This morning, as I sat sipping my coffee and combing through internet headlines, I was pretty shocked to see all this talk about the Big East’s performance yesterday. Mostly, I didn’t realize that major college conferences played as one team in the NCAA tournament. From ESPN:
The Big East’s Bad Day: Where We Throw Perspective Out The Window
↵↵Let’s face it: It was a dreadful day for what most consider the nation’s best conference. […]
↵The Big East still can avenge its poor performance with wins by top-seeded Syracuse, ninth-seeded Louisville, third-seeded Pitt and second-seeded West Virginia on Friday.
↵But for one day, the Big East was exposed by teams that were hungrier, a bit feistier and loaded with players that genuinely feel like they can compete on a neutral court.
↵↵And from the Sporting News:
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↵But was it the worst day in the Big East’s illustrious history in the NCAA tournament?
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↵Listen. We know that the 24-hour news cycle must be fed, but come on. Among the Big East’s 1-3 showing yesterday, the only loss that was “surprising” was Georgetown losing to Ohio.
↵Beyond that, you had Notre Dame losing to a mid-major that everyone respected, Marquette losing to the best team in the Pac-10, and Villanova surviving against Robert Morris. How is that possibly the worst day ever?
↵Just because the Hoyas forgot to play defense and three other teams had tougher matchups than expected, it doesn’t suddenly mean the Big East should be embarrassed. And besides, it distracts us from the real talking point emerging from yesterday’s games: Was that the best first day of games in tournament history?
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