The Reitmeyer Rant: BETology 2/28

The Rant will be your daily site to find out exactly how your team stacks up against the rest of the conference as we creep closer to the Big East Tournament in New York City, which begins March 12th.

After a night off for the Big East on Tuesday, 6 teams were back in action on Wednesday.

STANDINGS:

#Georgetown Hoyas 12-3
3-2 vs Rutgers
3-6 @ Villanova
3-9 vs Syracuse

#Louisville Cardinal 11-4

3-2 @ Syracuse
3-4 vs Cincinnati
3-9 vs Notre Dame

#Marquette Golden Eagles 11-4

3-2 vs Notre Dame
3-5 @ Rutgers
3-9 @ St. John’s

#Syracuse Orange 10-5

3-2 vs Louisville
3-6 vs DePaul
3-9 @ Georgetown

#Notre Dame Fighting Irish 10-5

3-2 @ Marquette
3-5 vs St. John’s
3-9 @ Louisville

#Pittsburgh Panthers 10-6

3-3 vs Villanova
3-9 @ DePaul

UCONN Huskies 9-6

3-2 @ Cincinnati
3-6 @ South Florida
3-9 vs Providence

#Villanova Wildcats 9-7

3-3 @ Pitt
3-6 vs Georgetown

#St. John’s Red Storm 8-7

3-2 @ Providence
3-5 @ Notre Dame
3-9 vs Marquette

#Providence Friars 7-8

3-2 vs St. John’s
3-5 vs Seton Hall
3-9 @ UCONN

#Cincinnati Bearcats 7-8

3-2 vs UCONN
3-4 @ Louisville
3-9 vs South Florida

Rutgers Scarlet Knights 4-11

3-2 @ Georgetown
3-5 vs Marquette
3-8 @ Seton Hall

Seton Hall Pirates 3-13

3-5 @ Providence
3-8 vs Rutgers

DePaul Blue Demons 2-13

3-3 @ South Florida
3-6 @ Syracuse
3-9 vs Pitt

South Florida Bulls 1-14

3-3 vs DePaul
3-6 vs UCONN
3-9 @ Cincinnati
#- Clinched Opening Round Bye

YESTERDAYS RECAP:

Pitt- 64
South Florida- 44
Once again, the Pitt defense led the way for the Panthers in their 20 point win that was much closer than that. South Florida actually led this game in the second half, but Pitt finished the game on a 36-14 run to put away the Bulls. It was the 2^nd straight game that the Panthers held their opponents under 50 points and the 5^th game this season that they have done that to a Big East opponent.

Pitt currently sits in 6^th place in the conference, but has 2 very winnable games left on their schedule (vs Villanova, @ DePaul), both of which they will be favored to win. The best Pitt could do at this point is tie for 1^st place with Georgetown, whom they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over. A more realistic goal might be just getting into the top 4 which would ensure Pitt of a double bye into the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament. While Pitt is playing their final 2 games against teams below them in the standings, the 5 teams above them in the standings will play a total of 4 games against each other. Pitt will have to hope that if they take care of business, the teams above them will beat each other up enough for Pitt to leap them in the standings.

Georgetown- 79

UCONN- 78
The Hoyas scored the final 8 points of the 2^nd overtime to extend their win streak to 10 games and their lead in the conference to a full game. Georgetown now sits alone atop the conference standings with just 3 games remaining, 2 of which will be on the Hoyas’ home court, where Georgetown is 14-1 this season. 1 more win for the Hoyas and they will at least clinch a double bye in New York. If Georgetown wins 2 of their final 3 games they will win the regular season championship in the Big East and enter the tournament as the top seed.

UCONN, although ineligible for post season play this season can continue to wreak havoc for their opponents while helping the other teams in the conference that are fitting for seeding in the conference tournament. Connecticut does not play any more games against the teams at the top of the standings, but still plays both Cincinnati and Providence, who are battling each other in the standings.

Louisville- 79

DePaul- 58
DePaul jumped out to an 8-0 lead, but then went over 5 minutes without making a field goal as Louisville rattled of 14 points. The Cardinals never looked back from that point, cruising to their 4^th straight win and 7^th in their last 8 games. Their lone loss in that span was a 5-overtime defeat at Notre Dame.

Louisville is tied for 2^nd place with Marquette as of today, with 3 games remaining on the schedule. Louisville has the most difficult schedule remaining of any of the teams near the top of the standings. The Cardinals still play 2 more games against teams in the top 5 of the conference standings, including going to Syracuse on Saturday. Louisville will probably have to win at least 1 of their final 3 games to get one of the 4 double byes, but may have win even more than that.

TODAY’S GAMES:

No Big East Game Scheduled

UPCOMING GAMES:

Saturday:
Louisville @ Syracuse, NOON CBS
UCONN @ Cincinnati, 2:00pm ESPN Regional
Notre Dame @ Marquette, 2:00pm ESPN
St. John’s @ Providence, 8:00pm ESPN Regional
Rutgers @ Georgetown, 9:00pm ESPNU

Sunday:

Villanova @ Pitt, NOON ESPN Regional
DePaul @ South Florida, 2:00pm ESPN Regional

Monday:

Cincinnati @ Louisville, 7:00pm ESPN

BETology:

TUESDAY March 12th:
7:00pm
12 – Seton Hall
Vs
13 – DePaul

9:00pm

11 – Rutgers
Vs
14 – South Florida

WEDNESDAY March 13th:

NOON
8 – St. John’s
Vs
9 - Providence