BETology 2-24

BETology 2-24
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 13-2
*Villanova Wildcats 11-3
*Pittsburgh Panthers 10-4
*West Virginia Mountaineers 10-5
Georgetown Hoyas 9-6
Louisville Cardinals 9-6
Marquette Golden Eagles 8-6
Connecticut Huskies 7-8
Seton Hall Pirates 7-8
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 6-8
Cincinnati Bearcats 6-8
South Florida Bulls 6-8
St. John’s Red Storm 5-9
Providence Friars 4-11
Rutgers Scarlet Knights 4-11
DePaul Blue Demons 1-13
**Clinched Double-bye
*Clinched opening round bye

LAST NIGHT:
SYRACUSE ORANGE 99
Providence Friars 85

Syracuse survived a scare from Providence when the Friars made 9 3-point FG's in the first half and went into the half with a 5 point lead. With the win Syracuse moved a game and a half up on Villanova for the lead in the Big East, they also clinched a double-bye in the BET. Syracuse hosts Villanova in a battle for first place this Saturday. A surprising note on this game, Syracuse only played 7 players and 2 of which played the entire game and one other played 39 of 40 minutes. Is this a possible chink in the armor of the Orange? Do they lack depth? Syracuse went on a 17-2 run over a 10 minute span at the beginning of the 2nd half, giving them a double digit they would hold the rest of the game,and Boeheim still used none of his bench. Interesting. Providence stayed in 14th place in the conference, tied with Rutgers who also lost last night.

GEORGETOWN HOYAS 70
Louisville Cardinals 60

Georgetown got a big win last night taking down the Louisville and jumping 2 spots in the standings. The win put Georgetown into a tie with the Cardinals in the win-loss columns, but it also means that Georgetown owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Cardinals. Georgetown still has three games remaining including a game at West Virginia which could put the Hoyas in a similar situation they found themselves in today. A win against the Mountaineers could again put the Hoyas into a tie, and giving them the head-to-head advantage over them as well. Louisville drops to 6th place after this loss and has two tough road games with UCONN and Marquette, both of which are within reach of catching Louisville in the standings.

SETON HALL PIRATES 76
Rutgers Scarlet Knights 70

Seton Hall gets a much needed win against in-state rival to get them out of a crowded tie in the middle of the conference. The Pirates are now a half a game up on that crowd and tied with UCONN for the coveted 8th spot in the standings which assures them a bye in the opening round of the BET. Seton Hall has a much easier schedule ahead, with Providence and another game against Rutgers still to come. The Rutgers loss assures them that they will be playing on the opening day of the BET and keeps them in 15th place in the standings.

TONIGHT:
DePaul @ Cincinnati, 7:00 pm, Big East Regional
Pitt @ Notre Dame, 7:00 pm, ESPN2
Marquette @ St. John's, 7:30 pm, Big East Regional
South Florida @ Villanova, 9:00 pm, Big East Regional

UP COMING GAMES ON NATIONAL TV:
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
MONDAY:
Georgetown @ West Virginia, 7:00 pm, ESPN
TUESDAY:
Villanova @ Cincinnati, 7:00 pm, ESPN2
South Florida @ DePaul, 7:30 pm, ESPNU
Louisville @ Marquette, 9:30 pm, ESPNU

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

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