If things play out as they're supposed to, Syracuse and Georgetown will meet for the third time this year in the Quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament. Of course, this being the Big East Tournament, things have a habit of doing the opposite.
You can check out the full bracket here (PDF). The Orange get the advantage of the first two days off and then the niceties end right there. The Orange will either play Georgetown, whom they will need to beat for the third time, South Florida, who is a better team than when the two met in January or DePaul, whom the Orange nearly lost to when they met. Their prize for winning that game is a possible return match against Villanova or a very frisky Marquette team.
Not to say any other team has it easier. No. 2 seed Pittsburgh is waiting on streaky Notre Dame for the right to either play rejuvenated Louisville or a very good West Virginia squad. And again, that assume no massive upsets go down, which is a near impossibility.
As the AP notes, the Big East Tournament has the unenviable task of trying to out-do itself. Or at least, last year's version of it. The Orange are a much different team than they were last year. Then they were a team that was in need of a win or two in order to secure better seeding. Not a massive underdog but still a scrappy team that needed something. This year? The Orange are the big dog and are offered up to the BET Gods as prime upset fodder.
The Orange will have to wait until Noon on Thursday to see how things shake out for them this year. It's been a long time since they came into the Big East Tournament as the 1-seed. Hopefully it's more a blessing than a curse.