BETology 2-27

This is The Rant’s daily look in at the Big East conference as we creep closer to the BET in New York City, which begins March 10th.

STANDINGS:
Big East Official Tie-Breaking formula
**-Connecticut Huskies 14-2
*-Louisville Cardinals 13-2
*-Pittsburgh Panthers 12-3
*-Marquette Golden Eagles 12-3
*-Villanova Wildcats 11-4
Providence Friars 9-7
Cincinnati Bearcats 8-7
Syracuse Orange 8-7
West Virginia Mountaineers 8-7
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 7-8
Seton Hall Pirates 6-9
Georgetown Hoyas 5-10
T-St. John’s Red Storm 4-11
T-South Florida Bulls 3-12
T-Rutgers Scarlet Knights 1-14
T-DePaul Blue Demons 0-15
**-clinched a 2-day bye
*-clinched a 1st day bye
T-clinched a Tuesday game

LAST NIGHT:
Cincinnati Bearcats 65
West Virginia Mountaineers 61
This was a huge game for both teams. Cincinnati jumps from 9th to 7th with the win and based on tiebreakers. WVU goes from 6th to 9th. There are now five teams that all within 1½ games in the 6-10 spots, with eight days to go in the regular season. The big thing about these spots is that the teams that finish 6th, 7th and 8th get a day off and will not have to play until Wednesday. They last two teams will have to play an extra game and start play on Tuesday. Cincinnati, who is ahead of Syracuse for the time being based on about the 4th tiebreaker will go to Syracuse a face the Orange this Sunday in a game that should go a long way to determining these middle seeds. The Bearcats then finish with a trip to Tampa for South Florida and a home finale against Seton Hall (who could fight their way into this battle as well). WVU is also making a trip to South Florida to take on the Bulls on Sunday; they will then finish with two home games. First will be DePaul, then the Mountaineers close out the Big East regular season with ESPN and the GameDay crew when they welcome Louisville to the Coliseum.

GAMES THIS WEEKEND:
SATURDAY
Georgetown Hoyas @ Villanova Wildcats
NOON ESPN

St. John’s Red Storm @ DePaul Blue Demons
NOON Big Game of the Week (check local listings)

Notre Dame Fighting Irish @ UCONN Huskies
2:00 CBS

Pitt Panthers @ Seton Hall Pirates
8:30 Regional TV

SUNDAY
Marquette Golden Eagles @ Louisville Cardinals
NOON CBS

Cincinnati Bearcats @ Syracuse Orange
2:00 Regional TV

Providence Friars @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights
2:00 ESPNU

West Virginia Mountaineers @ South Florida Bulls
4:00 Regional TV

UP COMING GAMES ON NATIONAL TV:
Saturday:
Georgetown @ Villanova ESPN
Notre Dame @ UCONN CBS
Sunday:
Marquette @ Louisville CBS
Providence @ Rutgers ESPNU
Monday:
Villanova @ Notre Dame ESPN
Tuesday:
Rutgers @ Syracuse ESPN 360
Cincinnati @ South Florida ESPNU
Wednesday:
Marquette @ Pitt ESPN2
Thursday:
Providence @ Villanova ESPN/ESPN2

BETology:
TUESDAY
March 10th:
NOON
9 – West Virginia
Vs
16 – DePaul
2:00
12 – Georgetown
Vs
13 – St. John’s
7:00
10 – Notre Dame
Vs
15 – Rutgers
9:00
11 – Seton Hall
Vs
14 – South Florida

WEDNESDAY
March 11th:
NOON
8 – Syracuse
Vs
Tuesday NOON winner
2:00
5 – Villanova
Vs
Tuesday 2:00 winner
7:00
7 – Cincinnati
Vs
Tuesday 7:00 winner
9:00
6 – Providence
Vs
Tuesday 9:00 winner

THURSDAY
March 12th:
NOON
1 – UCONN
Vs
Wednesday NOON winner
2:00
4 – Marquette
Vs
Wednesday 2:00 winner
7:00
2 – Louisville
Vs
Wednesday 7:00 winner
9:00
3 – Pitt
Vs
Wednesday 9:00 winner

Check back tomorrow for another update!