The Big East Tournament gets underway Tuesday, and this year the Big East Tournament (BET) matches the construction of the conference -- oversized, a bit confusing and very clearly divided.
The Big East at this point has seven teams that are definitely going to the NCAA tournament and one team that lies way out on the fringe of the bubble. This year, the BET is all about teams trying to improve or maintain their projected seeding for the Big Dance.
Losing three games against the top three teams in the Big East, with two of the games coming on the road would not be that big a deal. Especially with your starting point guard out with an injury. It hurt Marquette's seed a bit, but they could still show that they are a top-25 team to end the season. Turns out, the Golden Eagles are in free fall.
Falling at home, on senior day in overtime to Syracuse was the clincher. The Orange are nearly as depth-challenged as the Golden Eagles, so it was not depth that cost Marquette. Simply put, Marquette does not have enough good players to challenge other teams at this point.
The offense was more vibrant, the swing in the score more violent, but much like Marquette's Sunday game with Louisville, the Golden Eagles just did not have enough depth to stay in the game. Marquette, without Dominic James, simply does not enough bodies to survive against the top teams. Especially teams that play physical.
Pitt, while not comfortable as the No. 1 team, clearly wants a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers shot over 60% in both halves, and just kept coming at Marquette with more bodies and scoring options.
Point guard Patrick Mills has been cleared to play in the WCC tournament which begins in Las Vegas on Sunday. (Don't ask why that conference chose Sin City of all places.) That's great news that not only greatly increases St. Mary's conference tournament chances, but also should impact the Gaels at-large bid hopes.
St. Mary's isn't in the tournament right now -- not according to any of the mock brackets out there. But should St. Mary's be given the benefit of the doubt in this instance? Should the tournament selection committee consider Mills' injury while figuring out the tournament resume of the Gaels? Uh, yeah.
And for that reason, St. Mary's should be given an at-large bid in the tournament.
Marquette gave it a battle. In their first full game without Dominic James, the Golden Eagles would get a big test against Louisville. The two teams went back and forth in the first half, but Louisville slowly took the lead and never let go, yet Marquette always kept the game within a couple of scores.
Marquette's lack of depth caught up to them in the second half, though. Late in the game you could see the Marquette players were just a step slow, their shots falling just a little short, their legs offering less lift.
Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun is now a member of one of college basketball's most exclusive coaching fraternities, winning his 800th game, topping Marquette. The two-time national champion coach is just the seventh Division-I men's coach to crack the 800-win mark and is just five wins from passing Eddie Sutton for sixth all time.
And as a bonus, the game meant plenty for the Huskies' March aspirations.
Marquette has arguably the best backcourt in college basketball with Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews. Each player is a talented guard that defends well, and is capable of hitting threes and driving to the basket. Add in the fact that all three are seniors that have played together for their entire career, and you will not find a backcourt in the country that can match that combination of talent and experience.
The South Florida Bulls upset Marquette in Tampa 57-56. A surprising first conference loss for the Golden Eagles, but easily explained by some of their numbers. That will happen when they shoot 4-for-24 on three-point shots and 10-for-23 on free throws.
Even with such abysmal shooting by Marquette, the Bulls still came very close to losing. Dominique Jones was able to drive and score with just under 16 seconds left in the game for the final lead. Marquette still had plenty of time, but Wesley Matthews' short jumper wouldn't go and the putback by Lazar Hayward failed to fall as the horn sounded.
The bigger problem isn't that he was arrested, though. It's that he was already on probation, and that by storming the floor, he may have violated said probation. And now he's still in jail while a judge determines that very issue.
Headlining: It's obvious, right? Duke tops both polls for the first time since the end of the 2005-06 regular season and we're all depressed ecstatic! I want to say that it's hard to like this Blue Devil team, but when is it easy to like Duke? (Answer: When you're a Duke fan. Or when the Blue Devils are playing Carolina.) That being said, the 2008-09 incarnation isn't nearly as hate-able as previous teams.
NCAA Basketball marquette Golden Eagles 
The Big East Tournament gets underway Tuesday, and this year the Big East Tournament (BET) matches the construction of the conference -- oversized, a bit confusing and very clearly divided. 
Losing three games against the top three teams in the Big East, with two of the games coming on the road would not be that big a deal. Especially with your starting point guard out with an injury. It hurt Marquette's seed a bit, but they could still show that they are a top-25 team to end the season. Turns out, the Golden Eagles are in free fall. 
The offense was more vibrant, the swing in the score more violent, but much like Marquette's Sunday game with Louisville, the Golden Eagles just did not have enough depth to stay in the game. Marquette, without Dominic James, simply does not enough bodies to survive against the top teams. Especially teams that play physical.
Point guard Patrick Mills has been cleared to play in the WCC tournament which begins in Las Vegas on Sunday. (Don't ask why that conference chose Sin City of all places.) That's great news that not only greatly increases St. Mary's conference tournament chances, but also should impact the Gaels at-large bid hopes. 
Marquette gave it a battle. In their first full game without Dominic James, the Golden Eagles would get a big test against Louisville. The two teams went back and forth in the first half, but Louisville slowly took the lead and never let go, yet Marquette always kept the game within a couple of scores.
Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun is now a member of one of college basketball's most exclusive coaching fraternities, winning his 800th game, topping Marquette. The two-time national champion coach is just the seventh Division-I men's coach to crack the 800-win mark and is just five wins from passing Eddie Sutton for sixth all time.
Marquette has arguably the best backcourt in college basketball with Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews. Each player is a talented guard that defends well, and is capable of hitting threes and driving to the basket. Add in the fact that all three are seniors that have played together for their entire career, and you will not find a backcourt in the country that can match that combination of talent and experience.
The South Florida Bulls upset Marquette in Tampa 57-56. A surprising first conference loss for the Golden Eagles, but easily explained by some of their numbers. That will happen when they shoot 4-for-24 on three-point shots and 10-for-23 on free throws.
Jonathan Xavier just wanted to defend his brother, Jeff, a guard for the Providence Friars. No, honestly -- that's the only reason he stormed onto the court during Providence's game against Marquette last week. 
Ranking the rankings criticizes the critics as soon as the polls come out.
