Big East 2024 Offseason

[Herman Cain]

Excellent news for MU that Kentucky lost

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Nah. Our path to a deep run has been KY.  Bad omen!

[Herman Cain]

Excellent win for U Conn. The Huskies basically have 4 straight home games.

[Herman Cain]

Too bad Pitino couldn't bring Walter Clayton from Iona to The Johnnies. Would have had a helluva backcourt this year.

[Judge Smails]

Big game for Bradley today

[Herman Cain]

Solid win for The Hall in NIT today

[Herman Cain]

Creighton has big challenge tonight with The Ducks

[Herman Cain]

Blue Jays and Ducks pecking away at each other .

[Herman Cain]

Excellent win for The Blue Jays. Winning a Double Over Time Tournament game gives them a lot of momentum.

McDermott had Kalkbrenner practicing 3s  and it paid off

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

ESPN article describes McDermott and Altman relationship as "the reason the Bluejays are a mid-major power and a menace inside the brackets." The article then concludes, "Now one of the nation's most consistent winning teams, the Bluejays have outgrown any mid-major label." SMH

[WhiteTrash]

ESPN article describes McDermott and Altman relationship as "the reason the Bluejays are a mid-major power and a menace inside the brackets." The article then concludes, "Now one of the nation's most consistent winning teams, the Bluejays have outgrown any mid-major label." SMH

Saw that too. Very strange. Looks like ESPN took the AP article, then maybe someone at ESPN saw the gross misstatement and "fixed" it in the last paragraph.

AP sports articles have felt AI generated for years. This is not a big deal, but symptomatic of the state of AP sports reporting for a long time. We get what we pay (or don't pay) for.

[Herman Cain]

2 Big East in Sweet 16. Need U Conn to complete The Trifecta

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

2 Big East in Sweet 16. Need U Conn to complete The Trifecta

They will.

[Herman Cain]

Looks like U Conn will comfortably win tonight

Is excellent having 3 Big East Squads in The Sweet 16 2 years in a row.

[Herman Cain]

We want Buzz to win this game

[MU82]

AP sports articles have felt AI generated for years. This is not a big deal, but symptomatic of the state of AP sports reporting for a long time. We get what we pay (or don't pay) for.

Let me tell you how AP sports articles work, WT, so you can be a little more informed.

Immediately after a game, the AP reporter files a quick story with the score and the details of the game. It is a "nothing-but-facts" account. Then the reporter goes to the press conferences and/or locker rooms, gets quotes from coaches and athletes, and returns to the press box. There, the reporter writes an updated article with a new angle, lots of quotes and additional perspective.

Just as a person who subscribes to a magazine has the option to read one article, 10 articles, the entire thing, parts of articles, etc, each newspaper or online publication that subscribes to the AP has the option to publish that first version, the updated version or just bits and pieces of articles.

For physical newspapers that still exist, their deadlines usually do not give them the time to publish the updated article. There is only so much space, also. The majority now, of course, are online. They often choose to only publish the original article, and often only the first couple/few paragraphs. They have the choice of updating what they publish with the new article, but many simply choose not to.

Just as some professors or dentists or politicians or engineers or (choose profession) are better than others, some AP reporters are better than others. Some are extraordinarily talented, producing outstanding work under the most extreme deadline pressure in the industry. To use an example you've heard of, Marquette's own Nancy Armour was a multiple-award-winning AP reporter before she left to become a columnist for USA Today. AP reporters have won many prestigious awards, including Pulitzer Prizes.

An AP reporter has absolutely no say about what gets published. So yes, if an online site or newspaper publishes only the first two paragraphs of the right-after-game article, it looks like something AI could have done. But I assure you that for every major sporting event - and by major, I mean every NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, golf, tennis, auto racing and major-college football and basketball game - an updated article also was written that AI couldn't have possibly replicated.

Many AP reporters also work on investigative journalism projects, in-depth feature articles, and the like. It is the world's largest news organization.

[Herman Cain]

Solid media coverage of Big East

https://nypost.com/2024/03/24/sports/creighton-clips-oregon-in-2-ot-thriller-to-advance-into-sweet-16/amp/

[Uncle Rico]

Solid media coverage of Big East

https://nypost.com/2024/03/24/sports/creighton-clips-oregon-in-2-ot-thriller-to-advance-into-sweet-16/amp/

Wouldn’t use this.  New York Post was making up stories this past week.  Can’t believe anyone with a functioning brain cell would read that

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Big East Coach's have a text group.
Coach Hurley commenting on only 3 teams.

https://www.espn.in/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39804746/big-east-undefeated-uconn-hurley-says-mistake-was-made

With Big East undefeated, UConn's Hurley says 'mistake was made'

Jordan Raanan, ESPN Staff Writer
Mar 25, 2024, 09:43 AM

NEW YORK -- Only three Big East teams made this year's NCAA tournament. After UConn's dominating 75-58 performance against Northwestern on Sunday at Barclays Center to cap its opening weekend, all three are into the Sweet 16.

Marquette beat Colorado 81-77 Sunday and Creighton outlasted Oregon 86-73 in double overtime Saturday to make it a perfect 6-0 for the conference.

It only further validates UConn coach Dan Hurley's belief that the Big East deserved to have more teams in the tournament.

"Obviously the mistake was made," Hurley said after the defending national champs won their eighth straight tournament game by double digits. "It sucks."

The NCAA tournament selection committee left out the next tier of Big East teams -- Seton Hall, St. John's and Providence. All three reached the 20-win plateau.

Instead, the committee selected two teams from the Mountain West and one each from the ACC and Big 12. The Mountain West sent six teams total.

Hurley and the rest of the Big East coaches, who have their own group chat, seem to have noticed. The Mountain West is 3-5 so far in the tournament. The Big 12 is 3-3.

Meanwhile, the Big East is the first conference to send at least three teams to the NCAA tournament and have none lose a game prior to the Sweet 16 since the SEC in 2014. Before that, it hadn't happened since the Big East in 2003.

"Just the quality of the league; look what we've done in nonconference games," Hurley said in defense of the Big East on Sunday. "I don't know what our record is the last two years, nonconference [multiteam events], NCAA tournament, and Seton Hall beat us by 15. You know, we've won eight straight in this tournament, all by significant margins, and they were good enough to beat us and they were good enough to beat Marquette.

"And there should have been five or six Big East teams in this tournament. You've seen how other leagues that got the bids that our league deserved has underperformed."

Big East commissioner Val Ackerman told reporters before UConn's win Sunday that the conference is still trying to figure out what went wrong with the selection committee.

"We have to abide by the committee's process," she said, according to college basketball broadcaster John Fanta. "Are we working behind the scenes to try to better understand what the committee is looking for? Yes, that is happening. But I don't think screaming at the top of my lungs is going to get us more teams."

For now, the thought process seems to be that the Big East teams having success in the tournament can only help moving forward. So they seem unified in rooting for each other's success.

Hurley said in his postgame news conference that the Big East coaches are offering their staunch support.

"Me, [Marquette coach Shaka Smart] and [Creighton coach Greg McDermott], we've got a group chat going, and the other coaches in our league, I saw [Providence coach] Kim [English] and [Seton Hall coach] Shaheen [Holloway], you know, with the full league group chat that we have got with the coaches. I know everyone is fired up to see us continue to push and rep the league at a high level," Hurley said. "I know Val is excited, too."

UConn remains a heavy favorite to repeat as national champ.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Eh...the Big East was top heavy. Hurley knows this but is playing the good soldier.

[tower912]

I disagree.  The Big East's mid-tier is as good as any conference's mid-tier.



I look for Herman to post this tomorrow.

[MarquetteDano]

My only nit is that all of the teams were already high seeds.  I imagine if Providence, Seton Hall, and Saint John's made the tourney the Big East would prob at best be 7-3 right now versus 6-0.

We will never know for sure but the top was very strong where the middle was just decent this year. Still think St. John's deserved a bid, but there were quite a few bid thieves this year.

[Pakuni]

I disagree.  Their mid-tier is as good as any conference's mid-tier.



I look for Herman to post this tomorrow.

Both things seem true.
The Big East was top-heavy, and teams like St. John's and Providence probably were more deserving than Virginia and TCU.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Both things seem true.
The Big East was top-heavy, and teams like St. John's and Providence probably were more deserving than Virginia and TCU.

Virginia for sure.

But really I don't have much reason to think they were more deserving than anyone else who made the field. And conference record in the tournament isn't any sort of indication of that.

[Herman Cain]

Big East Coach's have a text group.
Coach Hurley commenting on only 3 teams.

https://www.espn.in/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39804746/big-east-undefeated-uconn-hurley-says-mistake-was-made

With Big East undefeated, UConn's Hurley says 'mistake was made'

Jordan Raanan, ESPN Staff Writer
Mar 25, 2024, 09:43 AM

NEW YORK -- Only three Big East teams made this year's NCAA tournament. After UConn's dominating 75-58 performance against Northwestern on Sunday at Barclays Center to cap its opening weekend, all three are into the Sweet 16.

Marquette beat Colorado 81-77 Sunday and Creighton outlasted Oregon 86-73 in double overtime Saturday to make it a perfect 6-0 for the conference.

It only further validates UConn coach Dan Hurley's belief that the Big East deserved to have more teams in the tournament.

"Obviously the mistake was made," Hurley said after the defending national champs won their eighth straight tournament game by double digits. "It sucks."

The NCAA tournament selection committee left out the next tier of Big East teams -- Seton Hall, St. John's and Providence. All three reached the 20-win plateau.

Instead, the committee selected two teams from the Mountain West and one each from the ACC and Big 12. The Mountain West sent six teams total.

Hurley and the rest of the Big East coaches, who have their own group chat, seem to have noticed. The Mountain West is 3-5 so far in the tournament. The Big 12 is 3-3.

Meanwhile, the Big East is the first conference to send at least three teams to the NCAA tournament and have none lose a game prior to the Sweet 16 since the SEC in 2014. Before that, it hadn't happened since the Big East in 2003.

"Just the quality of the league; look what we've done in nonconference games," Hurley said in defense of the Big East on Sunday. "I don't know what our record is the last two years, nonconference [multiteam events], NCAA tournament, and Seton Hall beat us by 15. You know, we've won eight straight in this tournament, all by significant margins, and they were good enough to beat us and they were good enough to beat Marquette.

"And there should have been five or six Big East teams in this tournament. You've seen how other leagues that got the bids that our league deserved has underperformed."

Big East commissioner Val Ackerman told reporters before UConn's win Sunday that the conference is still trying to figure out what went wrong with the selection committee.

"We have to abide by the committee's process," she said, according to college basketball broadcaster John Fanta. "Are we working behind the scenes to try to better understand what the committee is looking for? Yes, that is happening. But I don't think screaming at the top of my lungs is going to get us more teams."

For now, the thought process seems to be that the Big East teams having success in the tournament can only help moving forward. So they seem unified in rooting for each other's success.

Hurley said in his postgame news conference that the Big East coaches are offering their staunch support.

"Me, [Marquette coach Shaka Smart] and [Creighton coach Greg McDermott], we've got a group chat going, and the other coaches in our league, I saw [Providence coach] Kim [English] and [Seton Hall coach] Shaheen [Holloway], you know, with the full league group chat that we have got with the coaches. I know everyone is fired up to see us continue to push and rep the league at a high level," Hurley said. "I know Val is excited, too."

UConn remains a heavy favorite to repeat as national champ.

Big East Middle Tier deserved to be in tournament .

Unfortunately,The most important thing is to perform well in non conference. Hard to improve once everyone is in conference . That is the case for every conference.

Either win the Multi Team event or win at least two of the games , Beat the traditional rival , win at least one of the games in the Conference to Conference games, win a home and home game and destroy Cup cakes.

In most years Big East has performed to that formula well . I have been following closely since inception of this version of Big East. We have gotten a large number of teams in the tournament as a function of that formula.

This year, unfortunately non conference was worst since inception.

Nova losing The 3 Big 5 games was the most devastating . Nova was a good enough roster to beat quality opponents and also win conference games . So they hurt everyone when they won conference games but ostensibly got no credit because of all the Bad losses. The trickle down impact to the rest of the middle tier was meaningful.

X , which had an excuse due to losing Freemantle and Hunter, still had the two bad losses at home. Then they performed  well against mid tier in conference kind of screwing everyone in the process.

The Hall could not put any good quality non con wins on the board and lost its rivalry game to Rutgers so stuck with a crappy NET all year. So despite Stellar Conference they lost on the musical chairs at the end

Johnnies bad loss to Michigan kept them suppressed for most of the season and not taking advantage of Dayton on a neutral court hurt as well

Providence not taking advantage of opportunity to beat K State when they still had Hopkins and getting blown out by Moser

Even Creighton two losses to Mountain West hurt the league cause

Better performance in non con would have kept Nova , Johnnies , The Friars and The Hall off the bubble and less susceptible to bid thieves. Also would have made it much harder for Mountain West to get so many teams in.