BETology 2/24

The Rant will be your daily site to find out exactly how your team stacks up against the rest of the conference as we creep closer to the Big East Tournament in New York City, which begins March 12th. 

Saturday is known as “Moving Day” in the golf world as players try to set themselves up to be in the best possible position going into the final day of the tournament.  This weekend was the Big East conferences version of Moving Day.  The top 14 teams in the conference are in action this weekend, 10 played yesterday and 4 more go today.  We had a battle for 1^st place, we had upsets and we had multiple match-ups between teams fighting with each other for seeding in next month’s conference tournament.  With just two full weeks remaining after this weekend every game becomes more important and every win is a chance to improve your seeding for New York. 

STANDINGS:

Georgetown Hoyas 11-3
2-27 @ UCONN
3-2 vs Rutgers
3-6 @ Villanova
3-9 vs Syracuse

Syracuse Orange 10-4

2-25 @ Marquette
3-2 vs Louisville
3-6 vs DePaul
3-9 @ Georgetown

Louisville Cardinal 10-4

2-27 @ DePaul
3-2 @ Syracuse
3-4 vs Cincinnati
3-9 vs Notre Dame

Marquette Golden Eagles 10-4

2-25 vs Syracuse
3-2 vs Notre Dame
3-5 @ Rutgers
3-9 @ St. John’s

Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9-5

2-24 vs Cincinnati
3-2 @ Marquette
3-5 vs St. John’s
3-9 @ Louisville

UCONN Huskies 9-5

2-27 vs Georgetown
3-2 @ Cincinnati
3-6 @ South Florida
3-9 vs Providence

Villanova Wildcats 9-6

2-25 @ Seton Hall
3-3 @ Pitt
3-6 vs Georgetown

Pittsburgh Panthers 8-6

2-24 @ St. John’s
2-27 vs South Florida
3-3 vs Villanova
3-9 @ DePaul

St. John’s Red Storm 8-6

2-24 vs Pitt
3-2 @ Providence
3-5 @ Notre Dame
3-9 vs Marquette

Cincinnati Bearcats 7-7

2-24 @ Notre Dame
3-2 vs UCONN
3-4 @ Louisville
3-9 vs South Florida

Providence Friars 7-8

3-2 vs St. John’s
3-5 vs Seton Hall
3-9 @ UCONN

Rutgers Scarlet Knights 4-11

3-2 @ Georgetown
3-5 vs Marquette
3-8 @ Seton Hall

DePaul Blue Demons 2-12

2-27 vs Louisville
3-3 @ South Florida
3-6 @ Syracuse
3-9 vs Pitt

Seton Hall Pirates 2-13

2-25 vs Villanova
3-5 @ Providence
3-8 vs Rutgers

South Florida Bulls 1-13

2-27 @ Pitt
3-3 vs DePaul
3-6 vs UCONN
3-9 @ Cincinnati

YESTERDAYS RECAP:

Louisville- 79

Seton Hall- 61
Maybe it was the noon start for Louisville, but the Cardinals didn’t get off to the best start against Seton Hall on Saturday afternoon.  The Hall had a 2 point lead in the 1^st half before Louisville got going and ended the half on a 23-7 run.  Louisville shot 7 of 15 from 3 point range and cruised in the 2^nd half to an 18 point victory.  Louisville has now won 6 of their last 7 games and moves into a 3-way tie for 2^nd place in the conference and 1 full game ahead of Notre Dame in the fight for the top 4 and the double bye in New York.  The Cardinal still has to play Syracuse, which is one of the teams they are tied with, as well as Notre Dame in the final 2 weeks of the regular season.  The loss for Seton Hall clinches that they will be playing the opening day of the Big East Tournament.  Seton Hall has lost 9 straight and 13 of 14 conference games since beating DePaul in the conference opener.

Georgetown- 57

Syracuse- 46
Georgetown vs Syracuse has been the best rivalry in the Big East conference so it is only fitting that the final conference game between the two teams in the Carrier Dome set an NCAA attendance record.  Both teams entered the game with identical 10-3 conference records, but it was Otto Porter, Jr. and the Hoyas who left Syracuse in 1^st place all by themselves.  Porter had a career high 33 points in the win for the Hoyas.  Georgetown has now won 9 in a row since losing to South Florida in mid-January.  The Hoyas’ schedule will not make it easy for Georgetown to clinch the regular season title however.  Georgetown still plays road games against UCONN and Villanova as well as a return match-up with Syracuse the last game of the season.  The Hoyas’ do have a home game against Rutgers sandwiched between those road games, but that seems to be the only sure-fire win left on their schedule.  Things don’t get any easier for Syracuse after the home loss, the first in 39 games for Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.  Syracuse travels to Marquette Monday and plays Louisville on Saturday at home.  After the loss the Orange now finds themselves tied with both of those 2 teams for 2^nd place in the conference.
 
Marquette- 60
Villanova- 56
Villanova now has victories against Marquette, Syracuse and Louisville after a much needed home victory of the Golden Eagles Saturday.  Nova has won 5 of 6 and now find themselves with an outside chance of getting a double bye in New York.  The Wildcats would probably have to win out for that to happen, meaning wins over Seton Hall, Pitt, and Georgetown, but it is not out of the realm of possibilities with how Jay Wright has his team playing.  Marquette has now lost 6 true road games this season after losing in Philadelphia on Saturday.  The good news for Marquette is that their next two games are at home.  The bad news is that those two games are against Syracuse and Notre Dame, both teams that will be battling the Golden Eagles for a top 4 seed in next months conference tournament.  More bad news for Marquette is that they close the regular season on the road, with games at Rutgers and St. John’s.  Marquette is just 3-4 on the road in the Big East this year.

UCONN- 81

DePaul- 69
UCONN can’t play in New York, and the way they are playing, I’m sure most teams are very happy they are ineligible.  UCONN has won 7 of 9 and by doing so they are helping the teams in the pack stay close to the leaders.  Every time the Huskies step on the court, every other team in the Big East should be rooting for them to win.  The more losses UCONN hands to the rest of the conference the better for the team you root for.  UCONN can still play a major factor in how the conference plays out with a home game against 1^st place Georgetown on Wednesday.  DePaul clinched an opening round game in the Big East Tournament once again.  The Blue Demons have yet to earn a bye in the conference tournament since joining in 2005.

Providence- 76

Rutgers- 72
The Friars clinched an extra day off in New York with the road win in New Jersey on Saturday.  Providence has 3 winnable games remaining on their schedule to help them as they fight for seeding in New York, but even if they win out, the Friars are unlikely to get much above a 7 seed in New York.  Rutgers has now lost 9 of their last 10 games, assuring them of a Tuesday game in New York City.  The Scarlet Knights hold a game plus lead over Seton Hall and DePaul for the 11-seed and as of now, would be playing South Florida in the opening round of the Big East Tournament, but there is still 2 weeks left and we all know anything can happen in that amount of time.

TOMORROW:

Pitt @ St. John’s
NOON ESPN Regional

Cincinnati @ Notre Dame

2:00pm CBS

UPCOMING GAMES:

Monday:
Syracuse @ Marquette, 7:00pm ESPN
Villanova @ Seton Hall, 9:00pm ESPNU

Wednesday:
Georgetown @ UCONN, 7:00pm ESPN2
South Florida @ Pitt, 7:00pm ESPN Regional
Louisville @ DePaul, 9:00pm ESPNU

BETology:
TUESDAY March 12th:
7:00pm
12 – DePaul
Vs
13 – Seton Hall

9:00pm

11 – Rutgers
Vs
14 – South Florida

WEDNESDAY March 13th:

NOON
8 – St. John’s
Vs
9 - Cincinnati

2:00

5 – Notre Dame
Vs
Tuesday 7:00 winner

7:00

7 – Pitt
Vs
10 - Providence

9:00

6 – Villanova
Vs
Tuesday 9:00 winner

THURSDAY March 14th:

NOON
1 – Georgetown
Vs
Wednesday NOON winner

2:00

4 – Marquette
Vs
Wednesday 2:00 winner

7:00

2 – Syracuse
Vs
Wednesday 7:00 winner
 
9:00
3 – Louisville
Vs
Wednesday 9:00 winner

Check back tomorrow for another update!