BE went 5-0 against the B12 today in the women's tournament. UCONN blew the doors off Texas. 5 BE teams in the sweet 16 on the ladies' side. Any doubt which conference is the best in women's basketball?

The bracket choices have attempted to limit the success of the Big East IMO. They haven't accomplished that even though one of two of the Big East's best will not be in the Final Four.

Sticking UConn and Rutgers in the same region is still a bogus move by the committee.

RU got screwed. It is not fair for RU to meet UCONN in the final 8 if both make it past the next game. RU could beat any of the other #1s out there.

Wish the men's side did so well...

For the sake of completeness, here are all Second Round scores for the Big East.

MONDAY 03-24-08
GR-#2 Rutgers beat GR-#7 Iowa State 69-58 (in Tempe)
SP-#6 Pittsburgh beat SP-#3 Baylor 67-59 (in Albuquerque)
SP-#4 Vanderbilt beat SP-#5 West Virginia 64-46 (in Albuquerque)

TUESDAY 03-25-08
GR-#1 Connecticut beat GR-#8 Texas 89-55 (in Bridgeport)
NO-#4 Louisville beat NO-#5 Kansas State 80-63 (in Bridgeport)
OK-#5 Notre Dame beat OK-#4 Oklahoma 79-75 in OT (in West Lafayette)

Those five victories set up the following showdowns in the Sweet Sixteen round.

SATURDAY 03-29-08
SP-#1 Maryland vs. SP-#4 Vanderbilt (in Spokane)
SP-#2 Stanford vs. SP-#6 Pittsburgh (in Spokane)
NO-#1 North Carolina vs. NO-#4 Louisville (in New Orleans)
NO-#2 LSU vs. NO-#3 Oklahoma State (in New Orleans)

SUNDAY 03-30-08
GR-#1 Connecticut vs. GR-#5 Old Dominion (in Greensboro)
GR-#2 Rutgers vs. GR-#6 George Washington (in Greensboro)
OK-#1 Tennessee vs. OK-#5 Notre Dame (in Oklahoma City)
OK-#2 Texas A&M vs. OK-#3 Duke (in Oklahoma City)

Big East teams are the favorites in two games, but underdogs in the other three.

Fresh from ESPN:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/ncaatourne...dish080325

Quote:Sweet 16 full of Big East flavor

Maya Moore, far right, helped UConn reach the regional semifinals for the 15th consecutive season.

Big East's success not exactly a surprise

By Mechelle Voepel
ESPN.com

There wasn't any drama during top-seeded Connecticut's 89-55 demolition of Texas on Tuesday night. But it did get pretty exciting in the Huskies' locker room afterward.

That's because the Notre Dame-Oklahoma overtime epic was on television, and the UConn players were keeping an eye on the tube and cheering for the Irish while doing their postgame interviews.

"Oh, my goodness," UConn guard Renee Montgomery said, interrupting herself while answering a question. "Notre Dame is going to win this game!"

The Irish's 79-75 victory was the second fantastic finish of the night, after ODU beat Virginia 88-85 in overtime. Notre Dame's win meant the Big East has five teams in the Sweet 16, the most of any conference since the Big 12 had that many in 2002.

And the Big East's success this year came at the expense of the Big 12. The two leagues both got eight teams in the NCAA tournament, but then the Big East went 5-0 in head-to-head matchups with the Big 12 in the second round.

I've lived and worked in Big 12 territory for 12 years now -- and grew up there, too -- so I usually feel pretty plugged in on the Jumbo Dozen. Let's put it this way: I have absolutely no excuse not to be plugged in. And I can honestly say -- not trying to sound like some know-it-all -- that I'm not surprised at what has happened.

Gosh, I even have "documented evidence" for a change -- I said in an ESPN.com chat in January that I thought the Big East was the best league. Um, now don't go holding me to everything I say in those chats … just the stuff that proves right.

It's not like success is new to the Big East, because UConn has five NCAA titles among its eight trips to the Final Four; Notre Dame has one title and an additional trip to the Final Four; and Rutgers has been to the Final Four twice. But with teams such as Pittsburgh and Louisville making their first Sweet 16 appearances in program history, this is a landmark season for the Big East.

The Big 12 was a good league this season with exceptional parity, but a lot of teams were young and/or had holes that were bound to show up in NCAA tournament play. Two of the Big 12 teams that made the field, Texas and Iowa State, were both 7-9 in the league. I thought both deserved to get in, but that neither would last past the first round.

League regular-season champion Kansas State was a gritty team that really got the most out its ability, but then lost leading scorer Kimberly Dietz to a knee injury in the Big 12 tournament. I don't think the Wildcats would have been able to beat Louisville, though, even with a healthy Dietz. Louisville was too quick, too big, too athletic, too smart and too versatile for K-State to upset the Cardinals, who won 80-63.

The other Big East wins against the Big 12 were Pittsburgh over Baylor and Rutgers over Iowa State.

Notre Dame beating Oklahoma is an upset in terms of seeding, a No. 5 over a No. 4. But considering how much the Sooners struggled at the end of this season -- they lost four of their last five -- this was hardly unpredictable. And once OU lost to 12th-seeded Missouri in the Big 12 tournament, the Sooners' NCAA prospects were in question.

But … that's not to take away from Notre Dame's victory. The Irish really have a thing about beating up on the Big 12 in the NCAA tournament, by the way. The first year of the Big 12, 1997, No. 6 seed Notre Dame beat third-seeded Texas. The next year, the No. 9 Irish shocked top-seeded Texas Tech. And in 2003, No. 11 Notre Dame beat No. 3 Kansas State. All of those Irish victories happened on the Big 12 team's home court.

On Tuesday, the UConn players were sending their Irish "sisters" good vibes in West Lafayette, Ind. Montgomery said she was rooting for all the Big East schools in the tournament.

"There is a bond after you've played against somebody for a long time," said Montgomery, a junior guard. "Even if you don't really know the players on the other team. That's what it is right now -- I just want everyone in the Big East to win. Including Rutgers, if you were wondering that. They're still in the Big East, so I'm still cheering for Rutgers."

The Scarlet Knights, of course, are the Huskies' most contentious rival now in the Big East, and they could meet in the regional final at Greensboro. But until then … the Huskies are saying, "Go Rutgers!"

UConn coach Geno Auriemma grinned when asked about the Big East's success.

"We knew going in that we had some really good teams in our league," he said. "Then you hope that it plays out in the tournament. I just think our style of play in this league is good enough that it prepares you because of the diversity and variety of styles that you have to face.

"The kind of athletes that we have … if you haven't played against [Louisville's] Angel McCoughtry, you're going to have a problem with her. Same with [Pittsburgh's] Marcedes Walker and [Notre Dame's] Charel Allen. And, obviously, the Rutgers kids."

It goes without saying that his own kids, led by Maya Moore, are great, too.

"We have been saying all along that it's the best league in the country, and what do we have -- five teams in the regionals?" Auriemma said. "Man, that's a lot, huh? Woo-hoo!"

Rutgers and UConn should have been in brackets that would have caused them to only meet in the championship game. That would be one hell of a championship game.

That could never have happened anyway. Louisville will be in one of those spots.

army56mike Wrote:That could never have happened anyway. Louisville will be in one of those spots.

Someone has to earn the right to be pounded by this UCONN team. Those girls are playing incredible right now. They are like a machine.

I am taking this loss a little hard, and I might have sour grapes, but how can one team have a 44 to 10 advantage on the free throw line? Somehting just doesn't seem right about that to me.

army56mike Wrote:but how can one team have a 44 to 10 advantage on the free throw line?

Some of NC's free throws were from us having to foul at the end, but even if you take those away, it's still such an inbalance.

It's such a shame too; the two teams didn't play that different to warrant that discrepancy.

It was like the refs said "given the choice between North Carolina and Louisville making the Elite 8 and Final Four, North Carolina would be better for the women's game, so let's get them there."

I think Louisville might be adding a new, highly-hated, non-conference rival to their list after North Carolina knocks the Cardinals out of both the men's and women's tournaments on the same day. That sucks.

Pitt is also losing to Stanford late in the second half so the Big East will be down to three teams in Sunday's second half of the Sweet Sixteen - Connecticut, Rutgers, and Notre Dame - as action moves along.

Personally, I won't count UNC as a rival. It was just a chance meeting between good teams.

UConn is through to the Elite Eight with a 78-63 win over Old Dominion while Rutgers is up pretty big on George Washington in the second half. If the Scarlet Knights go for the jugular, finishing the job the way it should be finished, they will battle the Huskies on Tuesday night.

Notre Dame, meanwhile, will be up against a tremendous challenge later tonight in the form of Tennessee. The winner of that game will face either Texas A&M or Duke on Tuesday night. One team from the Big East will make it to the Final Four but nothing else is guaranteed.

It's official - UConn vs. Rutgers Tuesday night 9pm EST.

Screw the committee and may the best team win.

Marquette beat Kentucky 69-64 and St. John's lost to N.C. State 63-61 in the quarterfinals of the Women's NIT today as well. The Golden Eagles will be joined in the semifinals of the Women's NIT by the Wolfpack, Michigan State (beat Michigan 45-40 in OT), and whoever wins between TCU and Colorado (Horned Frogs lead Buffs by six points at halftime).