BETology 2-22

BETology 2-22
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 9th.
STANDINGS:
Big East Official Tie-Breaking formula
Syracuse Orange 12-2
Villanova Wildcats 11-3
Pittsburgh Panthers 10-4
West Virginia Mountaineers 10-4
Louisville Cardinals 9-5
Marquette Golden Eagles 8-6
Georgetown Hoyas 8-6
Cincinnati Bearcats 6-8
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 6-8
Connecticut Huskies 6-8
Seton Hall Pirates 6-8
South Florida Bulls 6-8
St. John’s Red Storm 5-9
Providence Friars 4-10
Rutgers Scarlet Knights 4-10
DePaul Blue Demons 1-13

THIS WEEKEND:
WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS 75
Seton Hall Pirates 63

Seton Hall made a run and cut the WVU lead to 4 with under 4 minutes remaining in the game but WVU woke up and put the Pirates away late. The loss drops Seton Hall into a 5-way tie for 8th place with a 6-8 conference record. Seton Hall finishes 4th of the 5 in the tie-breaker and is currently looking at the 11 seed in the BET. WVU keeps pace with Pitt at 10-4 and that last crucial double bye spot in the standings, which goes to the top 4 in the conference. WVU finishes with 4 tough games. They have home games against Cincinnati and Georgetown and road games at UCONN and Villanova still on the schedule. Seton Hall has two games with Rutgers remaining and one each against Marquette and Providence.

ST.JOHN'S RED STORM 74
South Florida Bulls 58

This was a tough loss for South Florida, not because it was a devastating loss for their NCAA chances, but it dropped them from 8th to 12th for the Big East Tournament. Going into the game they were in position to get a bye in New York, now they will have a lot of work to do to get back to that spot with just 4 games remaining. In those 4 games USF has games @ Villanova, vs Providence, @ DePaul and vs UCONN. St. John's helped their seeding in the BET, but it may be too little too late. StJ is currently in 13th, one game ahead of Rutgers and Providence and just one game behind that 5-way tie sitting at 6-8.

LOUISVILLE CARDINALS 68
DePaul Blue Demons 59

Louisville as expected, defeated a pretty lifeless DePaul team. Louisville is currently sitting in the 5 slot for the BET and it will be difficult for them to get into the top 4 for a double bye due to the tiebreakers. Louisville is 1 game back of WVU and Pitt, but lost to both teams so it is almost like they are 2 back with just 4 to go. Louisville sits 1 game ahead of both Marquette and Georgetown, and face both of those teams in their remaining games. Louisville hosts Georgetown tomorrow and travels to Milwaukee to play Marquette next Tuesday. DePaul has pretty much wrapped up the 16 seed in the BET, their magic number for clinching that spot is 1.

UCONN HUSKIES 76
Rutgers Scarlet Knights 58

With two straight wins UCONN has found itself in a 5-way tie for the critical 8th spot for the BET which ensures a bye on day one of the tournament. Due to the tiebreakers UCONN currently sits in 10th, but with games remaining against Notre Dame and South Florida, two teams they are tied with, they can certainly improve their position. Rutgers dropped to 15th with this loss. The Scarlet Knights are tied with Providence, but lose the tiebreaker due to a Providence win in the teams only match-up this season.

PITT PANTHERS 70
Villanova Wildcats 65

Pitt becomes the only team in the country this season to claim wins against 3 different Top 5 teams this season, but it also helped its cause in the Big East standings with this win. Pitt could actually be playing themselves into the top spot in the BET if they finish strong. No one on their remaining schedule has a winning record in conference play and both teams in front of them (VILL, SYR) have a tough homestretch including playing each other. On top of that, Pitt has beaten all 3 of the teams tied or ahead of them, thus giving them the tiebreaker with all of them. Villanova dropped back to the 2 spot with this loss and need to bounce back quickly. Nova has an absolutely brutal finishing schedule still with games vs USF, @ Syracuse, @ Cincy and vs WVU to close the season.

MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES 79
Cincinnati Bearcats 76
(OT)

This win by Marquette jumps them ahead of Georgetown in the seeding since Marquette won the only match-up between the two teams in early January. I don't think Marquette will be able to get to the Top 4 for a double bye, but they are sitting pretty for an off day on Tuesday. Cincinnati however is not sitting pretty. Cincy finds themselves stuck in a 5-way tie for the last bye spot. They are currently holding that 8th spot with a favorable record against the other teams tied with them, but any type of slip up could send them way down the standings. Considering Cincy finishes with WVU, Nova and Georgetown as their last three games, holding that final bye spot may be difficult.

TONIGHT:
West Virginia @ UCONN, 7:00 pm, ESPN

UP COMING GAMES ON NATIONAL TV:
TUESDAY:
Syracuse @ Providence, 7:00 pm, ESPNU
Georgetown @ Louisville, 7:00 pm, ESPN2
WEDNESDAY:
Pitt @ Notre Dame, 7:00 pm, ESPN2
SATURDAY:
Notre Dame @ Georgetown, NOON, CBS
DePaul @ Rutgers, 4:00 pm, ESPNU
Villanova @ Syracuse, 9:00 pm, ESPN
SUNDAY:
Louisville @ UCONN, 2:00 pm, CBS

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

WEDNESDAY
March 10th:
NOON
8 – Cincinnati
Vs
Tuesday NOON winner
2:00
5 – Louisville
Vs
Tuesday 2:00 winner
7:00
7 – Georgetown
Vs
Tuesday 7:00 winner
9:00
6 – Marquette
Vs
Tuesday 9:00 winner

THURSDAY
March 11th:
NOON
1 – Syracuse
Vs
Wednesday NOON winner
2:00
4 – West Virginia
Vs
Wednesday 2:00 winner
7:00
2 – Villanova
Vs
Wednesday 7:00 winner
9:00
3 – Pitt
Vs
Wednesday 9:00 winner

Check back tomorrow for another update!