BETology 2/18

We are just 1 month away from Selection Sunday, so what better time to start The Rants annual look at the Big East Tournament.  There are only 14 teams playing in the BET this season with the departure of WVU and with UCONN ineligible for post-season play, but the conference race might be tighter than ever.  The Rant will be your daily place to find out exactly how your team stacks up against the rest of the conference as we creep closer to the BET in New York City, which begins March 12th.

STANDINGS:

Georgetown Hoyas 9-3
2-20 vs DePaul
2-23 @ Syracuse
2-27 @ UCONN
3-2 vs Rutgers
3-6 @ Villanova
3-9 vs Syracuse

Syracuse Orange 9-3

2-20 vs Providence
2-23 vs Georgetown
2-25 @ Marquette
3-2 vs Louisville
3-6 vs DePaul
3-9 @ Georgetown

Marquette Golden Eagles 9-3

2-19 @ Seton Hall
2-23 @ Villanova
2-25 vs Syracuse
3-2 vs Notre Dame
3-5 @ Rutgers
3-9 @ St. John’s

Louisville Cardinal 9-4

2-23 vs Seton Hall
2-27 @ DePaul
3-2 @ Syracuse
3-4 vs Cincinnati
3-9 vs Notre Dame

Pittsburgh Panthers 8-5
2-18 vs Notre Dame
2-24 @ St. John’s
2-27 vs South Florida
3-3 vs Villanova
3-9 @ DePaul

Notre Dame Fighting Irish 8-5

2-18 @ Pitt
2-24 vs Cincinnati
3-2 @ Marquette
3-5 vs St. John’s
3-9 @ Louisville

UCONN Huskies 7-5

2-21 vs Cincinnati
2-23 @ DePaul
2-27 vs Georgetown
3-2 @ Cincinnati
3-6 @ South Florida
3-9 vs Providence

Villanova Wildcats 7-6

2-18 vs Rutgers
2-23 vs Marquette
2-25 @ Seton Hall
3-3 @ Pitt
3-6 vs Georgetown

Cincinnati Bearcats 7-6
2-21 @ UCONN
2-24 @ Notre Dame
3-2 vs UCONN
3-4 @ Louisville
3-9 vs South Florida

St. John’s Red Storm 7-6

2-20 vs South Florida
2-24 vs Pitt
3-2 @ Providence
3-5 @ Notre Dame
3-9 vs Marquette

Providence Friars 6-7

2-20 @ Syracuse
2-23 @ Rutgers
3-2 vs St. John’s
3-5 vs Seton Hall
3-9 @ UCONN

Rutgers Scarlet Knights 4-9

2-18 @ Villanova
2-23 vs Providence
3-2 @ Georgetown
3-5 vs Marquette
3-8 @ Seton Hall

DePaul Blue Demons 2-10
2-20 @ Georgetown
2-23 vs UCONN
2-27 vs Louisville
3-3 @ South Florida
3-6 @ Syracuse
3-9 vs Pitt

Seton Hall Pirates 2-11

2-19 vs Marquette
2-23 @ Louisville
2-25 vs Villanova
3-5 @ Providence
3-8 vs Rutgers

South Florida Bulls 1-12
2-20 @ St. John’s
2-27 @ Pitt
3-3 vs DePaul
3-6 vs UCONN
3-9 @ Cincinnati

WEEKEND RECAP:

SATURDAY:

Providence- 71

Notre Dame- 54
Providence never trailed in their upset win over Notre Dame.  The Friars were paced by a game high 20 points from Kadeem Batts as well as getting a near triple double from Vincent Council, who finished with 7 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds.  Providence held the Irish to under 40% shooting and just 1 of 14 from 3 point range.  Things don’t get any easier for Notre Dame as they still have 3 more games on the road in conference play, where they are only 3-3 this season.  All 5 of the remaining games on the Irish schedule come against teams that are over .500 in Big East play.  For Providence, the win puts them 2 games up on the bottom 4 in the conference and helps them avoid playing Tuesday in New York.  The Friars still have games against Seton Hall and Rutgers remaining on their schedule, winning both of those would clinch the Friars getting a 1^st day bye in the BET.

Villanova- 70

UCONN- 61
Villanova gained a much needed road victory over UCONN dominating them in the paint outrebounding the Huskies 41-25 including 20-5 on the offensive glass.  Villanova, who trailed by 3 at the break but outscored UCONN 40-28 in the 2^nd half, now sits at 7-6 in the conference.  Nova has 3 of their 5 remaining games at home, but 2 of those 3 are against Marquette and Georgetown, who are tied atop the conference at this point.  As for UCONN, despite being ineligible to participate in the Big East Tournament, they will still play a big role in the seeding for the tournament.  UCONN still plays Georgetown once and Cincinnati twice in their final 5 games.
 
Marquette- 79
Pitt- 69
Marquette is tied for 1^st place in the Big East at 9-3 and now holds a 1.5 game lead over Pitt and Notre Dame to secure a double bye in the Big East Tournament.  The Golden Eagle beat the Panthers for the 2^nd time this season.  Marquette entered the game shooting a league worst 29% from 3 point range, but made 5 of 8 attempts in the 1^st half to jump out to a 13 point halftime lead.  The Golden Eagles out rebounded Pitt by 8 and shot 56.5% from the field for the game, becoming the 1^st team in 49 games to score 75+ points against the Panthers.  Both Marquette and Pitt have some tough games down the stretch.  Marquette plays their next two on the road, before coming home to play Syracuse and Notre Dame.  Pitt has Notre Dame and St. John’s this week, before finishing with Villanova and South Florida at home and DePaul on the road.

DePaul- 75

Rutgers- 69
In a battle of Big East bottom dwellers, the Blue Demons snapped their 9 game losing streak with a home win against Rutgers.  With the Rutgers loss, both teams are almost assuredly going to be playing on Tuesday in New York.  The top 10 teams in the conference get Tuesday off this year in NYC and Rutgers is now 2 games out of 10^th place and DePaul is 2 games back of Rutgers.

Syracuse- 76

Seton Hall- 65
The Orange have lost 4 games this season, all away from the Carrier Dome.  Saturday could have been #5, but Syracuse did what good teams do, win games even when you don’t play your best.  The good news for Syracuse, who holds a share of 1^st place with Marquette and Georgetown, is that they play 4 of their final 6 in the dome.  However, the 2 they do play on the road are against those 2 teams they are tied with a top the conference.  The loss for Seton Hall is their 7^th straight after starting 2-4 in conference play.  Seton Hall sits 14^th in the conference standings at the moment (#13 seed with UCONN ineligible) and would have to win out to get out of a Tuesday evening game in New York.

SUNDAY:

Louisville- 59

South Florida- 41
Louisville took advantage of both Notre Dame and Pitt losing on Saturday to get a little separation in the standings with a win at South Florida.  The Cardinals now hold a 1 game lead over those 2 teams for the 4^th seed and double bye in New York.  Louisville has now won 5 of 6 since losing 3 straight in mid-January.  The Cardinals also have a favorable schedule the rest of the way out, with games against Seton Hall and DePaul as the next two opponents for Louisville.  South Florida has now lost 8 in a row and are all alone in last place in the conference with just 1 Big East win.  With 5 games remaining the Bulls have already clinched a spot on the schedule for Tuesday night in New York.

TODAY:

Notre Dame @ Pitt
7:00pm ESPN

Rutgers @ Villanova

9:00pm ESPNU

THIS WEEKS GAMES:

Tuesday:
Marquette @ Seton Hall, 7:00pm ESPN Regional

Wednesday:

Providence @ Syracuse, 7:00pm ESPN2
South Florida @ St. John’s, 7:00pm ESPN Regional
DePaul @ Georgetown, 7:00pm ESPN Regional

Thursday:

Cincinnati @ UCONN, 7:00pm ESPN

Saturday:
Seton Hall @ Louisville, NOON ESPN Regional
Georgetown @ Syracuse, 4:00pm CBS
Marquette @ Villanova, 6:00pm ESPN2
UCONN @ DePaul, 8:00pm ESPN Regional
Providence @ Rutgers, 9:00pm ESPNU

Sunday:

Pitt @ St. John’s, NOON ESPN Regional
Cincinnati @ Notre Dame, 2:00pm CBS

BETology:

TUESDAY March 12th:

7:00pm
12 – DePaul
Vs
13 – Seton Hall

9:00pm

11 – Rutgers
Vs
14 – South Florida

WEDNESDAY March 13th:

NOON
8 – Cincinnati
Vs
9 - St. John’s

2:00pm

5 – Pitt
Vs
Tuesday 7:00 winner
 
7:00pm
7 – Villanova
Vs
10 - Providence

9:00pm

6 – Notre Dame
Vs
Tuesday 9:00 winner

THURSDAY March 14th:

NOON
1 – Georgetown
Vs
Wednesday NOON winner

2:00pm

4 – Louisville
Vs
Wednesday 2:00 winner

7:00pm

2 – Syracuse
Vs
Wednesday 7:00 winner

9:00pm

3 – Marquette
Vs
Wednesday 9:00 winner

Check back tomorrow for another update!