Big East Tournament 2012: Tourney Upsets You Won't See Coming

After Syracuse, the Big East is full of a lot of good and even very good teams and could see up to 10 schools make the NCAA Tournament.

But with only one elite squad and then a whole lot of parity, expect the Big East Tournament to have more than its fair share of surprises and upsets.

I've identified three teams I think will shake the tourney up and exceed expectations.

Connecticut Huskies

Don't sleep on UConn. They may have had a disappointing year, but they still have the talent to go on a deep run at the Big East tourney.

Keep in mind that the team was 3-5 with head coach Jim Calhoun on medical leave with spinal stenosis and is 15-7 with him on the bench.

Beating DePaul and West Virginia wouldn't be considered huge upsets in the team's first two games. But I wouldn't be shocked if they took Syracuse to the wire in the quarterfinals and even beat them in another in a long line of classic tournament bouts between the two teams.

Louisville Cardinals

Louisville is an excellent defensive team—they hold opponents to a paltry 37.8 percent shooting from the field, fifth best in the nation—and defensive teams that can keep the game close always have a shot against elite opponents.

And they are a team that can hold their own against any opponent—they've lost to Syracuse twice, yes, but one of those was a 52-51 nail-biter. They lost to Notre Dame in double overtime and lost a close game against Georgetown in late December, 71-68.

Oh, and they also have wins against Long Beach State, Vanderbilt, Memphis, Seton Hall, UConn and West Virginia.

Don't be surprised if the Cardinals advance to the quarterfinals, beat Marquette and potentially even make a run to the championship game.

Cincinnati Bearcats

The Bearcats are my sleeper pick to win the Big East tournament.

Then again, it might be hard to consider them a sleeper—the Bearcats have impressive wins this season over Marquette, Louisville, UConn, Georgetown, Notre Dame and were leading Syracuse late before the Orange finished the game on a 12-2 run in late January.

In other words, they are capable of beating any team in the Big East. In the always crazy Big East, don't be surprised if Cincinnati survives the melee and wins the whole thing.

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