The NCAA Tournament has gotten off to a great start for the Big East Conference.
Despite having just three teams (UConn, Creighton, and Marquette) make the tournament, the second-fewest of any high-major conference behind the American Athletic Conference, the Big East has managed to send all three to the Sweet 16.
But, at the same time, the Big East also had multiple teams that seemed like they should have been in that missed the cut, such as the Seton Hall Pirates, St. John’s Red Storm, or Providence Friars, all three of which won at least 20 games and went .500 or better in conference play.
The day after the selection show, Big East commissioner Val Ackerman even put out a statement expressing the disappointment in some of the conference’s teams being left out, which some of the beat writers of the aforementioned teams were also upset over.
Big East commissioner Val Ackerman says "given the high level of play in our league, we are understandably very disappointed that some worthy Big East teams were not selected to participate" in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. pic.twitter.com/uip0iBR17Z
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) March 18, 2024
The outrage seemingly came and went as the tournament got underway, but in his column Tuesday for ESPN, Bracketologist Joe Lunardi reignited the spark.
Big East media shills have been even more obnoxious than their ACC counterparts, which is really saying something. UConn, Marquette and Creighton — all seeded to be exactly where they are — have nothing to do with Seton Hall, St. John’s or Providence missing the tournament. The reality is, thanks to the unprecedented volume of bid stealers at the end of Champ Week, we had what amounted to a 31-team at-large pool (instead of 36 or, more accurately, the 34 or 35 spots we’d have with an average number of conference tourney upsets). The Big East would have gotten at least two and maybe three of the slots that vanished. There’s no conspiracy here, just bad math and bad luck. Follow the lead of your classy commissioner and get over it.
While this year’s tournament did see an uptick in bid theft, there are also some teams, such as Michigan State and Virginia, who seemingly made the tournament based on name brand instead of having better resumes than the Big East schools.
Either way, Lunardi is coming off as needlessly defensive here.
[Nicole Auerbach, Joe Lunardi]
