The Big East Tournament Breakdown

I was going to write a post before Saturday's Louisville vs. Georgetown tilt, and then I got lazy, and went on a series of bad Match.Com dates, and I realized in the back of my mind, surrounded by a ridiculous amount of bitterness, that the game didn't really matter. Sure, as a Georgetown alum, I wanted back-to-back Big East regular season crowns, but is the difference between a 1 and a 2 at MSG, especially when the other school would be from Kentucky and not have a strong alum base, really that important? Naw. Anyway, one of the most storied conference tournaments opens Wednesday. With a limited dosage of Family Guy references, let's overanalyze this bad boy, shall we?

WEDNESDAY

VILLANOVA VS. 'CUSE (NOON): I love Scottie Reynolds as much as the next guy, and Jay Wright's devilish handsomeness bewitches me just like the next man. Still, it's March, it's MSG, and it's Boeheim. How can you possibly pick 'Nova? PICK: SYRACUSE

WEST VIRGINIA VS. PROVIDENCE (2pm): Providence might be coming in on a little high, having beaten UConn last Thursday night. Still, it's, uh, Providence. Bands go there when their bus breaks down, not by choice. Morgantown isn't much better as a pop culture fixure, but I'll take Huggs in his WVU Big East Tourney debut to win at least one. PICK: WVU.

PITT VS. CINCY (7pm): The real key to this game is, can I use morning session tickets to sneak back in? To quote Rick Pitino, Kenny Satterfield ain't walking through that door. Pittsburgh's been hurt by scrapes and bruises this season, but they'll get out of this one with a win. PICK: PITT.

MARQUETTE VS. SETON HALL (9pm): My first three picks have been boring, and conventional. I think Marquette's a good team, although Tom Crean looks like he should have been in the movie "Hard Candy." Bobby Gonzo is a fiery son of a gun, Brian Laing might be ready to put his name in lights, and as a result, I'm taking Hall here. PICK: SHU.

THURSDAY

GEORGETOWN VS. 'CUSE: This game scares the living crap out of me, because 'Cuse always has Georgetown's number with that vaunted zone. Boeheim knows he needs a deep Tournament run to get off the bubble, so he'll have his dudes fired up. It's gonna be close, but for the sake of my weekend plans, I'll take Georgetown in a thrilla. PICK: GEORGETOWN.

CONNECTICUT VS. WVU: A.J. Price should be BE Player of the Year. Jeff Adrien is nasty - and talk about devilishly handsome! Thabeet will subject us to a bunch of "Tanzania" graphics. UConn will roll WVU in the process. PICK: UCONN.

LOUISVILLE VS. PITT: This one should be the best game of Thursday. Dixon is an underrated coach, and he loves to try and beat coaches with better reps. Pitt will wanna prove their early Top 10 ranking wasn't a fluke, and current media darling Louisville would be a good foe to topple as evidence. Still, the Cardinals have way too many dudes, so I'll take 'em. PICK: LOUISVILLE.

NOTRE DAME VS. SETON HALL: My friend tells me last night, "I'm terrified of ND." I found this statement interesting, because Georgetown utterly rolled them during the regular season. Harangody, to me, is the biggest disappointment return on potential promise since Jessica Simpson's film career (why can't someone find an appropriate role for her?). Still, since I went out on a limb with Seton Hall even getting to this game, I gotta take ND here. PICK: NOTRE DAME.

FRIDAY

GEORGETOWN VS. UCONN: This is where the dream dies. Even though UConn's great season should be NEXT year, I think they have enough dudes to get by GU in the 7pm Friday night game. Recall this: Georgetown beat them this year in DC only because their 7 foot tall center had to bury a three pointer late. Calhoun comes strapped (bad choice of words) for Big East games, and the lights are always brighter - and the arena full of more soused alums - on Friday. PICK: UCONN

NOTRE DAME VS. LOUISVILLE: This is where the Harangody Proxy completely falls apart, and David Padgett hands him his lunch - in a flaming bag of feces. PICK: LOUISVILLE.

SATURDAY NIGHT

UCONN VS. LOUISVILLE: I'm going out on a limb here and taking UConn to win the whole kit and kaboodle, slotting them into a 4 seed in Memphis' bracket, and creating an entertaining Sweet 16 game between Calhoun and Calipari in three weeks. This one should be a pretty good - let's be honest, there's no way this prediction is holding up, and somehow Seton Hall and 'Cuse are playing for the ring - and I'm taking Jeff Adrien to be the man here, capturing a Tourney MVP award that will pale in comparison to Caron Butler's in terms of "inspiring stories the New York Post can run the next day." PICK: UCONN.

I'll be back Wednesday with some nice ("I like!") Big East content. I'll be at Hotel Penn at 11am, and while I can't say I'll be live-blogging from there, I'll have something good for you bastards, I promise.