Conference Breakdown: Big East (1/24/08)

The Big East has the most teams out of any conference in the country with 16 and will have about half of the 16 make the NCAA tournement with a few others on pace to make the NIT. Almost all of the Sixteen teams could plausibly make the big dance however the conference is tough with no real cupcakes (ask Villanova about Rutgers) and that could cause the conference to beat up on each other. The Current Standings:

Team Conference Record...Overall

1. Georgetown 5-1...15-2

2. Pittsburgh 4-2 ...16-3

3. West Virginia 4-2...15-4

4. Louisville 4-2...14-5

5. DePaul 4-2...9-9

6. Notre Dame 3-2...13-4

7. Providence 3-2...12-5

8. Connecticut 4-3...13-5

9. Cincinnati 4-3...9-10

10. Marquette 3-3...13-4

11. Villanova 3-3 ...13-4

12. Syracuse 3-4...13-7

13. Seton Hall 2-3...12-6

14. St. John's 1-5...7-10

15. USF 1-6...10-10

16. Rutgers 1-6...9-11

Right now the only teams that are really out of contention are the bottom 3, St. Johns, USF, and Rutgers but like I said they are not cupcakes. I expect the top 3 to be very close, with Georgetown, Pitt, and West Virginia. My current projected Standings:

1. Georgetown 14-4
2. Pittsburgh 13-5
3. West Virginia 13-5
4. Louisville 12-6
5. Marquette 11-7
6. Notre Dame 10-8
7. Connecticut 10-8
8. Syracuse 10-8
9. Providence 9-9
10. Villanova 9-9
11. Cincinnati 8-10
12. DePaul 8-10
13. Seton Hall 8-10
14. USF 4-14
15. St. Johns 3-15
16. Rutgers 2-16

As you can see besides the bottom 3 teams it is a very balenced high power conference. Right now I have Georgetown winning the Big East, and basically the top 13 teams have at least a small chance of making the big dance. Currently I would say that 1-5 are "locks" and 6-10 are "bubble" teams with 11-13 not making it as of now.