Starting next year, the Big East Tournament will be open to all 16 teams in the conference. Regardless of your performance, you will play post-season basketball. We can probably argue over whether or not this is a good thing since it adds another day to the tournament and dilutes the competition somewhat. But hey, college basketball is all about giving everyone a shot so in that respect I think it's not too harmful.
In the meantime, it's the final year of the "Last Four Out" system. The last two seasons, the bottom four of the conference have sat at home while everyone else got to
play reindeer games. Only one team has the distinction of being the only repeat offender of the last two seasons (South Florida) but let's take a look at who else has joined them on the sidelines in March:
2007
Cincinnati
Rutgers
Seton Hall
South Florida
2006
DePaul
Providence
St. John's
South Florida
At the moment it looks like South Florida will have to wait until the rulebooks change next year to play their first BET game. They'll probably be joined by St. John's and Rutgers as well. But what about that fourth spot? With the Big East as volatile as it is this year, the team in this space seems to change every few days. Not too long ago Syracuse occupied it for a few days. Now they're #6 in the conference. Go figure.
At the moment, Providence is on a collision course with March ass-sittery. They've got some competition though. And so I thought it would make sense to track the Last Four Out standings every Monday and keep a close eye on which historical Big East squad can embarrass themselves by missing the tournament. Should be fun, assuming Syracuse doesn't make a return appearance to the standings at some point.
The Last One Sitting standings, as of 2/4:
Providence (3-6, 12-9)
Villanova (3-6, 13-7) 0.5 GB
DePaul (4-5, 9-12) 1.0 GB
Cincinnati (5-5, 10-12) 2.0 GB
The Friars can climb out of the cellar with wins over DePaul and St John's this week. Villanova only has one conference game this week, a Saturday tip-off with Seton Hall. Cincy will likely distance themselves from the pack when they face Rutgers on Saturday as well.
In the meantime, it's the final year of the "Last Four Out" system. The last two seasons, the bottom four of the conference have sat at home while everyone else got to
play reindeer games. Only one team has the distinction of being the only repeat offender of the last two seasons (South Florida) but let's take a look at who else has joined them on the sidelines in March: 2007
Cincinnati
Rutgers
Seton Hall
South Florida
2006
DePaul
Providence
St. John's
South Florida
At the moment it looks like South Florida will have to wait until the rulebooks change next year to play their first BET game. They'll probably be joined by St. John's and Rutgers as well. But what about that fourth spot? With the Big East as volatile as it is this year, the team in this space seems to change every few days. Not too long ago Syracuse occupied it for a few days. Now they're #6 in the conference. Go figure.
At the moment, Providence is on a collision course with March ass-sittery. They've got some competition though. And so I thought it would make sense to track the Last Four Out standings every Monday and keep a close eye on which historical Big East squad can embarrass themselves by missing the tournament. Should be fun, assuming Syracuse doesn't make a return appearance to the standings at some point.
The Last One Sitting standings, as of 2/4:
Providence (3-6, 12-9)
Villanova (3-6, 13-7) 0.5 GB
DePaul (4-5, 9-12) 1.0 GB
Cincinnati (5-5, 10-12) 2.0 GB
The Friars can climb out of the cellar with wins over DePaul and St John's this week. Villanova only has one conference game this week, a Saturday tip-off with Seton Hall. Cincy will likely distance themselves from the pack when they face Rutgers on Saturday as well.