CSNbbs

projo.com Wrote:Big East looks to eliminate the byes from its basketball tourney
By KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer
10:35 PM EDT on Sunday, August 9, 2009

PROVIDENCE — The ever-changing Big East basketball tournament may be in for another major shift that will please everyone except the worst teams in the league.

In response to concerns expressed by the conference’s head coaches, the Big East is looking to change the format of the 16-team tourney held every season at Madison Square Garden. The latest wrinkle will take away any byes and pit the very best teams against the worst finishers on the first day of the event.

That is a major shift from last March, when the league decided to invite all 16 of its schools to New York for the first time. That tournament began with the bottom eight seeds playing four games on the opening day and the top half of the league enjoying a bye. Tuesday’s first-round winners played teams 5-6-7-8 on Wednesday, with the surviving teams playing the top four seeds in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

The “double-bye” received by the top four seeds was a problem on several fronts. First, TV partner ESPN chose not to televise the four opening-round games. That was mainly due to a lack of star power on the Garden’s marquee. Also, the teams with the double-bye felt they sat and watched too long, especially after two of those teams (Connecticut, Pittsburgh) lost, and a third (Villanova) won on a last-second shot.

The alternative format being discussed would rectify both issues. The top four seeds — all of which are most likely to be nationally ranked — will play right away against the bottom four teams. Seeds 5-12 would play on the second day, and the winners from the first two days would advance to the quarterfinals on Thursday. The tournament would continue to finish with a championship game Saturday night.

While coaches, athletic directors and conference administrators have discussed the change, the move is far from done. The school presidents have not been briefed on the possible change and would ultimately be responsible for making the switch.

“We’re evaluating what we want to do with our tournament,” said Dan Gavitt, the Big East’s associate commissioner in charge of men’s basketball. “We’ve decided to remain with a 16-team tournament, but our head coaches have expressed some sentiment to explore changes and we’ve talked about our options. We feel we have the best tournament in the country, and this is another step in that direction.”

Gavitt added that the league presidents will be briefed on some ideas regarding strengthening the tournament over the next month. Any changes to the format would have to be conveyed the ESPN relatively soon.

Matching the best and worst teams on the opening day (Tuesday) of the tournament is seen as a good move on many fronts. First, ESPN would almost certainly want to televise games featuring the Big East’s best teams even if they are facing the lesser lights of the conference. The best teams also bring the most fans and filling the Garden for the early rounds of the event remains a major concern.

It is also in the league’s best interest to keep the top teams alive as long as possible. If the top four teams play teams 13-16, they’d get an easier game under their belts right away before facing stiffer challenges in the quarterfinals. Under this past year’s format, such top seeds as Connecticut faced Syracuse in its opening game when the Orange had already played a game. The two teams hooked up for the most memorable game in Big East tournament history, a six-overtime thriller that lasted past 1 a.m., with Syracuse escaping with the win.