Big East Basketball: Failure or Success?

On my way to the airport last night to catch a “red eye” flight to Minneapolis, I listened to a couple of guys discussing March Madness on a rather famous radio network. 

Michigan State and North Carolina had just defeated the last two remaining Big East teams: UConn and Villanova. 

One guy in particular was dissing the Big East about their lack of success in the tournament. His whole argument was based on the fact that no Big East team was playing in the final game.

Now I know going into the tournament that most of the pundits talked about how this year’s NCAA was really just a Big East tournament that had invited North Carolina to join them. 

All season long, we have been told the Big East was by far the best conference. There were times I heard people talk about it being the best conference ever.  

I feel that that was a bit strong. However, there is no denying that the Big East was  strong this year, with a number of good teams—they did end up with three No. 1 seeds, and seven teams in the tournament.

After all the hype, evidently this particular radio announcer was expecting at least three Big East teams to be in the Final Four with North Carolina. 

With no Big East team in the game, he felt that the Big East had failed.

I couldn’t tell if he was a huge Big East fan, who was disappointed and let down, or if he didn’t like the Big East and all the hype, and was getting his revenge. 

I mean he was all over them, stating flat out that they could not be considered the best. It was like he was personally insulted by their losses.

So I guess the question is, just because the Big East didn’t end up with a team in the championship game, does that mean the Big East wasn’t all that good? 

It would have been pretty hard to be as good as their hype, but is that the only way to judge a team, or a conference?  

They did end up with two teams in the Final Four. Just because they lost in the semi-finals, does that mean they weren’t as good as advertised overall as a conference?

Personally, I have felt all along that this year the Big East was the strongest conference, with the most depth of good teams. 

Of course, they do have 16 teams.  

At the same time, I have felt that North Carolina was the best team. 

I don’t think that the Big East failed because they didn’t have a final two team. It just failed to live up to the hype, that was overblown from the start.