Tis the season for making predictions about things that are likely to change very soon, thereby making your predictions null and void and useless for even attempting. Oh, like doing a mock NFL draft or trying to pick the NCAA tourney teams on February 9th. They are futile, short-sighted attempts to grab eyeballs which everyone has forgotten about by the time the real thing roles around. In honor of all that I've decided to figure out where the Big East stands in terms of the NCAA Tournament. Fearing the wrath of Joe Lunardi if I call it Big East Bracketology, here is my State Of The Big East In Terms Of Who's Making The Tournament, or, SOtBEitofwmtt. I've got a call out to Sobe Beverages for sponsorship...fingers crossed...
Who's Definitely In The Tourney?
Pittsburgh (21-3, 9-1, #3 RPI)
Marquette (21-4, 8-2, #15 RPI)
Who's Likely In The Tourney?
Georgetown (17-5, 7-2, #38 RPI)
West Virginia (17-5, 7-4, #41 RPI)
Who Needs A Little Bit More And Should Just Make It In?
Notre Dame (18-6, 6-5, #44 RPI)
Villanova (16-7, 4-5, #20 RPI)
Who's Probably Going To Just Miss It?
Louisville (16-8, 6-4, #61 RPI)
Providence (15-7, 5-4, #50 RPI)
Syracuse (16-8, 5-5, #58 RPI)
Who Needs To Win The Big East Tournament For Any Shot?
UConn (15-8, 4-6, # 95 RPI)
St. Johns (14-10, 5-6, #139 RPI)
DePaul (14-11, 5-6, #70 RPI)
Who Won't Even Make The Big East Tournament?
Seton Hall (12-10, 3-6, #121)
South Florida (12-12, 3-7, #147)
Rutgers (9-15, 2-9, #188)
Cincinnati (10-13, 1-8, #157)
There you have it. Six Big East teams make the tourney, and even then I'm not so sure. We're a Big East Tourney first-round loss by Notre Dame away from eliminating them. Who knows, the Cardinals, Orange and Friars are all capable of making runs in the conference to end the season (would any of that surprise you at this point?).
If I had to guess, I'd day Pittsburgh will end up a #2 seed, Marquette a #4, Georgetown a #7, West Virginia an #8 and if they made it, Villanova has a decent chance of getting a #6/#7 and Notre Dame is looking at a #9/#10. But, of course all of this will be moot by Monday.