BETology 2-28

BETology 2-28
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
X**Syracuse Orange 14-2
**Villanova Wildcats 12-4
*Pittsburgh Panthers 11-5
*West Virginia Mountaineers 11-5
Louisville Cardinals 9-6
Marquette Golden Eagles 9-6
Georgetown Hoyas 9-7
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 8-8
Connecticut Huskies 7-8
Seton Hall Pirates 7-8
Cincinnati Bearcats 7-9
South Florida Bulls 7-9
Rutgers Scarlet Knights 5-11
St. John’s Red Storm 5-11
Providence Friars 4-12
X-DePaul Blue Demons 1-15

**Clinched Double-bye
*Clinched opening round bye
X-Clinched Current Seeding

YESTERDAY:
NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH 78
Georgetown Hoyas 64

Luke Harangody out again and Notre Dame wins again. Luke Haragody does not help this team, he is too selfish and Mike Brey lets him get away with it. Hopefully he has been watching and seeing his teammates make plays and he realizes that he doesn't have to go everything on the offensive end of the court. The little win streak that the Irish have going on has bumped them into 8th place in the Big East standings and in position to get a first round bye in the BET. The Irish aren't off the hook yet, they finish the season with UCONN and Marquette this week. Georgetown has been one of the toughest teams to figure out this season. The Hoyas have beaten teams like Villanova, Pitt and Duke, but have lost to Rutgers, South Florida and Old Dominion. This loss all but knocked Georgetown out of the chances of getting a double bye in New York. They are currently in the 7 spot and would need lost of help to move up, but if they slip up against WVU or Cincy to finish the season they may not even hold on to there first round bye they have now.

PITT PANTHERS 71
St. John's Red Storm 64

Pitt can clinch a double bye by winning either one of their 2 final games at home this week. The Panthers host Providence Thursday and Rutgers Saturday, 1 win in those two games or 1 loss by Louisville, Marquette and Georgetown each and that double bye will be secured. The Panthers can move up to 2nd, but that is the best they can finish. St. John's has clinched a date in Madison Square Garden on Tuesday with this loss and the Notre Dame win. St. John's is currently tied with Rutgers for 13th, but Rutgers owns the tiebreaker.

WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS 76
Cincinnati Bearcats 68

West Virginia kept pace with Pitt and stayed a few games up on the field trying to get into the Top 4. WVU has a tough finish with Georgetown on Big monday this week at home before finishing with Villanova next weekend. 2 wins will assure WVU of not playing until Thursday in New York, but with two losses in those games the Mountaineers will most likely have to play on Wednesday. This loss really hurts the Bearcats dropping them all the way down to 11th in the standings. Cincy finishes with Villanova at home and a road game at Georgetown, and they have 3 teams between them and an opening day bye in NYC. Cincinnati will almost certainly have to win both games and get some help to avoid playing on the opening day.

RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS 71
DePaul Blue Demons 82

Despite this win Rutgers will still be playing on Tuesday of the Big East Tournament for the second straight year. Rutgers is currently in 13th place and can only move up if they win their last two games against Seton Hall and @ Pitt and get some help by the teams above them losing. DePaul has clinched the bottom spot in the Big East once again and will be playing the opening game in NYC Tuesday at NOON.

SOUTH FLORIDA BULLS 99
Providence Friars 93

South Florida has played to very exciting games with Providence this year. In the two games they combined for 406 points. South Florida has been fortunate enough to win both of these games. This win snaps a 2-game losing streak that put them behind a big group in the middle of the pack in the conference standings. South Florida is still sitting in 12th, but only 1 game out of 8th place. USF plays DePaul in Chicago on Tuesday and host UCONN to close out the season. If they can win those two they may be able to steal that last opening round bye from the group of teams in front of them. This loss didn't do much for Providence, who is stuck in the bottom half of the standings. Providence plays @ Pitt and versus Seton Hall, but the best they can do is a 13th place finish.

SYRACUSE ORANGE 95
Villanova Wildcats 77

Syracuse had a great performance tonight and dominated Villanova for the final 30 minutes of the game. The win also clinched the regular season title for Syracuse and the #1 seed in the Big East Tournament. Syracuse will play at NOON on Thursday. Villanova is still in 2nd place and has secured a double bye in the BET when Georgetown lost. The Wildcats can still finish anywhere from 2nd to 4th in the final standings depending on how they handle their final 2 games. Nova faces Cincinnati on the road on Tuesday before playing WVU at home Saturday.

TODAY:
Marquette @ Seton Hall, NOON, Big East Regional
Louisville @ Connecticut, 2:00 pm, CBS

UP COMING GAMES ON NATIONAL TV:
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
WEDNESDAY:
UCONN @ Notre Dame, 7:00 pm, ESPN
THURSDAY:
Seton Hall @ Rutgers, 7:00 pm, ESPN2
Providence @ Pitt, 9:00 pm, ESPN2

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

WEDNESDAY
March 10th:
NOON
8 – Notre Dame
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!