What's up with the Big East?

11 of the 68 teams in this year's NCAA tournament came from the Big East conference. As we get ready for the Sweet 16 to tip off, only TWO remain: Connecticut, the winner of the Big East Tournament, and ... Marquette. The 11 seed in the East Region. How did this happen??

In the first round we saw Villanova fall to George Mason, St. John's lose to Gonzaga, Georgetown lose to Virginia Commonwealth, and Louisville get dumped by Morehead State. Then in the second round, Pitt, the Big East's lone #1 seed got upset but Butler, Notre Dame get blown out by Florida State, West Virginia come up short against Kentucky, and Cincinnati and Syracuse lose to Connecticut and Marquette respectively.

Syracuse lost to Marquette during the regular season as well, so that's not a real surprise despite being an 11 seed knocking off a 3 seed. Connecticut beat Cincinnati during the regular season as well. Kentucky won the SEC tournament so West Virginia's loss to them wasn't wholly unexpected. But that still leaves losses to George Mason, Gonzaga, VCU, Morehead State, Butler and Florida State.

Butler's won 11 in a row following their win over Pitt. Their run to the finals last year showed they're not to be overlooked, but Pitt was the Big East regular season champion. They only lost 5 other games all year. Yeah it was a close game with a controversial ending, but the best team in the Big East is not supposed to struggle with teams from the Horizon League.

George Mason had won 16 games in a row before losing to VCU in the Colonial Athletic Conference Tournament. Mason's no stranger to tournament success having beaten Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut back in 2006. Villanova meanwhile started the season 16-1 and then finished the year 6-11 with losses in their final six games including their first round exit. So while this isn't GREAT, Mason was a higher seed here, so it's understandable.

I really thought St. John's was going to go places in this tourney, but they ran into perennial cinderella Gonzaga who sent them home early 86-71. St. John's had regular season wins against Pitt, Villanova, Duke, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Marquette, Notre Dame, West Virginia and Georgetown. But they also had losses to Seton Hall, Fordham, St. Bonaventure, and St. Mary's. Gonzaga beat St. Mary's to win the West Coast Conference Tournament. So there's that.

VCU wasn't even supposed to make the tournament having to play a play-in game to even get into the field of 64. But they're now in the Sweet 16 following 3 straight double digit wins: a 59-46 win over USC,  a 74-56 beat down of Georgetown and a 94-76 route of Purdue. Not bad for the 4th place team in the Colonial Athletic Conference. Georgetown, like Villanova, sputtered down the stretch with the first round loss to VCU being their 5th in a row. Still, VCU lost to Northeastern (11-20) and Georgia State (12-19) during the regular season. And South Florida who won just THREE Big East games. You telling me Georgetown couldn't find a way to beat these guys?

I'm be willing to bet most people can't even tell you what conference Morehead State is in. Or what state it's in for that matter. If you guessed the Ohio Valley Conference and Kentucky, you'd be correct. If you told me they were going to be in-state rival Louisville, I'd have called you crazy. The only reason I'd even heard of Morehead State is the fact that their center Kenneth Faried broke Tim Duncan's modern rebounding record and led the nation in rebounding with 14.5 a game. This was a program that lost to Eastern Illinois (9-20) during the year. Louisville played for the Big East Tournament Title. Dick Vitale had Louisville going to the Final Four. This is a loss that can't happen for a team coached by Rick Pitino.

And finally Notre Dame. 14-4 in the Big East during the regular season was eliminated from the Big East Tournament against Louisville. Florida State was the 3rd place team in a weak ACC. They lost to Virginia Tech twice and Maryland during the year. Kind of makes you think the Hokies could have/should have been one of the top 68 teams instead of oh, I dunno, say USC. Or UAB. In any case, Notre Dame, a 2 seed got bested by FSU, the 10 seed. And in convincing fashion. Last year Notre Dame got knocked off by Old Dominion in the first round, so maybe this isn't a surprise after all.

So what's the explanation? Worn down after a grueling regular season? While the Big East is ultra-competitive it's not ultra-talented? Injuries? Hype? Whatever the reason, the Big East is down to two of eleven teams, and that just leaves everyone disappointed. Especially those of us put our faith in them in our brackets.