Last week, Louisville showed just how the Big East schedule can crush a team’s tournament chances — losing to St. John’s by 19 points on Thursday — and how quickly that same team can bounce back — winning at Syracuse on Sunday.
It’s not easy playing in the toughest conference in college basketball, but it also gives bubble teams the chance for some quality wins — with four Big East teams in the top 10 in the country.
So what do the Big East bubble teams need to do to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament?
Louisville (16-9, 7-5) » The win over Syracuse was huge, but the Cardinals can’t afford another bad loss, having already been defeated by Charlotte, Western Carolina and St. John’s. Having no quality non-conference wins puts more emphasis on their Big East record.
Marquette (16-8, 7-5) » The Golden Eagles have victories over Georgetown and Xavier and have won five straight games, but their RPI (57) is worse than conference foes Seton Hall and South Florida.
Cincinnati (15-9, 6-6) » The Bearcats’ best win this season was against Vanderbilt in November. They need a more recent quality victory over one of the Big East elite. Cincinnati will have an opportunity in its final three games.
Notre Dame (17-9, 6-7) » Luke Harangody needs to get healthy quick. Notre Dame’s win over West Virginia looks great, but back-to-back losses to Seton Hall and St. John’s does not — and neither does its RPI (77).
South Florida (15-9, 5-7) » Earlier this month the Bulls were one of the hottest teams — beating Pittsburgh and Georgetown — but they have lost two straight to Notre Dame and Marquette. South Florida may not make the tourney, but Dominique Jones has made a name for himself.
Seton Hall (14-9, 5-7) » The Pirates have no bad losses — losing only to teams with an RPI of 60 or better. But they also lack very many impressive wins outside of beating Pittsburgh.
UConn (15-11, 5-8) » A great win for the Huskies over Villanova on Monday night, but it’s still hard to make a case for a team that has lost five of its last seven games.
