After going 15-3 in conference play and finishing the Big East season as the nation’s top-ranked team, Syracuse is the No. 1 seed for the 2010 Big East championship.
Despite falling to Louisville in Saturday’s season finale, Syracuse earned its first outright BIG EAST regular-season title since the 1990-91 season, finishing two games ahead of the field in the final conference standings.
Syracuse joins Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Villanova as the top four seeds in the BIG EAST Championship, which begins Tuesday, March 9 at noon Eastern at Madison Square Garden in New York. Those four schools receive byes through two rounds of tournament and won’t play until Thursday’s quarterfinals.
The Championship begins Tuesday with four first-round matchups. USF and DePaul kick things off with a battle between the Nos. 9 and 16 seeds at noon, while No. 12 Connecticut takes on No. 13 St. John’s at 2 p.m. to complete the afternoon session. Those games will be televised on ESPN2.
The Tuesday evening session begins with No. 10 Seton Hall and No. 15 Providence at 7 p.m., followed by No. 11 Cincinnati against No. 14 Rutgers at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.
No. 8-seeded Georgetown will await the USF/DePaul winner Wednesday at noon in the first of four second-round games. No. 5 Marquette has the Connecticut/St. John’s winner at 2 p.m., while No. 7 Notre Dame takes on the Seton Hall/Providence winner at 7 p.m. No. 6 Louisville – the 2009 BIG EAST champion – closes Wednesday’s action against the Cincinnati/Rutgers winner.
Friday’s semifinals are scheduled for 7 and 9 p.m., while the championship game taps at 9 p.m. Saturday.
Wednesday’s second-round games, Thursday’s quarterfinals, Friday’s semifinals and the championship game Saturday will be televised on ESPN.
Georgetown has won a conference-record seven BIG EAST Championships. Connecticut has won six tournament titles, while Syracuse has won five.
2010 BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY NEW YORK LIFE
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN • NEW YORK, N.Y.
Tuesday, March 9 – First Round (ESPN2)
No. 9 USF (19-11) vs. No. 16 DePaul (8-22)………………………………… Noon
No. 12 Connecticut (17-14) vs. No. 13 St. John’s (16-14)……………….. 2 p.m.
Tuesday, March 9 – First Round (ESPNU)
No. 10 Seton Hall (18-11) vs. No. 15 Providence (12-18)……………….. 7 p.m.
No. 11 Cincinnati (16-14) vs. No. 14 Rutgers (15-16)……………………. 9 p.m.
Wednesday, March 10 – Second Round (ESPN)
No. 8 Georgetown (20-9) vs. USF/DePaul winner…………………………… Noon
No. 5 Marquette (20-10) vs. Connecticut/St. John’s winner……………… 2 p.m.
No. 7 Notre Dame (21-10) vs. Seton Hall/Providence winner…………… 7 p.m.
No. 6 Louisville (20-11) vs. Cincinnati/Rutgers winner…………………… 9 p.m.
Thursday, March 11 – Quarterfinals (ESPN)
No. 1 Syracuse (28-3) vs. 8/9/16 winner……………………………………… Noon
No. 4 Villanova (24-6) vs. 5/12/13 winner…………………………………. 2 p.m.
No. 2 Pittsburgh (24-7) vs. 7/10/15 winner…………………………………. 7 p.m.
No. 3 West Virginia (24-6) vs. 6/11/14 winner…………………………….. 9 p.m.
Friday, March 12 – Semifinals (ESPN)
Thursday afternoon winners……………………………………………………. 7 p.m.
Thursday evening winners……………………………………………………… 9 p.m.
Saturday, March 13 – Championship (ESPN)
Semifinal winners……………………………………………………………….. 9 p.m.
(AP Photo/Ed Reinke)
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Cat in the Desert / March 6, 2010
Look at mighty seton hall! lmao
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jayhawkfan11 / March 7, 2010
Haha and where is Arizona this year? The weakest Pac-10 ever and they are barely .500
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RockChalk97 / March 7, 2010
Gonzo will hopefully right that ship. You have to give credit to Jamie Dixon. He had one 5 star recruit and a bunch of young unranked recruits. After losing his entire team from last season he some how managed 2nd place in the big east. I mean I could say the same things about Cuse but it’s been mentioned so many times before I won’t bother.
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HallBall / March 8, 2010
You know whats so funny, you keep talking about Seton Hall this and that but a quick question, who has more wins this year Seton Hall or Arizona? Yea thought so. Gonzo Is righting the ship and we will definitely contend In the Big East just as we did this year maybe even more so In the near future now that the kids from the metro area are considering stayin home. You on the other hand have this fantasy about how youre going to land Selby, Knight, Lamb or Jack If not all four and then go to the final four next year, lay off the weed! Try winning the Pac-10 first who to me right now is the laughing stock of the nation, hopefully Arizona State gets In the tournament so you guys could feel good about yourselves in that bum a** leauge you play In, the only cats that will be In the tourney this year will be from Lexington. Look at might Arizona! LMSHUAO at ” Dummy In the Desert”
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HallBall / March 8, 2010
I agree, Jaime Dixon has did a very good job of COACHING his kids into becoming more mature players. Personally I would rather have only one “5 star” recruit and fourteen other “3 star” recruits than have a starting five that will only be with my program for one year and declare for the draft.
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