Who Will Dominate in the Big East

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

By BetUS.com

There are a lot of teams in the Big East, and this conference will almost unquestionably get the most number of bids to the NCAA tournament. There are four teams that are especially lucky, in that they get a double-bye in the proceedings, as they get free pass through the first two tournament rounds to the quarterfinals. Let's take a look at what we might expect from them.

Odds To Win Big East Conference Championship by BetUS Sportsbook

• Cincinnati +5000
• Connecticut +2500
• Georgetown +750
• Louisville +750
• Marquette +1400
• Notre Dame +750
• Pittsburgh +250
• South Florida +3000
• Syracuse +175
• Villanova +325
• West Virginia +275
• Field +1800

SYRACUSE (+175 to win Big East) would seem to be a team that has it all - very tough defense with their matchup zone, great ball distribution, balanced scoring and some size. They have only lost three games all year, but two of them were to Louisville, a team they might meet up with eventually. The tricky part about a team like the Orange is that they are already headed into the NCAA tourney, so the incentive to go through with a grueling schedule as it is presented in the Big East tournament (three games in three days) could hurt them when they get to the Big Dance. It's happened before to Big East teams. Maybe, however, this team that was #1 in the nation going into the loss to Louisville on Saturday will be playing for a #1 seed, which is overrated, if you ask me. One thing you want to remember is that Syracuse is not only 10-2 ATS in the college basketball odds away from home, they are 8-1 SU in the Big East as the visitor, with the only loss coming in that game that was the last ever played at Freedom Hall in Louisville. This team is very viable in this tourney, if it wants to be.

PITTSBURGH (+250 to win Big East) is another team that is playing for a high seed. This was a team that overachieved, and after losing DuJuan Blair and Sam Young off last year's team we wouldn't have expected that they'd be here. However, the rapid development of guard Ashton Gibbs, voted the Big East's Most Improved Player. Pitt brings a head of steam into the proceedings, with eight wins in its last nine games (the only loss to Notre Dame). And they have held 17 teams to 59 points or less. Jermaine Dixon, the star guard, has an ankle injury and coach Jamie Dixon will have to determine how much he plays, and that may depend on whether his team wants to win this conference tournament or get ready for the NCAA's. The Panthers are 8-2 ATS as a dog in the college basketball betting, but I don't know if they'll be getting points here.

WEST VIRGINIA (+275 to win Big East) may have the best forward combo in the conference, in Da'Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks. Certainly they're the most versatile. Ebanks in particular is going to be a key matchup problem, as he often guards the other team's best offensive player, even if it's a guard. That plays into Bob Huggins' preferred strategy of taking away the opponent's best asset. What may have disappointed some people in college basketball betting circles was that WVU was just 13-16 ATS on the season. However. the Mountaineers have quality wins this season over the likes of Texas A&M, Portland, Ole Miss and Ohio State, not to mention beating Marquette, Louisville, Pitt, Georgetown and Villanova. They've built a lot of credentials.

VILLANOVA (+325 to win Big East) has a lot of assets, including the Big East's deepest backcourt led by Scottie Reynolds, sidekicked by Corey Fisher (shooting 39.5% combined from three-point range) and they put a lot of people into the game, with eleven players averaging at least ten minutes a contest. However, they don't have a lot of useful size, and with three losses in the last five games, they may have peaked early. Opponents may garb a blueprint from what Bib Huggins did with his West Virginia team in the regular season finale, as he put 6'8" Devin Ebanks on Reynolds and held him to 5-for-16 shooting. That kind of thing will put more pressure on Antonio Pena, the Wildcats' primary inside threat, who averages 10.8 points. What's worse is that Taylor King, the first forward off the bench and the team's second-leading rebounder, may be out of the tournament due to an "undisclosed personal issue."

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