conference tournies

[stever20]

so what does everyone think for the conference tourney....

10 Creighton over 7 DePaul
8 Seton Hall over 9 Marquette

1 Nova over 8 Seton Hall
5 St John's over 4 Providence
2 Georgetown over 10 Creighton
6 Xavier over 3 Butler

1 Nova over 5 St John's(hope Wright really doesn't run up the score- don't know if we could handle it)
6 Xavier over 2 Georgetown

1 Nova over 6 Xavier

The only drawback to my projection is Nova would miss Georgetown or Butler in the title game- I don't think it would matter for the #1 seed- but you never know.

[gmoser1210]

9 Marquette over 8 Seton Hall
10 Creighton over 7 DePaul

1 Villanova over 9 Marquette
5 St. John's over 4 Providence
2 Georgetown over 10 Creighton
3 Butler over 6 Xavier

1 Villanova over 5 St. John's
3 Butler over 2 Georgetown

1 Villanova over 3 Butler

[Bill Marsh]

9 Marquette over 8 Seton Hall
10 Creighton over 7 DePaul

1 Villanova over 9 Marquette
5 St. John's over 4 Providence
2 Georgetown over 10 Creighton
3 Butler over 6 Xavier

1 Villanova over 5 St. John's
3 Butler over 2 Georgetown

1 Villanova over 3 Butler

My picks are identical to Moser's because he's a smart guy.

[stever20]

From ESPN:
If not Villanova ...
Greenberg: I’d say it’s Providence. I’m big on coaches that connect with their teams, and Ed Cooley does that. Kris Dunn has had a terrific season and Cooley has brought along LaDontae Henton from a power forward to an elite scorer. Tyler Harris has embraced his role, Ben Bentil has really had a nice freshman season and Cooley has a calmness about him that his team responds to.
Fraschilla: Villanova has had a sensational season and is deservedly the heavy favorite, but this league has a number of teams that can catch fire over three days. The most likely, to me, are the Butler Bulldogs because they are an outstanding defensive team. They keep opponents off the glass and defend the 3-point shot extremely well.

My dark-horse pick is ...

Fraschilla: I wouldn’t rule out Ed Cooley’s Providence team, which won the Big East a year ago. The Friars have been very inconsistent down the stretch of their season but have the capability of catching fire like they did last year. This is Henton’s swan song, and he’s capable of carrying the Friars through a long tournament run.
Greenberg: Georgetown, because I like the mixture of youth and experience. It'll be hard for Josh Smith to play that many consecutive games over the weekend, but he’s different than anyone else in the league. L.J. Peak is a relentless guard, D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera makes shots, Jabril Trawick is a lockdown defender and this team has a toughness about it. I would not be shocked to see Georgetown win the tournament title.

[Bill Marsh]

If it's not Villanova . . .

Despite Saturday's blow out loss, St. John's has been playing at a high level down the stretch and after all, the Garden is their home court. Should the Johnnies get to the semi's, there should be a lot of New Yorkers in the arena to cheer for them. They are the ones likely to pick up seats off the secondary market, which become available after teams are eliminated. I think that St. John's has to be in the conversation of teams capable of running the table. Of course I wouldn't expect Fran to say that because he probably still has a bad taste in his mouth from his experience at SJU.

[stever20]

If it's not Villanova . . .

Despite Saturday's blow out loss, St. John's has been playing at a high level down the stretch and after all, the Garden is their home court. Should the Johnnies get to the semi's, there should be a lot of New Yorkers in the arena to cheer for them. They are the ones likely to pick up seats off the secondary market, which become available after teams are eliminated. I think that St. John's has to be in the conversation of teams capable of running the table. Of course I wouldn't expect Fran to say that because he probably still has a bad taste in his mouth from his experience at SJU.

I think given St John's recent success or lack thereof makes it really hard to pick St John's.

1 advantage crowd wise Nova has over St John's is time when they play. Nova playing at noon before St John's plays. So Nova fans could get tickets maybe from Seton Hall or Marquette fans.

[stever20]

What Ken Pomeroy said about the Big East tourney:
Big East log5

by Ken Pomeroy on Monday, March 9, 2015

The Big East tournament has been held in Madison Square Garden every year since 1983, the longest-running show in college hoops. While being excluded from “Power 5” status, the conference is currently ranked second in my system and is going to be well-represented in the NCAA tournament. But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t use more publicity.

Villanova has been one of the most anonymous great teams in recent memory, however there’s rational explanation for this. They have a very balanced offense that doesn’t feature a go-to guy, and they don’t have a player highly placed on mock draft boards. And even though they dominated Big East play, finishing 16-2, the Wildcats aren’t overwhelming favorites here because of the collection of teams between 20 and 40 in my rankings.

Plus, St. John’s gets home-court advantage, although they may not get as much of a boost as they do for a regular-season Big East game. The Red Storm has only won the tournament three times at MSG and their last title came in 2000.

There’s almost no bid drama going on here. The Big East is projected to send six of its teams to the dance, and Xavier is currently the lowest projected seed with a nine. It would take one of the bottom four seeds to steal a bid, and their collective chances are about 1%.
Big East
All-kenpom.com: Daniel Ochefu, Villanova (kPOY); Darrun Hilliard, Villanova; Kris Dunn, Providence; JayVaughn Pinkston, Villanova; D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, Georgetown.

March 11-14 at St. John’s.
Qtrs Semis Final Champ
1 Villanova 100 91.7 67.5 51.7
2 Georgetown 100 80.3 42.1 13.8
5 St. John's 100 66.1 23.0 13.6
3 Butler 100 53.6 29.5 9.5
6 Xavier 100 46.4 24.0 7.1
4 Providence 100 33.9 7.7 3.3
10 Creighton 65.2 14.9 3.7 0.5
8 Seton Hall 60.1 5.7 1.3 0.4
9 Marquette 39.9 2.6 0.4 0.08
7 DePaul 34.8 4.8 0.7 0.06

[Bill Marsh]

If it's not Villanova . . .

Despite Saturday's blow out loss, St. John's has been playing at a high level down the stretch and after all, the Garden is their home court. Should the Johnnies get to the semi's, there should be a lot of New Yorkers in the arena to cheer for them. They are the ones likely to pick up seats off the secondary market, which become available after teams are eliminated. I think that St. John's has to be in the conversation of teams capable of running the table. Of course I wouldn't expect Fran to say that because he probably still has a bad taste in his mouth from his experience at SJU.

I think given St John's recent success or lack thereof makes it really hard to pick St John's.

1 advantage crowd wise Nova has over St John's is time when they play. Nova playing at noon before St John's plays. So Nova fans could get tickets maybe from Seton Hall or Marquette fans.

Are you talking about success. Or lack of it in the BE tournament. I'm talking about about this year's team, not past years.

I did have a hard time picking anyone other than Villanova, but I didn't have a hard time at all picking St. John's as the next most likely team to get hot for 3 days.

As for Villanova fans having first crack at the tickets, good point. I just think that there are a lot more New Yorkers in NY than anyone else, and if there's a local rooting interest in the semi's, then they'll be more likely to buy tickets and root for .st. John's. If it's like last heat, the tournament won't be sold out, so it's unlikely that Villanova fans buying earlier will be able to block .st. John's fans from getting tickets. There should be plenty available.

[stever20]

If it's not Villanova . . .

Despite Saturday's blow out loss, St. John's has been playing at a high level down the stretch and after all, the Garden is their home court. Should the Johnnies get to the semi's, there should be a lot of New Yorkers in the arena to cheer for them. They are the ones likely to pick up seats off the secondary market, which become available after teams are eliminated. I think that St. John's has to be in the conversation of teams capable of running the table. Of course I wouldn't expect Fran to say that because he probably still has a bad taste in his mouth from his experience at SJU.

I think given St John's recent success or lack thereof makes it really hard to pick St John's.

1 advantage crowd wise Nova has over St John's is time when they play. Nova playing at noon before St John's plays. So Nova fans could get tickets maybe from Seton Hall or Marquette fans.

Are you talking about success. Or lack of it in the BE tournament. I'm talking about about this year's team, not past years.

I did have a hard time picking anyone other than Villanova, but I didn't have a hard time at all picking St. John's as the next most likely team to get hot for 3 days.

As for Villanova fans having first crack at the tickets, good point. I just think that there are a lot more New Yorkers in NY than anyone else, and if there's a local rooting interest in the semi's, then they'll be more likely to buy tickets and root for .st. John's. If it's like last heat, the tournament won't be sold out, so it's unlikely that Villanova fans buying earlier will be able to block .st. John's fans from getting tickets. There should be plenty available.

Didn't phrase it right. Success vs Nova for St John's- or lack there of. Nova has just owned St John's recently. 3 straight years sweeping St John's- with only 2 games in single digits(with one of those 7 points). Also 3-0 @ MSG in that timeframe(it's been over 10 years since St John's beat Nova at MSG).

[hoyahooligan]

From ESPN:
If not Villanova ...
Greenberg: I’d say it’s Providence. I’m big on coaches that connect with their teams, and Ed Cooley does that. Kris Dunn has had a terrific season and Cooley has brought along LaDontae Henton from a power forward to an elite scorer. Tyler Harris has embraced his role, Ben Bentil has really had a nice freshman season and Cooley has a calmness about him that his team responds to.
Fraschilla: Villanova has had a sensational season and is deservedly the heavy favorite, but this league has a number of teams that can catch fire over three days. The most likely, to me, are the Butler Bulldogs because they are an outstanding defensive team. They keep opponents off the glass and defend the 3-point shot extremely well.

My dark-horse pick is ...

Fraschilla: I wouldn’t rule out Ed Cooley’s Providence team, which won the Big East a year ago. The Friars have been very inconsistent down the stretch of their season but have the capability of catching fire like they did last year. This is Henton’s swan song, and he’s capable of carrying the Friars through a long tournament run.
Greenberg: Georgetown, because I like the mixture of youth and experience. It'll be hard for Josh Smith to play that many consecutive games over the weekend, but he’s different than anyone else in the league. L.J. Peak is a relentless guard, D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera makes shots, Jabril Trawick is a lockdown defender and this team has a toughness about it. I would not be shocked to see Georgetown win the tournament title.

How on earth can you consider the #2 seed a dark horse?!

Honestly the only dark horses in my mind would be one of the bottom 4 seeds. None of the other 6 would be shocking or qualify as dark horses.