Why 2012 Big East Tournament Won't Disappoint II

The Big East Tournament "3 tournaments in 1" is  an awesome structure.  In the first round, 8 teams fight to the death.  Coaches exert a lot of time on advanced scouts to get through the first day.  Team captains say their things.  Fans pay for multiple nights in hotels and pray for a win.  And, they all do this to just get to the next day, which has four FRESH teams waiting to battle.  Awesome.

And still, ANOTHER four FRESH teams wait two days out.  I love it.  The Big East Tournament is the best conference tournament in division I basketball...period. At this point, Villanova looks like the team that can survive the first three days.

Big East Tournament Second Round Predictions:

UConn and West Virginia start the Big East Tournament day at noon.  Sigh.  It would make sense to flip the USF game time with this game time, but so it goes.  Two senior NYC guards, Darryl Bryant and Kevin Jones, should run the show and stop UConn.  The mountaineers cruise to a comfortable 4 possession win.

Pittsburgh has no chance against Georgetown.  World--meet Jason Clark.  A close game becomes a Hoya 16+ win.  Done. 

Louisville and Rick Pitino's white suit get it done and erase Seton Hall's outburst.  Kyle Kuric goes off and this game is over within 8 minutes of the second half.  Pitino is Too Sexy.


USF faces off with Villanova.  We all have to root against the soft schedule of USF and yell "over-rated" at the top of our lungs.  Do it. Villanova played one hell of a second half in the first round and look like they can make a nice little run.

A Tuesday first round series sets up a survive and advance to JUST get to a second round day.  The Big East Tournament is so intriguing because of the pedigree of the league.  The plethora of bubble teams that need a win or two to  scrap their way into the NCAA tournament all get a chance to make or break their bubble BEFORE the Big East Tournament quarterfinals.  Awesome.

I went 2-2 with my first round picks.  Villanova and Pittsburgh definitely surprised me.  Could they be this year's Big East Tournament story?  Regardless, round two should be a better day with closer games.