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NCAA basketball: Predicting who wins every major conference tournament

By Mike Phillips

MORGANTOWN, WV - MARCH 02: Davion Mitchell #45 of the Baylor Bears takes a foul shot during a college basketball game against the West Virginia Mountaineers at WVU Coliseum on March 2, 2021 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
MORGANTOWN, WV - MARCH 02: Davion Mitchell #45 of the Baylor Bears takes a foul shot during a college basketball game against the West Virginia Mountaineers at WVU Coliseum on March 2, 2021 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
(Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Big East Conference Tournament

  • Dates: March 10-13
  • Location: New York, NY
  • Venue: Madison Square Garden
  • Top Seed: Villanova
  • Bracket

The Big East tournament could be very messy and has a lot of potential for a bid thief to emerge. The conference is also a bit light on tournament locks, with Villanova and Creighton secure in their position while UConn should be good to go on Selection Sunday.

The Wildcats are a vulnerable top seed after losing Collin Gillespie to a season-ending knee injury, dropping their final two games of the regular season without him. Creighton is a lethal offensive team that has to deal with an off-court distraction after the school suspended head coach Gregg McDermott for racially insensitive comments in the locker room.

The bubble chase is especially relevant here with Seton Hall, Xavier and St. John’s needing to make some noise in New York to impress the selection committee. The Musketeers are seeded seventh and have to win a play-in game against DePaul before getting a shot at the Bluejays while the Pirates and Red Storm face off on Wednesday in a de facto elimination game for the NCAA Tournament.

There is also some serious bid thief potential here if a team like Georgetown or Providence gets hot at Madison Square Garden. This one could get interesting but in the end, the smart pick is the team that is peaking right now, which is the Huskies, who have won five of six since getting star guard James Bouknight back from injury.

Pick: UConn