2011 big east tournament

They have dominated at Madison Square Garden this year with wins we have already discussed. Big East Tournament Bracket - 2011. 1 vs. No. Jimmy Bulter was deservedly honored with an All Big East Honorable Mention and Darius Johnson-Odom earned Second Team. 4 in the nation, could earn a No. Here we will break down the tourney and pick a winner.The First Round will feature teams 9-16 in the Big East. The most trying conference tournament in college basketball begins Tuesday as the Big East Tournament kicks off at Madison Square Garden.As Bob Knight stated a couple weeks ago on ESPN, the Big East Tournament is arguably more difficult to win than the NCAA Tournament. It will not match Syracuse's incredible six overtime win over Connecticut, but it will certainly be a back and forth contest which goes down to the wire and potentially overtime. Even when he went out of the game after fouling out with eight minutes left, Tim Abromaitis, a Connecticut native, Carlton Nash, and Tyrone Nash stepped up and were able to halt a Husky comeback before it got too far out of reach.Louisville has a chance if they can match Notre Dame shot for shot. The top three of those teams, Connecticut, Villanova and Marquette, should all progress to the Second Round with little trouble against respective opponents DePaul, South Florida and Providence.It is the 12/13 match-up that could prove to be the most challenging. Seton Hall was their third tournament championship and claimed the league's automatic bid to the 2011 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. Seeded 1-4 are Pitt, Notre Dame, Louisville and Syracuse, in that order.The 2011 Big East Tournament Bracket is below, along with network coverage listings, and a printable version is ESPN Connecticut or DePaul vs. 8. John's has and will have an incredible run, but I think the amazing physical play of Pittsburgh is going to hurt them. Look for them to make the Championship in a convincing, though in now way easy, win.Notre Dame has one great advantage over Louisville, they simply do not miss shots. I was able to watch this team play first hand on Saturday sitting in the UConn Student Section during the Irish's 70-67 win over the Huskies. Abromaitis can step outside and get off a jump shot and of course with Hansbrough running the offense and being capable of scoring from anywhere, the Irish always have the advantage.Ben's excellent shooting was the reason for Notre Dame's victory in Pittsburgh earlier this year. If the Huskies role players focus in on the task at hand and play smart basketball, the Huskies can make some noise.For Villanova, same thing. The 2011 Big East Tournament Bracket is below, along with network coverage listings, and a printable version is here. Among the First Team members, only Ben Hansbrough of Notre Dame was named as a unanimous choice. In the end, I think Hansbrough's incredible shooting upends the Cardinals, leaving No. Hansbrough averages 18.4 points per game, shoots 43.7 percent from 3-point range, and makes 81.8 percent of his shots from the free throw line.

Should they advance, which they all should, each will be facing an opponent they have defeated this season. Neither UConn or Villanova has finished strong and Marquette lost to seton Hall in the last game of the season, but all are dangerous.Had it not been for the unstoppable shooting of Hansbrough-less Notre Dame in the final minutes of Saturday's game, the Huskies would be sitting on a First Round bye at the moment. If you allow the Golden Eagles to linger, as UConn and Syracuse did, or you allow them to control the game, as Notre Dame did, they will get you.As arguably the last Big East team in, they have those three quality wins on their resume as well as narrow single-digit losses to Villanova, Pittsburgh and Louisville.

This game could prove to be the closest game of the First Round. By Charlie Wilmoth. Its not often you see the top four seeds in the Big East semifinals, and I do not expect that this year.I am going to go with my gut instincts and say Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Louisville, and St. John's win in the quarterfinals to advance to Friday's semifinals.Normally, I do not like to pick a No. 9 UConn 16 DePaul 97 71 12 Seton Hall 13 Rutgers 70 76 9 UConn 8 Georgetown 79 62 5 St. John's 13 Rutgers 65 63. New York, NY. The Storm won in 2000 over two-time defending champs Connecticut.This could be the year for the Storm, led by All-Big East First Team star Dwight Hardy, and I expect them to be the only lower seed to win on Thursday in the Quarterfinals.It would be a battle of the New York schools if St. John's advance to the quarterfinals, where they would  take on Syracuse.