Big East Tournament 2012 Bracket: Teams with Most to Lose in Quarterfinals

Syracuse has already locked up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The best they can get is the No. 1 overall seed and they would need Kentucky to lose for that to happen.

If the Orange take care of business on their end, the worst they can do is still a No. 1 seed.

They're the only safe team, though. Their Big East brethren, Marquette, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Louisville and UConn are all guaranteed a spot on the dance floor (likely South Florida as well) but they can still help or hurt themselves with their play at MSG today.

Marquette

The No. 2 seed in the Big East tournament can lock up a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament by advancing through to the championship game. They don't have to win it, they just need to be there.

Their road gets mighty tough tonight against Rick Pitino and Louisville, though. The Cardinals took care of business against Seton Hall, but didn't look great in the process.

They're always dangerous and Marquette cannot afford to come out sleepwalking after a two-round bye to the quarterfinals. 

Notre Dame

The Irish cannot afford an early exit in Madison Square Garden. Their great regular season Big East record already has them in the tournament, but bad losses to the likes of Georgia, Maryland and Rutgers weigh them down.

A quarterfinals loss to South Florida will knock them down a few seeds and they'll be forced to battle out of a corner immediately in the big dance.

Advancing to play the winner of Marquette-Louisville is huge for the Irish. 

Cincinnati

The Bearcats get started at MSG against a Georgetown team they've already beat once this season. Unfortunately, they lost five games down the stretch after that win. Georgetown wasn't great down the stretch either, but they only lost seven times this season. If the Bearcats want to be taken seriously by the committee, they cannot afford to lose in the quarterfinals. 

Quarterfinals - Thursday, March 8

12 p.m. ET	No. 9 UConn	vs.	No. 1 Syracuse (G9)	ESPN
2 p.m. ET	No. 5 Georgetown	vs.	No. 4 Cincinnati (G10)	ESPN
7 p.m. ET	No. 7 Louisvillle	vs.	No. 2 Marquette (G11)	ESPN
9 p.m. ET	No. 6 South Florida	vs.	No. 3 Notre Dame (G12)	ESPN

Semifinals - Friday, March 9

7 p.m. ET	G9 Winner	vs	G10 Winner	ESPN
9 p.m. ET	G11 Winner	vs	G12 Winner	ESPN

Championship Game - Saturday, March 10 - 9 p.m. EST - ESPN