Big East Tournament 2012: Top Teams That Need a Win To Boost NCAA Seed

Syracuse, Marquette, Notre Dame and Cincinnati are all dancing in late March. The top four teams in the nation's toughest basketball conference have already earned their way in, but they still aren't done dealing with seeding.

The Orange can't go anywhere but down, and even a loss in the quarterfinals against G5 won't knock them off the perch they've settled on with a 30-1 record.

As for the rest of the teams playing for the first time on Day 3 of the Big East tournament, they all still have some work to do.

Marquette

At 25-6, the Golden Eagles can still move up and won't move down much even with a loss to G7. The Big East was a tougher conference from top to bottom and they should be a low No. 3, or high No. 4 seed at worst.

Should they advance as far as the Big East title game or possibly even win the Big East title with a win over Syracuse (they'd have to beat Syracuse for it to count), they could be considered for a No. 1 seed.

A loss to the Orange in the Finals would likely give them a No. 2 seed, though.

Notre Dame

The Irish are a funny team with a great conference record, but a weak out of conference record. At 21-10, Notre Dame needs to show they're not some fluke regular season team like in year's past and that they can win tournament-style games.

With a against G8 to get things started, they'll have a solid test on their hands.

The committee would love to see a run to the Big East final before they elevate Notre Dame anywhere near a No. 4 seed.

Cincinnati

The Bearcats come into the tournament unranked (rightfully so), but they have a solid conference record to their credit.

They start their Big East Tournament run against G6 and need a win right off for any opportunity of being placed as a No. 8 or No. 9 seed.

The last thing this team wants to do is face off with a No. 1 seed in a potential second-round matchup.

The more they win at MSG, the better things get for Cincinnati.

Quarterfinals - Thursday, March 8

12 p.m. ET	UConn	vs.	No. 1 Syracuse (G9)	ESPN
2 p.m. ET	Georgetown	vs.	No. 4 Cincinnati (G10)	ESPN
7 p.m. ET	Louisvillle	vs.	No. 2 Marquette (G11)	ESPN
9 p.m. ET	South Florida	vs.	No. 3 Notre Dame (G12)	ESPN