ndirishbball

The Big East NCAA Tournament picture keeps getting blurrier and blurrier. Let’s make this as simple as possible though. We do know that Syracuse and Villanova, two teams that could make the Final Four, will make the Big Dance and will likely go far.

Team Overall Record Conf. Record RPI SOS
Pittsburgh 16-5 6-3 22 15
Connecticut 13-8 3-5 44 2
Louisville 13-8 4-4 47 5
Cincinnati 14-7 5-4 48 31
South Florida 14-7 4-5 54 37
Marquette 13-8 4-5 57 22
Seton Hall 12-5 3-5 58 16
Notre Dame 15-7 4-5 72 69
St. John’s 12-8 2-6 73 28
Providence 12-9 4-5 97 77

Georgetown and West Virginia will also be in the NCAA Tournament. Neither team is flashy like the Orange and Wildcats but they are very efficient on both sides of the basketball and have the computer numbers needed for high seeds in the tournament.

But after that it gets wild.

Pittsburgh looks to be in based on its computer numbers but they have lost three of their last four games. Another couple of losses could leave Pittsburgh in the mid 40s in the RPI and deep into the muddled bubble picture below. Therefore, just to be safe, I’m including them on the bubble for now.

All of the bubble teams I’ve listed in the table have between 12 and 16 wins, and the majority are one game under or one game over .500 in conference play. The first seven are all in the top 60 of the RPI and in the top 40 in the SOS rankings.

So how do you decide between them?

I do it in my bracketology. My question for you guys is simple, who would you put in and why?