2-17 BETology

Just when you think that things are starting to sort themselves out in the Big East we have a day like yesterday that shakes things up again. I’m not sure you can call UCONN winning at home against Georgetown an upset, but Louisville losing to Cincinnati certainly is an upset. Let’s take a better look at what happened last night.

WEDNESDAY’S RECAP:
CONNECTICUT HUSKIES 68
Georgetown Hoyas 60
Kemba Walker picked a great time to end his shooting struggles. Walker had been shooting just over 30% from the field since mid-January, but went off for 31 points last night, he also added 10 assists to get his teammates involved. The Huskies entered this game the 7 seed in the conference against the red hot Hoyas, who have won 8 straight and came in in 3rd place. UCONN has now won 2 straight and 3 of 4 in the conference and this win brings them into a 4-way tie for the 4th and final double bye spot in the BET. Georgetown, despite this loss, remains in 3rd place in the conference, but now have little room for mistake. The Hoyas hold a half game lead over that group of 4 in 4th place. Georgetown has only 4 games remaining, all of which are very winnable. They still play Cincinnati twice, as well as a road game in South Florida and hosting Syracuse. Connecticut has a much tougher schedule down the stretch, as they still have 5 games, 3 of which are on the road.

CINCINNATI BEARCATS 63
Louisville Cardinals 54
The Bearcats needed this win big time. Having lost 3 of 4 games before last nights victory Cincinnati was heading the wrong direction at the wrong time. Beating rival Louisville maybe be just what they needed to get them kick started down this closing stretch. With 5 games remaining, Cincy has 3 on the road and only the game at Providence would be one they might be favored to win. The others should be 4 battles, that I would think the Bearcats need to win 3 of 4 if they want to make the NCAA Tournament. As for the Big East Tournament, Cincy is one of 7 teams all within 1 game of each other ranging from 4th place to 10th place. For Louisville this loss drops them into that group as well. The Cardinals had been playing as well as any team in the conference and worked their way up to the 4th spot in the standings. Now they share that 4th spot with 3 other teams. Louisville has a very manageable schedule in their last 5 games. Their toughest 2 games remaining are home games, against UCONN and Pitt.

PITT PANTHERS 67
South Florida Bulls 55
This is the only game from the schedule that went as many expected last night, and that isn’t even entirely true. Yes Pitt won, but many would have thought they would have won more convincingly being that they were back at home. Then again, the Panthers were playing their 3rd straight game without leading scorer Ashton Gibbs and this game kind of set up as a trap game being the lone home game in a tough 4 game stretch. Pitt now holds a 2 game lead over the rest of the conference at this point, with just 5 games remaining. South Florida has now lost 5 straight and have all but wrapped up a date in The Garden on opening day of the tournament. The Bulls do have some winnable games remaining and could change their seeding, but most likely won’t be able to do enough to avoid that Tuesday game. USF plays Georgetown and Pitt, but both at home as well as road games against DePaul and St. John’s.

STANDINGS:
Big East Official Tie-Breaking formula
Pitt Panthers 12-1
Remaining Schedule:
2/19 @ St. John’s
2/24 vs West Virginia
2/27 @ Louisville
3/2 @ South Florida
3/5 vs Villanova
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 10-3
Remaining Schedule:
2/19 @ West Virginia
2/23 @ Providence
2/26 vs Seton Hall
2/28 vs Villanova
3/5 @ Connecticut
Georgetown Hoyas 9-5
Remaining Schedule:
2/19 @ South Florida
2/23 vs Cincinnati
2/26 vs Syracuse
3/5 @ Cincinnati
Louisville Cardinals 8-5
Remaining Schedule:
2/18 vs Connecticut
2/22 @ Rutgers
2/27 vs Pitt
3/2 vs Providence
3/5 @ West Virginia
St. John’s Red Storm 8-5
Remaining Schedule:
2/19 vs Pitt
2/23 vs DePaul
2/26 @ Villanova
3/2 @ Seton Hall
3/5 vs South Florida
Villanova Wildcats 8-5
Remaining Schedule:
2/19 @ DePaul
2/21 vs Syracuse
2/26 vs St. John’s
2/28 @ Notre Dame
3/5 @ Pitt
UCONN Huskies 8-5
Remaining Schedule:
2/18 @ Louisville
2/24 vs Marquette
2/27@ Cincinnati
3/2 @ West Virginia
3/5 vs Notre Dame
Syracuse Orange 8-6
Remaining Schedule:
2/19 vs Rutgers
2/21 @ Villanova
2/26 @ Georgetown
3/5 vs DePaul
West Virginia Mountaineers 7-6
Remaining Schedule:
2/19 vs Notre Dame
2/24 @ Pitt
2/27 @ Rutgers
3/2 vs Connecticut
3/5 vs Louisville
Cincinnati Bearcats 7-6
Remaining Schedule:
2/19 @ Providence
2/23 @ Georgetown
2/27 vs Connecticut
3/2 @ Marquette
3/5 vs Georgetown
Marquette Golden Eagles 6-7
Remaining Schedule:
2/19 vs Seton Hall
2/24 @ Connecticut
2/27 vs Providence
3/2 vs Cincinnati
3/5 @ Seton Hall
Seton Hall Pirates 5-9
Remaining Schedule:
2/19 @ Marquette
2/26 @ Notre Dame
3/3 vs St. John’s
3/5 vs Marquette
Rutgers Scarlet Knights 4-9
Remaining Schedule:
2/19 @ Syracuse
2/22 vs Louisville
2/27 vs West Virginia
3/2 @ DePaul
3/5 @ Providence
Providence Friars 3-9
Remaining Schedule:
2/17 vs DePaul
2/19 vs Cincinnati
2/23 vs Notre Dame
2/27 @ Marquette
3/2 @ Louisville
3/5 vs Rutgers
South Florida Bulls 2-12
Remaining Schedule:
2/16 @ Pitt
2/19 vs Georgetown
2/26 @ DePaul
3/2 vs Pitt
3/5 @ St. John’s
DePaul Blue Demons 0-12
Remaining Schedule:
2/17 @ Providence
2/19 vs Villanova
2/23 @ St. John’s
2/26 vs South Florida
3/2 vs Rutgers
3/5 @ Syracuse

TODAY:
DePaul @ Providence 9:00 pm, ESPN2

THIS WEEKS GAMES ON TV:
Friday - Connecticut @ Louisville 9:00 pm, ESPN
Saturday - Pitt @ St. John’s NOON, ESPN
Saturday - Notre Dame @ WVU 1:00 pm, CBS

BETology:
TUESDAY
March 8th:
NOON
9 – West Virginia
Vs
16 - DePaul
2:00
12 – Seton Hall
Vs
13 – Rutgers
7:00
10 – Cincinnati
Vs
15 – South Florida
9:00
11 – Marquette
Vs
14 – Providence

WEDNESDAY
March 9th:
NOON
8 – Syracuse
Vs
Tuesday NOON winner
2:00
5 - St. John’s
Vs
Tuesday 2:00 winner
7:00
7 – Connecticut
Vs
Tuesday 7:00 winner
9:00
6 – Villanova
Vs
Tuesday 9:00 winner

THURSDAY
March 10th:
NOON
1 - Pitt
Vs
Wednesday NOON winner
2:00
4 – Louisville
Vs
Wednesday 2:00 winner
7:00
2 – Notre Dame
Vs
Wednesday 7:00 winner
9:00
3 – Georgetown
Vs
Wednesday 9:00 winner

Check back tomorrow for another update!