The Big East officially served notice on itself this weekend: Expect the unexpected.
Villanova squeezes into the Carrier Dome, swelled with more than 33,000 Syracuse fans, and pulls an 83-72 shocker.
Providence, winless in league play, stuns Louisville, which had looked like a Sweet 16 team in an 88-63 win over St. John’s.
Cincinnati, which was winless on the road in league play, records a 53-51 victory at St. John’s, which had beaten Georgetown and Notre Dame at home.
This is the time of the year when you’ll begin to hear the league coaches begin their annual filibuster about the strength of the league.
The fear, of course, in this monster 16-team league which swells to 17 (or 18), is that a middle-of-the-pack team will lose an at-large berth to a team from a non-BCS conference.
The fear is real. It’s a credit to the basketball-only schools that they gave the OK for TCU to join and might have to nod to Central Florida coming on board. Look at what a disastrous effect expansion has had on the ACC.
Since they added Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech, the league has gotten ridiculously top-heavy. Duke is the top dog. North Carolina will always get enough talent to compete at the highest level. And then?
Florida State and Virginia Tech are teams we believe will make noise in the NCAA Tournament. Maryland, N.C. State, Virginia and Wake Forest are a combined 42-33.
The Atlantic 10 and Missouri Valley conferences are terrific leagues. The second-, third- and even fourth-place teams in those leagues will have legit NCAA Tournament resumes.
The team that can most help the Big East down the stretch is none other than St. John’s. The Red Storm has non-conference games remaining at UCLA and home against Duke.
The Johnnies are capable of winning both. Yes, they can upset Duke in the Garden, although it will take a perfect game. Victories would bolster the league coaches’ belief their conference is the best.
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When the Johnnies were in their glory, they were led by the most cerebral college point guard I’ve ever covered — Mark Jackson. His son, Mark Jackson, Jr., is red-shirting at Louisville, continuing a cherished Rick Pitino tradition of keeping it in the family. Pitino coached the elder Jackson when they were with the Knicks.
“He came in at 247 pounds,” said Pitino. “He looked like Mark now, and he lost 47 pounds. We made him lose 47 pounds, hoping his dad would catch on.
“It means a lot to me because Antoine Walker sent his brother and Nazr Mohammed sent his son. Mark Jackson sent his son from California. It means a lot to me that these players I’ve coached in the past, we’ve all maintained these close relationships.”
