The NCAA Tournament berths were revealed on Selection Sunday, but one of the main storylines was the lack of Big East representation despite typically drawing a significant number of teams from the conference each year. It was to be there.
Marquette was one of three players in the tournament, earning the No. 2 seed to play No. 15 Western Kentucky on Friday afternoon. There’s also No. 3 Creighton and No. 1 Connecticut, who are once again favorites to win.
However, teams like St. John’s, Seton Hall, and Providence did not qualify. Marquette head coach Shaka Smart thinks he knows why the Big East didn’t get much love from those making the slot this year.
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Marquette Golden Eagles head coach Shaka Smart during the semifinal round of the Big East Basketball Tournament against the Providence Friars on March 15, 2024 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Command your team during the first half of a match. (Sarah Steer/Getty Images)
“It was a perfect storm numbers-wise in our league,” Smart told CBS Sports. “UW had the best year of any team in the Big East, and DePaul probably had the worst year ever.
“That affected the midfield team.”
Looking at those numbers, the Huskies are 18-2 in Big East play this season, the most wins ever by a school in the conference.
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At the same time, DePaul, a team that hasn’t played in the NCAA Tournament since the 2003-04 season when it was in Conference USA, fell to 0-20 in Big East play and 3-29 overall. .
As a result, head coach Tony Stubblefield was fired in January, leading to the hiring of Chris Holtmann last week.
Marquette Golden Eagles head coach Shaka Smart during the semifinal round of the Big East Basketball Tournament against the Providence Friars on March 15, 2024 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Command your team during the first half of a match. (Sarah Steer/Getty Images)
How will that affect a team like Seton Hall, which beat UW this year? It’s all about the strength of schedule and determining who in the bubble makes the tournament, or worse, who gets eliminated. It depends on the analysis.
“I think the analysis is bullish,” Providence head coach Kim English told reporters after the team was ruled out. “I think you can schedule bad teams in nonleague and just beat them out and win by 50, 60 points. So you have a big lead in the league.” Once the game is over, you take players out for health reasons, you take players out to give other players an opportunity to play.
“But now things may change in college basketball. We plan on beating teams by 40, 50 points.” [It] That might be the thing to do, but going into this league, the analytics within the league are not going to look very good. You’re playing against really, really good coaches. ”
Marquette Golden Eagles head coach Shaka Smart during the first half against the Providence Friars during the semifinal round of the Big East Basketball Tournament on March 15, 2024 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Watch the battle. (Sarah Steer/Getty Images)
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The final four teams the selection committee made were: Boise State, Colorado State, Virginia State, and Colorado State.
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