BET Brackets

[SirSaxa]

Am I the only one who has been confused about how the brackets work this year at the BET? We know all 16 teams will be in NYC.

If, like me, you were unsure of the rest, maybe this will help.

Tuesday, March 10 The bottom 8 teams play in four games to eliminate half of them.
Wednesday March 11 The 4 Tuesday winners play the teams that finished 5-8 in conference standings in four more games.
Thursday, March 12 The four winners from Wed. play the top 4 teams in the conference in four more games.
Friday, March 13 (hmmm, Friday the 13th!) The four winners from Thursday play in two, Friday night semifinal games. This is where the BET gets REALLY interesting and is always the toughest ticket!
Saturday, March 14 The BET Final at 9:00 PM -- this is always a great matchup. This year should be especially interesting.

The Tuesday games are going to be streamed via a website, all other games will be on ESPN.

BET Brackets

[DanMcQ]

DFW just updated the brackets to reflect games through March 1, 2009:

www.hoyasaxa.com/sports/brackets-09.htm

[HoyaChris]

While DFW's update is currently correct - i.e. we are currently in 12th - two more wins almost certainly would make us the 11 seed.

[DanMcQ]

Mar 1, 2009 19:49:56 GMT -5 HoyaChris said:

While DFW's update is currently correct - i.e. we are currently in 12th - two more wins almost certainly would make us the 11 seed.

I like that draw better, but that's assuming the upstream seeds do not change much (not sure about that as an assumption).

[RusskyHoya]

Mar 1, 2009 19:51:26 GMT -5 DanMcQ said:

Mar 1, 2009 19:49:56 GMT -5 HoyaChris said:

While DFW's update is currently correct - i.e. we are currently in 12th - two more wins almost certainly would make us the 11 seed.

I like that draw better, but that's assuming the upstream seeds do not change much (not sure about that as an assumption).

I'm sure they'll change some. Barring any upsets, I think things will shake out like this:

We win out, finish 8-10. We take the #11 seed, Seton Hall having lost @lousiville and @cinci. South Florida is more or less locked into #14 at this point, so we'd face them on Tuesday for the right to take on the #6 seed.

The #6 team currently is Providence at 10-7, with Syracuse and WVU sitting at 9-7, and Cinci at 8-8. If the Friars win, they're locked into #6 (unless Nova also loses to ND, in which case both would end up with 11-7 records and Provy would take #5, with Nova dropping to #6).

However, I think Providence will probably lose at Nova (unless Scottie & Company play like they did against DePaul and us) and finish 10-8. Cuse beats Rutgers and loses at Marquette to finish 10-8. WVU wins at DePaul and loses at Lousville to finish 10-8. Cinci probably wins at USF and at home against Seton Hall to finish, you guessed it, 10-8.

So we have a four-way tie at 10-8 for 6th place. Quoth the rulebook: Teams are viewed as a “mini-conference” when comparing head-to-head results. The team with the
best record (as determined by winning percentage, even if unequal games) vs. the other teams in the miniconference
gains the advantage.

Cinci beat WVU but lost to Providence twice and Syracuse once: 1-3 (.250)

Providence beat Cinci twice and Cuse once, lost to WVU: 3-1 (.750)

WVU lost to Cuse, beat Providence, lost to Cinci: 1-2 (.333)

Cuse lost to Providence, beat WVU and Cinci: 2-1 (.667)

Providence wins the "mini-conference" with a .750 winning percentage. The mini-conference then becomes three teams, and Cuse takes 7th place. Cinci gets #8 by virtue of head-to-head win over WVU, which gets #9.

Winner of the 6-11 game gets to take on #3 on Thursday. Assuming Louisville wins out over Seton Hall and @ WVU, they'll finish at 16-2. Giving Pitt the home win over Marquette (no gimme, but more likely than not) leaves them at 14-3 and UConn at 15-2 and facing off against each other. If Pitt wins, then Lousville is #1, Pitt is #2 thanks to their 2 head-to-head wins over the Huskies, and UConn falls into our bracket at #3. If UConn wins, then they'll be #1 by virtue of their Feb. 2 win in Kentucky, Louisville will fall to #2, and Pitt will wind up as #3 at 14-4.

Of course, if Marquette does beat Pitt, then they could leapfrog the Panthers.

[HoyaSinceBirth]

I'd love that. Beating USF and Providence would most likely be enough to get us a bid assuming we beat St. John's and Depaul. If we beat one of the top 4 teams in the quater finals they would not be able to keep us out.

[RockawayHoya]

I think we should be rooting for Marquette to beat Pitt this week. It's unlikely, but if they do, it seems like our likely road in the BET would be USF/Providence/Marquette. Not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but I would much rather play Providence on Wed. rather than Cuse/WVU. The same goes for a James-less Marquette as opposed to Pitt or Nova.

[FrazierFanatic]

Front page says the Tuesday games will NOT be televised - not even on Full Court?

[Grandpa]

Mar 2, 2009 10:27:15 GMT -5 FrazierFanatic said:

Front page says the Tuesday games will NOT be televised - not even on Full Court?

1st round of BET this year is NOT on TV, but will be streamed online for free at bigeast.com:

www.nmnathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=92555&SPID=11228&DB_OEM_ID=19400&ATCLID=3679620

Looks like one would just need to pre-register for it.

[Hoya TMF]

I think we will be fine in the first round. Is ND definitely going to be in the bottom 8? If so, then I'd love to play any of the 5-8 teams except Cuse. If we win those two games, its house money after that. A loss in the third round would make us sweat, but a win would make us a lock for the dance. Here's hoping we get Marquette or Nova in that game.

So many games left to be played, but we are still kicking. Plus, I don't think any team really wants to play us, except maybe Pitt and UConn.

[blueandgray]

USF - Providence would be very nice...with a couple wins under our belt and our confidence building ... I like our chances against the 2-bye teams a lot more. Let's take care of business first and win out.

Sidenote - my flt from LA to NYC (to go to the game tomrw) was just cxld. Wondering if today is a travel day for our hoyas and if so, if they too will have to face significant delays. get to nyc safely boys, get your rest, and play some ball!!!

[AustinHoya03]

Mar 2, 2009 11:17:04 GMT -5 Grandpa said:

Mar 2, 2009 10:27:15 GMT -5 FrazierFanatic said:

Front page says the Tuesday games will NOT be televised - not even on Full Court?

1st round of BET this year is NOT on TV, but will be streamed online for free at bigeast.com:

www.nmnathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=92555&SPID=11228&DB_OEM_ID=19400&ATCLID=3679620

Looks like one would just need to pre-register for it.

Sweet. That's even better than TV for some of us working stiffs...

[Big Dog]

I get the excitement and the desire to look ahead but all this talk about "assuming we beat St. John's and DePaul" makes me very nervous. Remember that this team hasn't won consecutive games in six weeks. One game at a time.

[The Stig]

Mar 2, 2009 9:33:54 GMT -5 HoyaSinceBirth said:

I'd love that. Beating USF and Providence would most likely be enough to get us a bid assuming we beat St. John's and Depaul. If we beat one of the top 4 teams in the quater finals they would not be able to keep us out.

I'm not so sure. I think a USF/Providence combo might be one of those scenarios where we have to win a third game to guarantee a NCAA bid.

The current (but likely to change) scenario on hoyasaxa.com has us playing St. Johns, with the winners playing Villanova then Marquette. If we could go 2-1 on that track, it would probably be enough for an NCAA bid.

It all seems terribly complex, but the reality is really simple. We just have to keep winning. In a strange way, we control our own destiny.

[hoyainspirit]

Mar 2, 2009 12:34:32 GMT -5 The Stig said:

It all seems terribly complex, but the reality is really simple. We just have to keep winning. In a strange way, we control our own destiny.

Truer words were never spoken. Just keep winning, and everything will be fine! I surely hope the light bulb has come back on!

[HoNYaSaxa]

Mar 2, 2009 10:09:23 GMT -5 RockawayHoya said:

I think we should be rooting for Marquette to beat Pitt this week. It's unlikely, but if they do, it seems like our likely road in the BET would be USF/Providence/Marquette. Not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but I would much rather play Providence on Wed. rather than Cuse/WVU. The same goes for a James-less Marquette as opposed to Pitt or Nova.

USF/Providence/Marquette-minus-James is the road to the semi-finals. If we pick up some confidence from those three wins, I could see us taking down a Louisville or a UConn in the semis. Pitt, however, is a tough, tough draw. They are a true number one-caliber team and Final Four lock.

[TBird41]

Mar 2, 2009 21:30:57 GMT -5 HoNYaSaxa said:

Mar 2, 2009 10:09:23 GMT -5 RockawayHoya said:

I think we should be rooting for Marquette to beat Pitt this week. It's unlikely, but if they do, it seems like our likely road in the BET would be USF/Providence/Marquette. Not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but I would much rather play Providence on Wed. rather than Cuse/WVU. The same goes for a James-less Marquette as opposed to Pitt or Nova.

USF/Providence/Marquette-minus-James is the road to the semi-finals. If we pick up some confidence from those three wins, I could see us taking down a Louisville or a UConn in the semis. Pitt, however, is a tough, tough draw. They are a true number one-caliber team and Final Four lock.

Unless Blair gets in foul trouble.

[vcjack]

If we win out and ND craps the bed against St. John's, do we get the 10 seed?

[TBird41]

Mar 2, 2009 21:34:11 GMT -5 vcjack said:

If we win out and ND craps the bed against St. John's, do we get the 10 seed?

Yup, assuming the Hall loses @ L'Ville or at Cincinnati.

[royski]

How does the loss to St. John's effect our probable seeding?