The Marquette Golden Eagles are only one of three Big East Teams to make the NCAA Tournament this season. Marquette, UCONN Huskies, and the Creighton Blue Jays were the only teams to crack the tournament this season. The Golden Eagles are a two-seed, the Huskies are the number one overall seed, and the Blue Jays are a three-seed.
All three of these teams can very well reach the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona this season. There was an uproar from fans on Twitter that the Big East Conference only getting three teams into the Big Dance was ridiculous. The Seton Hall Pirates, the St. John’s Red Storm, and the Providence Friars were all more deserving rather than teams like the Michigan State Spartans and the Virginia Cavaliers.
When interviewed on Sunday night by CBS Sports Jon Rothstein, Marquette Golden Eagles head coach Shaka Smart said about the conference only getting three teams into the Big Dance by saying:
“It was a perfect storm numbers-wise in our league. You had UConn having the best year ever of any Big East team. … And then you had DePaul probably having the worst year ever. That affected those teams in the middle.”
The Georgetown Hoyas and the DePaul Blue Demons combined for two total wins in the Big East Conference this season and it dragged down the conference. Georgetown won two games and DePaul didn’t win any games in the conference this season.
Marquette Golden Eagles Rival St. John’s Red Storm Head Coach Rick Pitino Talks About Missing the NCAA Tournament
There were a lot of head coaches like Shaka Smart and UCONN Huskies head coach Dan Hurley in the Big East Conference, who expressed their opinions on only three teams making the NCAA Tournament. St. John’s Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino spoke to the media on Sunday night after missing the NCAA Tournament.
He told the media:
“I think we all should probably never mention that world (NET) again because we think it’s fraudulent. We tried to play a tough schedule, we tried to do things the right way, and we didn’t get in.”
With the Red Storm missing the NCAA Tournament, they decided not to join the NIT and will focus on preparing for the 2024-2025 season through the Transfer Portal, which opens on Monday. St. Johns (20-13), Seton Hall (20-12), and Providence (21-13) all won more games this season than the Michigan State Spartans (19-14).
With the Big East only having three teams in the tournament, hopefully, the league can get the Marquette Golden Eagles, the UCONN Huskies, and the Creighton Blue Jays on a deep run. It is very possible that all three teams can make it to the Final Four this season in Glendale, Arizona. Also, the Big East Conference has won the last three of six National Titles with UCONN last season and the Villanova Wildcats with titles in 2016 and 2018.
