NCAA March Madness Mayhem: CBS' Selection Sunday Yields Big East Bombshell As Red Storm, Friars, & Pirates left out

While some sites use hyperbole so often it’s practically become its own art form, you can trust me when I tell you the Big East got absolutely hosed by the NCAA Tournament committee. Not only is the Big East sending just 3 (of its) teams to the NCAA Tournament, but 6 conferences in the nation earned at least 4 bids to the Big Dance. Specifically, we’re talking about the Big 12 (8), SEC (8), Big Ten (6), Mountain West (6), ACC (5), & Pac-12 (4) conferences.

SIX.

Since 2011, the Big East has won 6 (of the last 12) national championships; U’Conn (3), Villanova (2), & Louisville (1). If you’re gonna exclude Louisville, fine; go ahead. But that still leaves 5 out of 12. What’s more? Three years in a row (now), the Big East has been represented by multiple teams in the Sweet 16. Not bad for a conference that nearly dissolved a decade ago; enduring betrayal from its own (former) constituents and restructuring itself in 2013 before surviving gave way to thriving as Jay Wright and Greg McDermott led the charge. Oddly, the (2023-‘24) Committee respected the Big East enough to give them a 1, 2, & 3 seed in U’Conn, Marquette, & Creighton; respectively. If the Committee truly believes those 3 teams are as good as they say they are, then (at least) 2 of the following 3 Big East teams deserved a bid:St. John’s, Seton Hall, (or) Providence.

Last I checked, Rick Pitino is pretty good at making-runs this time of year.

This is a crime. There’s no other way around it.

I’m not asking for 6-8 Big East teams (to be) in the tourney. 5 should’ve been the number, and 6 would’ve been more reasonable than 4 (and certainly 3). 3 is just wrong. It isn’t right.

Chairman of the Tournament Committee, Dr. Charles McClelland, made an appearance on CBS’ Selection Sunday and was adamant about the chaos that ensued during Saturday’s slate of conference-tournament games. As he mentioned, 5 teams ended up “stealing” bids in last-minute fashion (or on Saturday) and, over the past 2 seasons, just 3 teams stole bids in that (similar-) fashion.

While Saturday’s action (this year) certainly created madness in the context of the Tournament, the fact that the field of 68 is only comprised of 3 Big East teams still doesn’t add up. When I look at teams like Clemson, Texas A-&-M, Texas, and even Michigan State, I can only shake my head.

I remember when Clemson was a(-n overrated) 5-seed with “Elite 8 potential” years ago, and got worked by none other than Scottie Reynolds, Jay Wright and the 12–seeded Villanova Wildcats before ‘Nova took out Siena in the Round-of-32.

What’s certain is this: The Big East is clearly, and I mean clearly, either the best or second best conference in basketball. If you wanna argue third, that’s fine; I get it. College basketball is deeper than ever; and that’s a great thing.

That being said, let me remind you….

SIX of the last 12 titles belong to the Big East.

Case closed.