We've Never Seen Anything Like This Year's Big East Tournament Which Makes It AWESOME

The Big East technically tips tonight and for the first time it actually matters. Now, we’ll get into it and how we’ve never really seen anything like the Big East Tournament before, but first I have to bring something up.

I miss the way the floor used to look. You know what I mean. The Big East Tournament presented by Aeropostale:

It was awesome. Obviously you had the names (more on this in a second) but you had Raft + Bilas + McDonough – which is the greatest 3-man crew in TV history. So there’s the history. It was awesome. We all know that.

Guess what? It’s still awesome. Even this year with the Big East being down relative to recent years when it became the ‘new’ Big East. We’ve never seen a major – yes the Big East is a major – conference tournament this wide open. I mean let’s start with tonight alone.

St. John’s needs to beat DePaul – a team that swept St. John’s during the year. Hell, DePaul could win this whole thing and I wouldn’t think it’s insane. They have a potential NBA player in Max Strus. They have talent. They won 7 games.

If St. John’s wins they get Marquette – a team that swept Marquette. You beat Marquette by bothering Markus Howard and the way you do that is use length and athleticism. St. John’s has the perfect defender for Howard in Justin Simon. So if St. John’s won this thing I wouldn’t be surprised.

You have Villanova – a team that relies on the 3pt line just so damn much. They could shoot 40% the entire tournament and win by double digits. I won’t be surprised. They could lose to Butler or Providence. I won’t be surprised.

You get the idea? Plus, you could see Ed Cooley coaching in a towel.

Or you could see Lavall Jordan splitting his pants and coaching in a towel:

Then there’s the fact that half of the conference is pretty much on the bubble. Marquette and Villanova are in. I believe Seton Hall has done enough to feel comfortably in – the only worry being slipping into the First Four. Georgetown, Xavier, Creighton and St. John’s all on the bubble. We’ve never seen anything like that before. I mean look around the country and there are a couple bubble games in there. But, not like this where every game has some sort of implication for the NCAA Tournament.

So sit back and enjoy it. If you want a future? Take your shot. I’d avoid Villanova and Marquette because I don’t love the prices for teams that are all over the place. Literally pick a name out of the hat for this tournament. Creighton at 6/1 would probably, might, I don’t know, be my pick.

We’ve never seen anything like this. Sit back and enjoy.