BETology 3-4

BETology 3-4
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 15-2
**Villanova Wildcats 13-4
**West Virginia Mountaineers 12-5
*Pittsburgh Panthers 11-5
*Marquette Golden Eagles 11-6
*Louisville Cardinals 10-7
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9-8
Georgetown Hoyas 9-8
South Florida Bulls 8-9
Seton Hall Pirates 7-9
Cincinnati Bearcats 7-10
Connecticut Huskies 7-10
Rutgers Scarlet Knights 5-11
St. John’s Red Storm 5-12
Providence Friars 4-12
X-DePaul Blue Demons 1-16

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

LAST NIGHT:
NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH 58
Connecticut Huskies 50

In a dreadful game to watch that included 22 turnovers and only 37 TOTAL 1st half points the Irish all but clinched an opening day bye. These two teams entered the game on the NCAA "bubble" and hopefully nobody from the selection committee was watching because neither team would get in after that performance. The two teams combined to miss 64 shots and were a combined 6-29 from 3-point range. However the way basketball works is that someone has to win and that someone was Notre Dame today. The Irish jump to 7th in the current standings and will get a Tuesday bye unless they lose Saturday AND Seton Hall wins their remaining two games AND Georgetown defeats Cincinnati on Saturday. UCONN drops to 12th after this loss and no longer has a shot at getting that opening day bye. The Huskies could get as high as 9th with a win in Tampa on Saturday and some help, but they will still be playing on Tuesday in MSG.

TONIGHT:
Seton Hall @ Rutgers, 7:00 pm, ESPN2
WHAT IS AT STAKE:
* Seton Hall can still claim one of the two remaining opening day byes if they win out and the Pirates get a little help.
* Rutgers is playing for Tuesday matchups at this point. If they lose they will be in the mix to finish anywhere from 13-15, but a win would almost certainly secure the 13th seed.

Providence @ Pitt, 9:00 pm, ESPN2
WHAT IS AT STAKE:
* Pitt needs to win 1 game to secure a double bye. If they win their remaining 2 games they can do no worse than 3rd in the final standings, 2nd if WVU beats Villanova.
* Providence is playing for a Tuesday time slot. Their fans can get on the train and get to the Garden for a Tuesday night game, so finishing 14th or 15th might be best for them.

UP COMING GAMES ON NATIONAL TV:
SATURDAY:
West Virginia @ Villanova, NOON, CBS
Syracuse @ Louisville, 2:00 pm, ESPN

BETology:
TUESDAY
March 9th:
NOON
9 – South Florida
Vs
16 – DePaul
2:00
12 – UCONN
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 – Georgetown
Vs
Tuesday NOON winner
2:00
5 – Marquette
Vs
Tuesday 2:00 winner
7:00
7 – Notre Dame
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 – Pitt
Vs
Wednesday 2:00 winner
7:00
2 – Villanova
Vs
Wednesday 7:00 winner
9:00
3 – West Virginia
Vs
Wednesday 9:00 winner

Check back tomorrow for another update!