16 St Francis NY, then 8 Ole Miss/9 NC St in Pittsburgh
Providence 6 seed vs Indiana/Colorado St, then 3 Oklahoma in Columbus
E Bracket-
St John's 9 seed vs 8 Dayton, then 1 Virginia in Charlotte
Georgetown 6 seed vs 11 Tulsa, then 3 Maryland!!! in Pittsburgh

with that only 1 sweet 16 seed. Xavier and St John's facing the top 2 teams in the 2nd round. These seeds don't exactly lend themselves to long runs.

[Bill Marsh]

I'm so proud of this conference that we are getting 6 teams in (equal to the record 11 teams in the old Big East in the 16 team league). Who else could lose Pitt, Cuse, UConn, WVU, Cincy, ND, L'Ville, and still succeed right after? I'm still surprised there isn't more hype nationally about how the Big East being pronounced dead was totally false. I think they are waiting to see how we actually perform in the tourney. If we don't advance far, the media will say we are good enough to make the tourney but we are basically crap because it doesn't mean anything if you can't go deep. Since we totally crapped the bed last year in the tourney, we are due at least a few teams making runs.

5 or 6 make the dance, most bow out in the first 2 rounds, similarly to when 11 made it a few years back.

The refs in conference play however, in spite of the rules changes of the last 1-2 years, have allowed the BE to return to the overtly physical, assault n battery style of play. The no-calls are the "elephant in the room" at most BE games. Exp: Villanova's play vs Creighton - refs no-called the the "downhill" physical fouls by 'Nova, but called any/all touch fouls on Creighton. That style of play - BE "physical assault", does not transfer well to the dance, as the refs will be forced to make the foul calls due to the high profile of the tourney. 6 teams may dance, but I will be surprised if more than Villanova make the SS.

I think this is a very real problem. The national head of officials have said that the refs in the Tourney would be graded based on the new rules. So these refs that are allowing the old style play just won't be reffing in the tourney.

I would say though that just as problematic are the seeds:
MW-from Lunardi today
Xavier 9 seed vs 8 Ohio St, then 1 Kentucky in Louisville
Butler 6 seed vs 11 Purdue, then 3 Notre Dame in Columbus
W Bracket-
Nova 1 seed vs 16 St Francis NY, then 8 Ole Miss/9 NC St in Pittsburgh
Providence 6 seed vs Indiana/Colorado St, then 3 Oklahoma in Columbus
E Bracket-
St John's 9 seed vs 8 Dayton, then 1 Virginia in Charlotte
Georgetown 6 seed vs 11 Tulsa, then 3 Maryland!!! in Pittsburgh

with that only 1 sweet 16 seed. Xavier and St John's facing the top 2 teams in the 2nd round. These seeds don't exactly lend themselves to long runs.

I'd love to see Butler face Notre Dame. Butler is one of the best team in the country defending the 3. Notre Dame is one of the teams most reliant on the 3. Unstoppable Force, meet Immovable Object.

Then, of course, there's the Indiana thing as well to make it that much more interesting.

[GumbyDamnit!]

Agree. I think ND in RD #2 would be ideal for Butler.

[billyjack]

What's with thinking that the Big East tough style doesn't translate well in the NCAA's...?

Through the years, basically only Pitt and Notre Dame have underachieved. Other than that, over the last decade at least (and way beyond) the BE has had a ton of Elite-8's, Final Fours and National Championships, from many of their teams, not just the same team each year (like Duke). So people are knocking our Big East style because Turtleneck Mike Brey choked every year? Hey, even choking Jamie Dixon made an Elite-8, which is more than can be said for the bottom 90% of teams coming out of the ACC.

You know what style is a failure? The ACC style. Jumpshots. Matador defense. Tick tack fouls. Snoozefests.

You know what style is successful? The Big East style. Tough play, fighting for baskets, strong defense, junkyard dog attitude, no whining. It sets us up perfectly against teams like Louisville and Virginia. Virginia hand-checking will be irrelevant against Barlow, Dunham, Dunn, Dee Davis, Smith Rivera, Harrison, Pointer, Arcidiacono, Hilliard, etc... and those are just our guards...! Irrelevant because every game in the Big East is like a UFC battle.

Note:
In the past TEN years, no team has advanced past the Sweet-16 coming out of the ACC except for Duke and the Cheatin' Tarheels.

REPEAT: ->>>>> NO TEAM COMING OUT OF THE ACC HAS MADE AN ELITE-8 IN TEN YEARS OTHER THAN DUKE AND SOON-TO-BE-VACATED CHEATIN' UNC...!!!

The ACC softens their teams. Syracuse is already unrecognizable.

[stever20]

What's with thinking that the Big East tough style doesn't translate well in the NCAA's...?

Through the years, basically only Pitt and Notre Dame have underachieved. Other than that, over the last decade at least (and way beyond) the BE has had a ton of Elite-8's, Final Fours and National Championships, from many of their teams, not just the same team each year (like Duke). So people are knocking our Big East style because Turtleneck Mike Brey choked every year? Hey, even choking Jamie Dixon made an Elite-8, which is more than can be said for the bottom 90% of teams coming out of the ACC.

You know what style is a failure? The ACC style. Jumpshots. Matador defense. Tick tack fouls. Snoozefests.

You know what style is successful? The Big East style. Tough play, fighting for baskets, strong defense, junkyard dog attitude, no whining. It sets us up perfectly against teams like Louisville and Virginia. Virginia hand-checking will be irrelevant against Barlow, Dunham, Dunn, Dee Davis, Smith Rivera, Harrison, Pointer, Arcidiacono, Hilliard, etc... and those are just our guards...! Irrelevant because every game in the Big East is like a UFC battle.

Note:
In the past TEN years, no team has advanced past the Sweet-16 coming out of the ACC except for Duke and the Cheatin' Tarheels.

REPEAT: ->>>>> NO TEAM COMING OUT OF THE ACC HAS MADE AN ELITE-8 IN TEN YEARS OTHER THAN DUKE AND SOON-TO-BE-VACATED CHEATIN' UNC...!!!

The ACC softens their teams. Syracuse is already unrecognizable.

The problem is new rules came into play last year. If refs are calling the games in the tourney like they did starting last year, it does mitigate that physical style 100%. If we're coming from a UFC battle, and the refs are calling it tight- it is problematic. Some of the plays we've seen on here late in games get called in the tourney 100% of the time. Those are absolutely game changers.

[billyjack]

Think about running our offenses in the NCAA's. The bruising that our teams unleash on each other will make the Virginia defense feel like a mosquito bite. The Big 12 and actually the SEC are the only conferences that can match the BE in strength and size. Avoid the Big 12 and Kentucky and we as a conference are in great shape.

[stever20]

Think about running our offenses in the NCAA's. The bruising that our teams unleash on each other will make the Virginia defense feel like a mosquito bite. The Big 12 and actually the SEC are the only conferences that can match the BE in strength and size. Avoid the Big 12 and Kentucky and we as a conference are in great shape.

that's true, but in turn, if we aren't allowed to do the bruising in the tourney, that could hurt us way more.

[Bill Marsh]

Billy Jack, I love the rant. You sound fired up!