March Madness: Is the Big East Overrated?
For those of you who have watched the pre-game and halftime shows on CBS during the NCAA tournament, it is more than likely you have heard Charles Barkley say the Big East is overrated several times.
The retired NBA veteran has stood by his opinion even before the 2011 college basketball season began, and now others are thinking to themselves: is Sir Charles right?
A 180-degree shift of conception by fellow college basketball analysts, ESPN broadcasters and online bloggers can be attributed to a brief and rather less than spectacular showing in the big dance by the so-called best conference in college basketball.
History was made this year when a record 11 Big East teams were invited to participate in the 2011 NCAA tournament. But with the Sweet 16 games beginning, only two teams were left standing: Connecticut and Marquette, the latter a 11 seed who were supposedly the last Big East team to make it into the tournament.
So the question resurfaces: Is the Big East overrated?
If one were to hinge their answer simply upon the conference’s performance in this year’s tournament, then the obvious answer would be yes. However, the whole body of work must be examined.
Four Big East squads – Georgetown, Villanova, St. Johns and Louisville – were ousted in just the second round of the tournament, which is essentially the first round because of the newly added two “play-in” games that are now characterized as the first round.
Perennial national title contenders Pittsburgh and Notre Dame were eliminated in the third round, with the Irish being embarrassed by 14 points, respectively. Syracuse and Cincinnati were also dismissed from the tournament in this same round, but by fellow Big East company Marquette and Connecticut. And West Virginia was outlasted by a young, but talented Kentucky squad to cut the Big East total to two.
Connecticut and Marquette – who tied Villanova for ninth in the league standings – were two teams who before the season began, many overlooked to compete for the Big East title, and now both teams had an opportunity to capture the National Title.
The bottom line is, it’s not a great year for college basketball, period. An umpteen amount of experts have voiced this calamity throughout the season, and they’re right. However, the Big East earned getting 11 teams in on Selection Sunday. Did it flop in the rounds of 64 and 32? Yes, without question, with losses to a 10 seed, three 11 seeds and a 13 seed.
However, the Big East was very competitive and undoubtedly had the most depth during the regular season, but it didn’t have any great teams – not even the all-conference first team: Kemba Walker, Ben Hansbrough, Austin Freeman, Ashton Gibbs, Marshon Brooks and Dwight Hardy. Out of those players, Walker is the only likely NBA first-round pick – and a late one at that – among them.
Nonetheless, the Big East isn’t overrated. It arguably has the most talent in the nation, and being able to secure a record 11 teams in the tournament can’t be overlooked. If the Big East doesn’t want to receive continuous scrutiny about being overrated – especially during this time of the year – then it better give a better performance in the postseason.
