BETology 3-5

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
AND
WHAT IS AT STAKE?:
Big East Official Tie-Breaking formula
**-Connecticut Huskies 15-2
UCONN can finish either in 1st or 3rd place. There is no way the Huskies can finish in the 2 spot. UCONN can win the Big East conference title and gain the 1-seed to the conference tournament with a win in Pittsburgh on Saturday. If they lose, they would fall to the 3-seed
**-Louisville Cardinals 15-2
Louisville already knows that it will be seeded either 1 or 2, they cannot be any worse. If UCONN wins in Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon, the Cardinals are the 2-seed regardless of their game at WVU. If Pitt wins, Louisville must also win to get the 1-seed. If Pitt wins and Louisville loses, Louisville would lose out on the 3-team tiebreaker. Pitt would be 2-1, Louisville 1-1, and UCONN 1-2 in the mini-conference.
**-Pittsburgh Panthers 14-3
Pitt can finish 1, 2 or 3 still, but no worse then the #3 spot. Pitt is the 1-seed with a win at home against UCONN and a Louisville loss at WVU. Pitt finishes 2nd with a win and a Louisville win. Pitt would finish 3rd if they lose on Saturday, regardless of the outcome in Morgantown.
*-Villanova Wildcats 12-5
Villanova can finish either 4 or 5. To finish 4th Nova must either win today versus Providence or have Marquette lose on Saturday versus Syracuse. To finish 5th, the Wildcats would have to lose and Marquette would need to win.
*-Marquette Golden Eagles 12-5
Marquette can finish either 4th or 5th. To finish 4th the Eagles would need to beat Syracuse at home Saturday and have Villanova lose at home to Providence tonight. If those things do not happen Marquette will be the 5-seed and have to play on Wednesday.
*-Providence Friars 10-7
Providence will be somewhere between 6 and 8. The Friars finish 6th if they beat Villanova tonight, AND Syracuse and WVU both win on Saturday or if ONLY Syracuse wins. They can also finish with the 6-seed if all three teams lose their final game. Providence holds the 3-team tiebreaker due to having the best win when they beat Pitt. The Friars finish 7th if they win but WVU also wins and Syracuse loses. They could also finish 7th if WVU wins, but Syracuse and the Friars both lose. They finish 8th if they lose and Syracuse wins, regardless of what WVU does.
*-West Virginia Mountaineers 10-7
WVU will be somewhere between 6 and 8. WVU finish 6th if they beat Louisville Saturday and Syracuse loses to Marquette. The Mountaineers finish 7th if they win but Syracuse also wins, and Providence loses. They could also finish 7th if Syracuse wins and both Providence and WVU lose. They finish 8th if they lose and Providence wins, regardless of what Syracuse does. If Providence, Syracuse and West Virginia all lose then WVU gets the 7th seed. If all three teams win the winner of the Pitt-UCONN game would decide the outcome. If UCONN wins WVU would be 6th, if Pitt wins, WVU would 7th.
*-Syracuse Orange 10-7
Syracuse will be somewhere between 6 and 8. The Cuse finish 6th if they beat Marquette Saturday and Providence loses tonight. The Cuse finish 7th if Providence wins and WVU loses, regardless of whether the Orange win or lose. They finish 8th if WVU wins and Providence and Syracuse both lose. Syracuse also finishes in 8th if all three team finish with the same record.
x-Cincinnati Bearcats 8-9
Cincinnati has clinched the 9-seed and will be playing at Noon on Tuesday versus DePaul.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 7-10
Notre Dame could finish at the 10-seed. However, if they were to lose tomorrow against St. John’s they could fall as far as 12th. If they win tomorrow, they wrap up the 10 spot. I will update more on this if Notre Dame does lose tomorrow night.
Seton Hall Pirates 6-11
With a win at Cincinnati Saturday Seton Hall would secure the 11 spot. There is no way the Pirates can get to the 10-spot, even with an Irish loss. The Pirates hold the 3-way tie with Georgetown and St. John’s and the head-to-head over both as well.
St. John’s Red Storm 6-11
With a win tomorrow against the Irish St. John’s would move up to 10th. If they lose, we will visit that after the game. They hold the tiebreaker over Georgetown but not with Seton Hall.
Georgetown Hoyas 6-11
Georgetown can only move up if the teams ahead of them lose. Georgetown finished 3rd in the 3-team mini conference and loses the head-to-head tiebreaker with both teams also.
x-South Florida Bulls 4-13
South Florida has clinched the 14-seed and will be playing at 9:00 pm Tuesday versus the 11-seed
x-Rutgers Scarlet Knights 1-16
Rutgers has clinched the 15-seed and will be playing at 7:00 pm Tuesday versus the 10-seed
x-DePaul Blue Demons 0-17
DePaul has clinched the 16-seed and will be playing at NOON on Tuesday versus Cincinnati.
**-clinched a 2-day bye
*-clinched a 1st day bye
x-clinched current spot in standings

LAST NIGHT:
Louisville Cardinals 95
Seton Hall Pirates 78
Louisville continues to push towards at least a share of the Big East regular season crown. This win puts them even with UCONN with one game remaining in Morgantown on Saturday night. Seton Hall falls into a three-way tie for 11th place by losing last night. They do hold every tiebreaking scenario with the other two teams (St. John’s and Georgetown).

West Virginia Mountaineers 82
DePaul Blue Demons 63
WVU clinched a bye on Tuesday and DePaul clinched last place with this game. WVU is currently 7th, but can work their way to 6th if everything falls their way in the last three days of the season. DePaul, well, they just want the season to end now.

Pitt Panthers 90
Marquette Golden Eagles 75
Pitt clinched a two day bye with this win and could get up to first with a win Saturday and some help from hated rival WVU Saturday night. Marquette falls into a tough spot by losing this game. The Eagles fall into a tie with Villanova, but Nova holds the tiebreaker, which would put Marquette into the Wednesday games.

TONIGHT:
Providence Friars @ Villanova Wildcats
7:00 ESPN/ESPN2 (check local listings)

UP COMING GAMES ON NATIONAL TV:
Saturday:
UCONN @ Pitt CBS
DePaul @ Georgetown ESPNU
Louisville @ West Virginia ESPN

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

WEDNESDAY
March 11th:
NOON
8 – Syracuse
Vs
Tuesday NOON winner
2:00
5 – Marquette
Vs
Tuesday 2:00 winner
7:00
7 – West Virginia
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 – Villanova
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!