By Dan Gelston
Associated Press
The three No. 1 seeds were only a start. The bruising, behemoth Big East has lived up to the hype as the beast of the NCAA tournament.
The Big East tournament officially ended two weeks ago in New York. Take a look at those office brackets, and the teams still standing entering the NCAA tournament’s second weekend make it seem like the party is still going long after the lights were dimmed at Madison Square Garden.
Five teams still playing and a shot at placing four teams in the Final Four have put the rest of the field on notice that the path to a national championship goes through this overpowering conference.
“I would have been really shocked if some of these guys got upset,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said.
Connecticut, Louisville and Pittsburgh are the three top seeds still playing. Villanova and Syracuse are No. 3 seeds as a record five teams from one conference in the Sweet 16 have given the tournament a decided Big East flavor.
The Panthers and Wildcats could meet in the East Regional final, while the Orange (South), Cardinals (Midwest) and Huskies (West) are spread among the other three regionals, making a rugged all-conference Final Four a legitimate possibility.
“There’s no other league in the country like the Big East,” UConn forward Jeff Adrien said.
The Big East, which has 16 basketball members, could send three teams to the Final Four for the first time since Villanova, Georgetown and St. John’s got there in 1985.
Led by coach Rollie Massimino and his appetizing use of pasta and clam sauce as a motivational tool, the 1985 Wildcats beat Georgetown in “The Perfect Game” for their only national championship.
Massimino said on Tuesday that he was rooting for another Big East battle in Detroit.
“It very likely could happen,” Massimino said. “I think it’s very comparable. Back in ’85, there were just a great conglomerate of people. It would be a tremendous tribute.”
The ’85 Final Four remains the benchmark for any conference.