So I guess the refs call the same games in March than they do in Nov thru end of the regular season? No chance. They absolutely call it differently. They're required to call it tight with the full freedom of movement stuff. IF they don't, they don't ref further.

Also, I'm sorry, but when you have schools like Providence with a 93 OOC RPI (going 9-4 against 112 OOC SOS) or Creighton with a 64 OOC RPI(with a 237 OOC SOS)- you can't say that OOC was great. Also several of those "ranked" opponents weren't ranked at the end of the season. Louisville and Northwestern didn't make the tourney. UCLA was 2nd team in. Seton Hall was the only one that had a good OOC from the bubble teams- at #20 OOC RPI, but even there, they had the loss to Rutgers.

There is 1 reason and 1 reason only that the Big East has gotten more respect the last 2 years. That was Nova winning the title. The tournament is by far the most important thing to the season. And if Nova wins it again this year, the uptick in respect will be directly tied to that.

Stever, what are your thoughts about the PAC and SEC this year? Would you say they under-performed as well? Do both conferences need to look at calling their conference games differently? Do they need to improve their OOC scheduling? After all, both conferences failed to have a single team advance to the Elite Eight. The PAC didn't even win a game in the tournament this year. From your posts on the other board, you are confident that the AAC will regularly get 5-6 bids every year moving forward simply because UConn and Memphis hired new coaches.

Once again, you can use any metric you want, but the Big East once again got six bids this year. Providence nearly defeated Texas A&M (who went to Sweet 16), beat Xavier and nearly defeated Villanova in the Big East Championship. Seton Hall, a 9-seed, nearly beat Kansas - a #1 seed. Butler, a 10-seed, nearly beat Purdue, a #2 seed, who advanced to the Sweet 16. Xavier losing, as a #1 seed, to Florida State, a #9, was a bad loss. But this tournament is full of unpredictable upsets. Since Virginia lost to UMBC, does that mean they need to completely change the ACC officiating or the OOC? What about UNC? MSU?

You cannot isolate the Big East, creating perceived reasons that show a lack of success in March, without acknowledging that other major conferences experience the same upsets and bad losses as well. The fact that the Big East has a recent National Champion, and other conferences like the Big 10, PAC and Big 12 (who may very well win this year) do not, I believe reveals that the conference is not in as dire straights as you proclaim.

I'm kind of shocked that there is no conspiracy theorist talk about the Ackerman quote and the Big East really is expanding just not from the Horizon [League].