(3) Wednesday Big East Games 2/3/21

[Hall2012]

I'm happy for gtown and johnnies but what a bad day for the league in terms of ncaa's. It would have been much better if Hall would have given nova that first loss and friars being able to beat gtown. Conference tournament is going to be a crapshoot.

I disagree. Obviously wish Hall pulled out one of its Nova games too, but this SJU win gives the league another legitimate tourney hopeful. Nova's the only team I think is really in a comfortable position right now so as much as I'd love to see them get a 1 seed, the league may be better off if they drop to a 2 or 3 in exchange for some extra bids. Also, this win boosted SJU's NET into the top 75, the give everyone an extra q1 game in SJU away as long as they keep it there.

The way I see the Big East right now (groupings not rankings):

Locks:

• Villanova - obviously

Should be in:

• Creighton - Would be in good position if the tournament started today, but already has 4 losses to "the pack." Could sweat a bit if they get swept by Nova. I don't think they're at much risk of falling out of the field, but the seed could take a hit.
• Xavier - Their record certainly warrants inclusion but going on their 3rd COVID pause leaves questions on if they'll get enough games in and how the team will be impacted by all the time off.

Work to do:

• UConn - Look to be on the right side of the bubble now but they're getting into a tougher portion of the schedule and still without Bouknight
• Seton Hall - Had an ugly 5 game stretch, but all 4 losses were to Villanova and Creighton. Missed an opportunity for a signature win, but that's more damaging to their potential seed than odds of getting in. They'll likely be favorites in at least 4 of their last 6 (5 of 7 if the X game is rescheduled).
• St. John's - Started slow but they've rattled off wins in 5 of their last 6 Big East games and have the much needed signature win over Villanova
• Providence - Stumbling a bit lately but plenty of opportunties left with winnable but resume-meaningful games with SJU(x2), UConn(x2) and X capped off by a potential golden ticket at home against Villanova
• Marquette - Also stumbling lately but still have some opportunities left on the schedule and they have that big OOC win over Wisconsin in the bank.

[adoraz]

Nice post Hall. By March we could have 5 teams battling on the bubble- we just don't know which teams will be best positioned yet. We could get anywhere from 3 to 7 teams into the Dance, though the 4 to 6 range is most likely. I'm predicting 5.

[redmen9194]

It will be interesting to see how this is all effected by any inability to reschedule postponed games. We are getting ot the point where cancelled games might be impossible to make up. Right now St. John's has had all it's games rescheduled except for one - the UConn game from last Sunday. We have played 12 league games. Xavier has played six games. Not sure what they have to be made up that's not on the schedule but that could have an effect at the end of the day if they don't get meaningful opportunities to get wins.

[GoldenWarrior11]

What a huge win for the Johnnies. Must be nice to have an experienced and successful head coach transforming the program before your very eyes...

[Husky_U]

Take the Johnnies. Make some money.

Seriously tho...some y'all Johnnies fans calling for Anderson's head earlier are cray. Rebuilds take time. He is at the very least on schedule, if not ahead.

Ya'll coulda been rich had you only listened...

[XUFan09]

X will be fine because they'll come back, go 3-0 to finish the season, and win the regular season championship while playing just 9 games and never playing Nova. No biggie.

[Hall2012]

Take the Johnnies. Make some money.

Seriously tho...some y'all Johnnies fans calling for Anderson's head earlier are cray. Rebuilds take time. He is at the very least on schedule, if not ahead.

Ya'll coulda been rich had you only listened...

TO THE MOON!!!

[jbarajas0490]

What a huge win for the Johnnies. Must be nice to have an experienced and successful head coach transforming the program before your very eyes...

I see what you did there

[jbarajas0490]

I'm happy for gtown and johnnies but what a bad day for the league in terms of ncaa's. It would have been much better if Hall would have given nova that first loss and friars being able to beat gtown. Conference tournament is going to be a crapshoot.

How is a red hot Red Storm team reaching the bubble bad for the league?

Johnnies are barely reaching fringe bubble and a couple losses will push them back down. Meanwhile the Hall has been in the bracket for a while, a win against Nova could have maybe locked up their spot further. But I do hope St. John's goes on a tear don't get me wrong i have nothing against the Johnnies

[adoraz]

I'm happy for gtown and johnnies but what a bad day for the league in terms of ncaa's. It would have been much better if Hall would have given nova that first loss and friars being able to beat gtown. Conference tournament is going to be a crapshoot.

How is a red hot Red Storm team reaching the bubble bad for the league?

Johnnies are barely reaching fringe bubble and a couple losses will push them back down. Meanwhile the Hall has been in the bracket for a while, a win against Nova could have maybe locked up their spot further. But I do hope St. John's goes on a tear don't get me wrong i have nothing against the Johnnies

We are already "in" on some big brackets, including Jerry Palm. We're definitely on the bubble right now (at a minimum) for pretty much everyone. Palm actually doesn't have Hall in right now (I know most others do), but I don't think Hall is relevant to the St. John's discussion anyways.

Sure, if we lose a couple games we'd be knocked back off it, but that can be said about 100% of bubble teams. At least we're hot right now and might have a better chance than other bubble teams.