Magic Number of Wins for the Tournament 2021

[slack00]

There's no magic number this year.  Teams are going to be playing a different number of games so the committee will be able to use the "eye test" and other subjective measures to select teams.   It means that this year the committee doesn't have to justify that 15-13 (4-2 NC, 10-10 Conf, 1-1 BE Tourn) is better or worse than another teams 19-14 or 12-9.

There's also no magic number because games will be canceled.  It matters whether those games are Nova and Creighton or DePaul and Butler.

[GoldenWarrior11]

Maybe -- maybe -- corporately, ESPN is still not pleased with the Big East.

But I sincerely doubt that the individuals at ESPN -- including those who vote in polls, those who look ahead to brackets, and those who write/broadcast about college hoops -- harbor anti-Big East bias.

It's a non-story.

From 2013-2016?  Most definitely.  In 2020?  It's pretty much a non-issue at this point.  When the BE broke with ESPN (and signed with Fox), there were definitely some initiatives from the network to attempt to downplay any successes the league had, while just downright ignoring others.  Couple that with the fact that, early on, ESPN was attempting to elevate the AAC has a high-major conference (superior to that Big East), and it was easy to see what was going on.  However, some wonderful things happened.  Yes, Villanova won a national championship (followed by another), yes, Xavier also earned a 1-seed, and yes, the BET was selling out again, but the entire league was very competitive and was so in OOC as well - which drove interest and affirmed fan support. 

The turning point, to me, was right after 2016, when ESPN commentators began actively campaigning UConn's return to the Big East.  Vitale, Greenberg, and others all used their platforms on ESPN to urge the Huskies to "return home".  Why would any network actively urge one of its properties to go to a competitor?  Well, firstly, it wanted to drive down the open market value for the AAC so that it could keep its content for ESPN+.  Secondly, I believe that ESPN will eventually want to bid on and get back the Big East content to ESPN.  ESPN truly felt that it had sliced and diced all remaining value from the old Big East by arranging for the moves of Syracuse and Pittsburgh (among a chain reaction of others) to the ACC; never did it think the Big East would be in such great position in 2020 (and thriving) as a non-football league. 

Regardless, that is why I think the Big East (and Marquette), even in a post-pandemic world, is in prime negotiating position with Fox (or ESPN) for its next TV deal.  UConn coming back added yet another high level, championship brand, to the conference's inventory, and will only help make the league better in the long-run.  Our floor this year for the tournament, in a pandemic, very much appears to be five teams (and this is supposed to be a down year).  In a normal year, we should get about 7 bids, with high(er) seeds, thanks to the added conference games that UConn brings with it. 

[MU82]

From 2013-2016?  Most definitely.  In 2020?  It's pretty much a non-issue at this point.  When the BE broke with ESPN (and signed with Fox), there were definitely some initiatives from the network to attempt to downplay any successes the league had, while just downright ignoring others.  Couple that with the fact that, early on, ESPN was attempting to elevate the AAC has a high-major conference (superior to that Big East), and it was easy to see what was going on.  However, some wonderful things happened.  Yes, Villanova won a national championship (followed by another), yes, Xavier also earned a 1-seed, and yes, the BET was selling out again, but the entire league was very competitive and was so in OOC as well - which drove interest and affirmed fan support. 

The turning point, to me, was right after 2016, when ESPN commentators began actively campaigning UConn's return to the Big East.  Vitale, Greenberg, and others all used their platforms on ESPN to urge the Huskies to "return home".  Why would any network actively urge one of its properties to go to a competitor?  Well, firstly, it wanted to drive down the open market value for the AAC so that it could keep its content for ESPN+.  Secondly, I believe that ESPN will eventually want to bid on and get back the Big East content to ESPN.  ESPN truly felt that it had sliced and diced all remaining value from the old Big East by arranging for the moves of Syracuse and Pittsburgh (among a chain reaction of others) to the ACC; never did it think the Big East would be in such great position in 2020 (and thriving) as a non-football league. 

Regardless, that is why I think the Big East (and Marquette), even in a post-pandemic world, is in prime negotiating position with Fox (or ESPN) for its next TV deal.  UConn coming back added yet another high level, championship brand, to the conference's inventory, and will only help make the league better in the long-run.  Our floor this year for the tournament, in a pandemic, very much appears to be five teams (and this is supposed to be a down year).  In a normal year, we should get about 7 bids, with high(er) seeds, thanks to the added conference games that UConn brings with it.

We appear to mostly agree.

[Dr. Blackheart]

From 2013-2016?  Most definitely.  In 2020?  It's pretty much a non-issue at this point.  When the BE broke with ESPN (and signed with Fox), there were definitely some initiatives from the network to attempt to downplay any successes the league had, while just downright ignoring others.  Couple that with the fact that, early on, ESPN was attempting to elevate the AAC has a high-major conference (superior to that Big East), and it was easy to see what was going on.  However, some wonderful things happened.  Yes, Villanova won a national championship (followed by another), yes, Xavier also earned a 1-seed, and yes, the BET was selling out again, but the entire league was very competitive and was so in OOC as well - which drove interest and affirmed fan support. 

The turning point, to me, was right after 2016, when ESPN commentators began actively campaigning UConn's return to the Big East.  Vitale, Greenberg, and others all used their platforms on ESPN to urge the Huskies to "return home".  Why would any network actively urge one of its properties to go to a competitor?  Well, firstly, it wanted to drive down the open market value for the AAC so that it could keep its content for ESPN+.  Secondly, I believe that ESPN will eventually want to bid on and get back the Big East content to ESPN.  ESPN truly felt that it had sliced and diced all remaining value from the old Big East by arranging for the moves of Syracuse and Pittsburgh (among a chain reaction of others) to the ACC; never did it think the Big East would be in such great position in 2020 (and thriving) as a non-football league. 

Regardless, that is why I think the Big East (and Marquette), even in a post-pandemic world, is in prime negotiating position with Fox (or ESPN) for its next TV deal.  UConn coming back added yet another high level, championship brand, to the conference's inventory, and will only help make the league better in the long-run.  Our floor this year for the tournament, in a pandemic, very much appears to be five teams (and this is supposed to be a down year).  In a normal year, we should get about 7 bids, with high(er) seeds, thanks to the added conference games that UConn brings with it.

Great recap. I would add just one important point on the BET: Locking Madison Square Garden.

[bilsu]

Right now we have two great wins and no bad losses. Is it possible for us to have a bad loss, now that the non-conference season is over? Maybe a home loss to Georgetown or St. John's. I have no idea about DePaul.

[PGsHeroes32]

Right now we have two great wins and no bad losses. Is it possible for us to have a bad loss, now that the non-conference season is over? Maybe a home loss to Georgetown or St. John's. I have no idea about DePaul.

Gtown would definitely not be an ideal loss.

But I think at this point its all about finishing .500 in conference. That should be enough for us

[GB Warrior]

Right now we have two great wins and no bad losses. Is it possible for us to have a bad loss, now that the non-conference season is over? Maybe a home loss to Georgetown or St. John's. I have no idea about DePaul.

I think this way of thinking about it only matters if we assume it's a 68 team field. I think Lunardi has his head up his ass if we're last team in thus far, but I also don't know that we will be sitting pretty enough by the end of the year if it's a truncated field.

[BM1090]

I think this way of thinking about it only matters if we assume it's a 68 team field. I think Lunardi has his head up his ass if we're last team in thus far, but I also don't know that we will be sitting pretty enough by the end of the year if it's a truncated field.

If it's not a 68 team field they need to announce it in the next week or two.

[PGsHeroes32]

I think this way of thinking about it only matters if we assume it's a 68 team field. I think Lunardi has his head up his ass if we're last team in thus far, but I also don't know that we will be sitting pretty enough by the end of the year if it's a truncated field.

I'm not betting the mortgage or anything. But I really do not see them doing a reduced field. They are gonna be going full bore to try and get a full tourney after missing last years.

Especially with the hope of a vaccine being pretty established by March.