Big East Tournament 2012: Underdogs Will Reign Supreme in Semifinals

Friday is going to be a bad day to be a high seed at Madison Square Garden. In Friday's two Big East tournament games, the underdogs are going to come out on top. Now, let's take a look at why that is going to happen. 

No. 1 Syracuse vs. No. 4 Cincinnati, 7 p.m. EST

While Syracuse is obviously a talented team, what I don't see from them here is a sense of urgency. They are about as locked in to the East's No. 1 seed as anyone could possibly be, so they can afford to take it easy, trying some new things along the way. 

Now, in his latest projections, Joe Lunardi of ESPN has Cincinnati comfortably in as well (actually all four teams remaining are easily in), but they have a lot more to play for. 

With a win in this game, the Bearcats can move out of a potential No. 8 spot, which will certainly lead to a second round-elimination. Because of that, they will come out with a greater sense of urgency. 

It's not that the Orangemen won't be trying, but I don't see them exerting themselves a lot in this one. They seemed to take a lot of joy in bouncing out UConn on Thursday, but they'll be looking ahead to the NCAA tournament. 

The four-man attack of Sean Kilpatrick, Dion Dixon, Yancy Gates and Cashmere Wright will lead the attack in this one, pulling the upset. 

With a win, Cincinnati will out of that No. 8/9 game, meaning they avoid a top seed in the second round. 

Prediction: Cincinnati 57, Syracuse 53

No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 7 Louisville, 9 p.m. EST

The Fighting Irish's momentum has stalled since their nine-game winning streak. While they have won the last two games, needing overtime to put up 57 points against South Florida is hardly impressive. 

Louisville's offense is far more potent than South Florida's that often struggled to hit 50 points throughout the season. The balanced Louisville attack will do better than that, and the Fighting Irish don't quite have the jump to get there. 

Kyle Kuric, Russ Smith, Chris Smith, Gorgui Dieng and Chane Behanan are all averaging better than nine points a game, while Peyton Silva is just under that. 

Notre Dame can play defense, but the Cardinals will always have multiple men on the floor to focus on. Eventually, that will carry the day, moving Louisville to the finals. 

Prediction: Louisville 64, Notre Dame 57

Follow @mdixon1985