The Big East could boast about going undefeated over four days of the NCAA Tournament instead of feeling disrespected over Selection Sunday slights.
One week later, the Big East has to feel much better about itself.
The conference could boast about going undefeated over the first four days of the NCAA Tournament instead of feeling disrespected over the Selection Sunday slights.
While only three teams from the Big East were selected for the dance despite being ranked as the second-best conference by KenPom.com, it has responded by sending all of them to the Sweet 16 on the strength of a perfect 6-0 record.
Overall No. 1 seed Connecticut put an exclamation mark on the start to the tournament with a 75-58 beatdown of ninth-seeded Northwestern at Barclays Center.
Creighton, the third seed in the Midwest Region, and Marquette, seeded second in the South, survived second-round scares to join the Huskies in the second weekend.
“I think the teams that are left are finding a way to send a bit of a message here: That the Big East is one of the elite basketball conferences in the country and we play at the highest level,” Big East commissioner Val Ackerman said, offering her first public remarks since the snubs of Seton Hall, St. John’s and Providence. “We’ve been in four Final Fours since 2016, we’ve got the overall No. 1 seed, we have a two-seed in Marquette and a three-seed in Creighton, and that says a lot about the strength of our league. Would it have been better to get a few more teams in? Yes, absolutely, but that’s not the way the cookie crumbled this year.
