With Conference Tournaments coming to a close and the beginning of March Madness, it’s time we look back at one of the tournament’s most disrespected conferences this season. Despite having five top 41 NET-ranked teams, only three were selected for the tournament. All of Seton Hall (NET-67), Villanova (41), and St. Johns (33) had strong cases to make March Madness. St. Johns and Seton Hall were projected play-in tournament teams, although the committee decided against it and selected teams like Wagner (290) and Howard (273) instead. Despite having three teams who did qualify for March Madness in Marquette, UConn, and Creighton, it’s hard to look past the fact that the Big East should have much more representation in the tournament than they do. 

The Big East Tournament showcased some of college’s best basketball this season. In the Conference Play-In bracket, #9 Xavier topped Butler 76-72, #7 Providence beat Georgetown 74-56, and #6 Villanova bested DePaul 58-57. Xavier soon fell to #1 UConn in the Quarterfinals 87-60, and #5 St. John’s came out hot topping #4 Seton Hall 91-72. Providence then got the best of #2 Creighton in a thrilling 78-73 upset, and Villanova dropped to #3 Marquette in a 71-65 overtime win. 

The Semifinals showed two exciting games, one of which being the high-scoring UConn vs. St. Johns matchup. UConn ultimately ended up coming away with a 95-90 win, and what separated them from The Red Storm was their consistency. The Huskies finished 31-54 (57.4 percent) from the floor, 11-22 (50.0 percent) from 3-point range and 22-of-24 (91.7 percent) from the free throw line. Conversely, St. John’s shot 45.1 percent (32-71) from the floor and 45.5 percent (10-22) from 3-point range (metrics via UCONN MBB). Despite the loss, however, St. Johns proved they can hang with the big dogs in this loaded conference and should have no problem contending for years to come if they continue their recruiting efforts. 

The second of the two semifinal games showed a matchup between the Providence Friars and Marquette Golden Eagles. Marquette toughed out the win in a 79-68 effort, largely due to the rate they were able to shoot the ball. Marquette finished 26-57 (45.6%) from the field, 8-15 (53.3%) from three and 19-24 (79.2%) from the free throw line. Providence finished 20-55 (36.4%) from the field, 7-31 (22.6%) from three and 21-28 (75.0%) from the free throw line (via friars.com). Most college teams are hot on a night they shoot 40% from three. To shoot 53.3% is unheard of for a team average, and their ability to shoot at such a high clip is what can attribute the win to them. 

The Finals game showcased yet another action-packed game between the Huskies of UConn and the Marquette Golden Eagles. In a game that started off pretty even, UConn eventually pulled ahead for a safe 73-58 win to secure the Big East Title and a #1 seed in March Madness. With this win, UConn also tied the Big East record with 8 tournament wins, a feat that they could very well surpass next season. UConn finished the day 26-of-57 (45.6 percent) from the floor, 7-of-24 (29.2 percent) from 3-point range and 14-of-17 (82.4 percent) from the free throw line. Conversely, the Huskies held Marquette to 21-of-54 (38.9 percent) from the field and 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) from 3-point range (via uconnhuskies.com). In a game that neither team shot entirely well in, defense was the key to victory. UConns ability to hold the Golden Eagles under 40% shooting is what inevitably won them this game. 

In conclusion, this tournament showed that the Big East deserved a lot more representation in March Madness than they were given. In a season that showed five teams in college basketball’s top 50, it comes as a surprise that this is the East’s least-representative March Madness in 20 years. Sure, it makes sense that teams like Wagner who won their respective conference title get in, but there should be space for other teams like St. John’s or Seton Hall who worked hard all season just to get snubbed. The committee needs to figure out a way to stop teams from being slighted this, and it’ll be interesting to see how they do so.