2008 Big East Tournament Preview and Predictions
The Big East tournament is always one of our favorites to watch. There is a deep pool of quality teams and there is always one bubble team that seems like they are poised to make a run.
No. 1. Georgetown Hoyas - This year the number one seed belongs to the Georgetown Hoyas and deservedly so. They have won five straight games to end the regular season and seem to be slightly better than the rest of the league. Let’s see who else stacks up.
No. 2. Louisville Cardinals - I really like Louisville’s chances here, especially when they got their wakeup call in the loss to Georgetown. Plus, it’s hard not to love a team that cashed 14 out of their final 17 tickets to end the year. The start of the year was rough, but this team is peaking at the right time and will be dangerous down the home stretch.
No. 3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Notre Dame went under the radar a little bit and only lost six games all year. They seem to beat the teams they should, and loss to the teams at the top of the bracket, so we’ll see them go deep but not to the championship game.
No. 4. Connecticut Huskies - UConn had a down year last year and they also lost a couple of key games in the last part of the season so they were stuck with the four seed. The Huskies though have a balanced offense and should have the potential to make it to the semifinals as there doesn’t appear to be a team that poises the threat of an upset.
No. 5. West Virginia Mountineers - The Mountaineers are most likely one and done since they don’t have the defensive skills to go deep into the tournament. The run and gun might not work well going on consecutive days, and a probable matchup with UConn isn’t favorable.
No. 6. Marquette Golden Eagles - This is a team that needs to win a few games. They had one solid five-game stretch but other than that were up and down all year long. They get Notre Dame after beating up on Seton Hall and that could be a good match-up for them. The Golden Eagles beat Irish handedly at home before losing a close one down in South Bend.
No. 7. Pittsburgh Panthers - The Panthers struggled with injuries all season long and then won three of their final four games to slightly salvage their season. The bad news was they cost bettors some cash in going 3-7 ATS down the stretch, and shouldn’t make it past Louisville even if they manage to beat Cincy in the first round.
No. 8. Villanova Wildcats - Going against Villanova has been profitable for us all year long, so why not continue that stretch in the tournament. The Wildcats were 1-12 ATS from mid-December til the February before winning six of their last nine games. Too bad they get matched up with Syracuse in the first round and will likely be bounced immediately.
No. 9. Syracuse Orange - Syracuse seems to have this system down pat. They get off to horrible starts and make a late season run. Then they fall off the edge. This year it was a big win against the Hoyas before losing three straight. They’ll most likely beat the Wildcats before succumbing to a Hoyas squad looking to avenge that loss.
No. 10. Cincinnati Bearcats - The Bearcats don’t have a lot of talent, as was evidenced when they lost their last five games. Pittsburgh is going to be too much to stop that streak as Cincy goes home early.
No. 11. Seton Hall Pirates - The Pirates have gone 2-8 in their last 10 conference games and we have a tough time seeing them beating Marquette in the opener.
No. 12. Providence Friars - About the only good thing Providence did this year was beat Connecticut twice. They struggled away from home so heading to Madison Square Garden shouldn’t be easy for them. West Virginia will score a lot of points in this game.
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