That was the bubble bursting for two BIG EAST teams.  I said yesterday that both Cincinnati and Georgetown had a low chance of losing — you know, with both teams needing wins desperately.  Well, they both lost, and now need to do some serious damage (moreso Georgetown) in the BIG EAST Tournament to even be considered for an AT-Large Bid.

The pieces are falling into place for the Friars.  As we all have known all week, winning against Nova on Thursday punches the ticket.  However, after seeing all these bubble teams falter in the BIG EAST, a 10-8 record is starting to look pretty damn awesome too.

Cincinnati 59, USF 70

• USF gets record fourth Big East win [Bulls Report]
• Bubble bursts for Bearcats [Cincinnati.com]

Georgetown’s bubble burst in heartbreaking fashion.  They led 45-30 with 10 minutes left in the game, and allowed the Johnnies to come back and force OT.

Georgetown 56, St. John’s 59 (OT)

• Game #30: St. John’s 59, Georgetown 56: Spit-Take or Bubbles Burst [East Coast Bias]
• Recap: St. John’s 59, Georgetown 56 [Hoya Prospectus]
• St. John’s Recap [Hoya Hoops]

In BET seeding news, Syracuse easily took care of Rutgers at the Carrier dome.  We now need Marquette to beat them on Saturday.

• The Paul Harris Experience [TNIAAM]

I realize that as a fan of team on the Bubble, it might be unwise to make fun of a team who has just been knocked off it.  However, this should not go unnoticed.

If you go to the schedule on the official athletics site for ND, you will see that they give all the dates for the NCAA games.  Not so fast buckeroo!  Just because you made the NCAA’s last year as a #5 seed and came into the season ranked, doesn’t mean you should punch your ticket early.

This is not common, as I checked the CSTV.com schedules for the other top teams:  Pittsburgh, Louisville, and Villanova all stop their scheduling at the BIG EAST Tournament.  They know better.

Woops!

H/T: dan07

While it’s fairly known who we need to lose in order to secure certain seeds (Merc in the comments = awesome), I decided to post some info on the BIG EAST action tonight.

3 games on the slate for tonight…the 3 teams we want to lose all have a good-great shot of winning.

7PM: Cincinnati @ USF (ESPNU)

Spread: Cincinnati -3.0

PC is ahead of Cincinnati in the BIG EAST Bubble pecking order, but it would still be nice to get them knocked out.  They need to win tonight, beat Seton Hall for their finale, and probably win a game in the BET to get an At-Large bid.

USF has a decent 6-7 record at home, but just 2-6 in BIG EAST games.  They’ve lost 6 games in a row, and 9 out of their last 10 — the only win being the Marquette shocker.  I’m pretty sure USF is locked into the #14 seed for the BET, so they don’t have much to play for other than pride.

Chance of USF win: low

7:30PM: Georgetown @ St. John’s (ESPN360)

Links: Preview on The East Coast Bias

Spread: Georgetown -6

Like Cincinnati, Georgetown needs to win out (and a few games in the BET) to be even *considered* for a bid.  They should be able to TCB tonight, and they play winless in the BE DePaul for their finale.  Would be nice to see St. John’s just end their hopes.  The Johnnies are 12-7 at home, and a surprising 4-4 in BIG EAST games.  They also have a outside shot at the #11 seed in the BET if they can win their final 2 and have SHU lose their last two.

Chance of St. John’s win: low

9PM: Rutgers @ Syracuse (ESPNU)

Links: Hot Scarlet Knights (Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician)

Spread: Syracuse -15.5

Syracuse already has their ticket punched to the NCAA Tournament, but they are fighting for seeding with the Friars.   If they win tonight, they will be tied (with tiebreaker going to PC).   They do have a tough final game against Marquette on the road, so it’s not too imperitive that Rutgers win (THANK GOD!).

It’s Syracuse’s senior night, but they only have one: Kristof Ongenaet.  Apparently there will be Belgium flags flying all around the Carrier Dome.

Chance of Rutgers win: No chance in hell

Since I’m likely going to the BIG EAST Tournament, I figured it was necessary to roam the Garden for the day wearing some Friarblog gear.  Since I don’t have a slogan for the website yet (suggestions welcome!), I decided to just take the simple and classy approach for the first design of a t-shirt.  I am doing this through CafePress, so anyone will be able to purchase them.  I am thinking of trying to organize a meetup before our BET game at a bar somewhere, so I might purchase a few of these to give away then.

By the way, I have no sense when it comes to T-Shirt design.  If anyone reading this can help make a better one, please do!

Here are the prototype images

FRONT

BACK

UDPATE

Tried it on Zazzle and Took Mammamia’s suggestions

Good News Friar fans: Notre Dame’s 77-60 loss to Villanova means they are no longer on the BIG EAST Bubble (one less team to compete with).  They pretty much have to reach the finals or win the whole BET to get an AT-Large Bid (and they are playing on Tuesday, so would have to win 4-5 games).  The home loss also drops ND’s RPI below Providence.

Bad News: Assuming Pitt takes care of Marquette at the Pete, Nova could be playing for a double-bye in the BET.  They will not be taking our game lightly.

The 6-7-8 seeds scenarios are still the same…PC still has a good shot at getting the 6th/7th.  As Merc pointed out yesterday, if PC, Syracuse, and WV all finish 10-8 (we could lose to Nova, Syracuse could lose to Marquette, and WVU could lose to Louisville), Providence would get the 6th seed in a tiebreaker.  They would play the winner of the 11/14 game (right now SHU or USF) on Wednesday night at 9PM.

Here is what we are looking at on Thursday

Lots of news today, with the Friars getting a lot of Bubble attention, and Wey earning BE Player of the Week honors.

Also, both Rankings came out today, and the Friars got some votes once again.

Updated Rankings

AP Polll:

Others Receiving Votes
Creighton 52, Brigham Young 41, Utah 22, Saint Mary’s 13, Dayton 11, West Virginia 10, Davidson 9, Texas 9, California 8, South Carolina 7, Providence 7, Washington State 4, Arizona 3, Oklahoma State 2, Boston College 1, Rhode Island 1, American University 1, Utah State 1.

Coaches’ Poll:

Others Receiving Votes

Saint Mary’s 26, Utah State 17, Texas 15, Creighton 13, Brigham Young 12, Utah 10, Dayton 9, California 6, Providence 4, Boston College 4, West Virginia 2.

ORV!

UPDATE: Pollspeak.com has the individual votes for all the AP Writers.

Here is who voted for the Friars this week

Jon Wilner (San Jose Mercury news): #21
Steve Pivovar (Omaha World-Herald): #24

Thanks you two!