March Maddness; Why a Big East Team will Win

No conference in any collegiate sport has ever been as dominate as the Big East. I mean the St. Johns v. Syracuse quarterfinal game the other day was worthy of being a championship in any conference in the country! Top to bottom, no conference even compares. The conference is looking at eleven teams this year in the tournament... no that is not a mistake, i really said eleven. The reasons why a Big East team will win this year's tournament are almost endless.

1.) Eleven Teams: I've said it before but with eleven teams in the tournament that means the Big East will take up 16% of the field. Pretty good odds.

2.) Number one seeds: The Big East is looking at at least one, possibly two seeds. Two teams if not more are deserving of one. Notre Dame and Pittsburgh being the first two that come to mind. Louisville and Syracuse, as their bodies of work aren't as strong, are definitely capable of being and beating a number one seed as well.

3.) Star Players: When there is a big moment in a big game, star players need to step up and the Big East has plenty of those. Kemba Walker (Connecticut), Dwight Hardy (St. Johns), Ashton Gibbs (Pittsburgh), Kris Joseph (Syracuse), Corey Fisher (Villanova), Austin Freeman (Georgetown), Ben Hansbrough (Notre Dame), Preston Knowles (Louisville)... get my point?

4.) Other teams are pretenders: Ohio State, Kansas, Texas, Duke, sure those teams are good and will be in contention come tournament time, but none of those teams can match up to the physicality that the Big East team's bring night in and night out. Not taking anything away from those teams or their respective conferences but the teams in the Big East go to war every game while the other teams are just fighting small battles.

5.) Anyone can beat anyone: Anyone in the Big East can beat anyone in the Big East. We saw it all year. St. Johns repeatedly took down top ten teams inside and outside of conference. South Florida upset Villanova in the opening round of the Big East Tournament. DePaul gave Villanova a run for their money earlier in the year. Even only a few days removed, Rutgers had a game snatched from their hands against St. Johns. That game should be still going on. Ref, put 1.7 seconds on the game clock please...

MAC Basketball Tournament Preview

The men's MAC basketball tournament is finally upon us with the first round of games slated for today. The top four teams in the MAC, Kent St., Western Michigan, Miami (OH.), and Ball St. all have first round byes and have guaranteed themselves a trip to Cleveland, Ohio for at least a quarterfinal match-up. The other eight teams are playing today where seeds five through eight will host the game. All the games are scheduled for a seven o'clock tip off.

The first game is Northern Illinois vs. Bowling Green. Bowling Green has a 13-18 record overall but is .500 in the MAC at 8-8. The Huskies on the other hand are 9-20 overall and are a dismal 5-11 in conference play. BGSU has hit a rough patch in the season as they have lost six of their last seven. NIU has won 2 of their past 3 but hasn't had many good wins in conference. Bowling Green won the earlier match-up between these two 73-70 in overtime back on February 2nd, a game played in Northern Illinois.

Prediction: Bowling Green

The next game features the Ohio Bobcats playing host to the Toledo Rockets. This one shouldn't be too much of a contest. It wasn't too long ago that the Bobcats knocked off the Hoyas of Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and they look poised for another deep MAC tournament run. They have won five of their past six and are 9-3 in their last 12. They are lead by standout sophomore point guard D.J. Cooper who is averaging 16.5 ppg and and 7.4 apg. Toledo is 4-27 on the year with only one conference win. They are year after year the weak team in the MAC and this year was no different.

Prediction: Ohio

The next game features Eastern Michigan visiting The Akron Zips. Akron had both a winning overall record, 19-12, and a winning conference record, at 9-7. Eastern Michigan on the other hand was the complete opposite. They went 9-21 overall and 5-11 in conference. Akron is always a tough opponent at home as they went 13-2 this season on the home floor. Eastern Michigan was 2-12 on the road, but regardless of that stat, they are still a tough opponent. They have beaten Central Michigan and Buffalo this year as well as Akron on February 2nd, 60-56. However I think home court advantage will play a key role in this match-up.

Prediction: Akron

The last game of the first round is Central Michigan against Buffalo. CMU comes in 9th in the MAC, just missing out on a home game while UB squeaked into the eight seed and stole this home game. CMU has a overall record of 10-20 but has a 7-9 conference record which includes wins over Bowling Green, Ohio, and two wins over Northern Illinois. They are coming in off a loss to Western Michigan. Buffalo, started the season off hot but has tailed off as of late. They were poised for a top seed in the MAC earlier in the year but that has tampered off quickly as they have lost 6 of their past 9. However, they still enter the tournament with a 17-12 record which includes an 8-8 conference record and a bracket buster win over Horizon number one seed Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Prediction: Buffalo