ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi Needs To Put Respect On Big East’s Name | Geoff Clark
ESPN college basketball analyst Joe Lunardi, and the rest of the country for that matter, will be taught a lesson in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight this week. That lesson is the Big East is to college hoops as the SEC is to college football. Meaning, it's the Big East and everyone else. Lunardi came off as a little disrespectful of the Big East in an ESPN column previewing the Sweet 16.
Lunardi wrote: "Big East media shills have been even more obnoxious than their ACC counterparts, which is really saying something … The reality is, thanks to the unprecedented volume of bid stealers at the end of Champ Week, we had what amounted to a 31-team at-large pool … There's no conspiracy here, just bad math and bad luck. Follow the lead of your classy commissioner and get over it. Sometimes things don't work out."
Granted, I'm biased about this subject. I graduated from St. John's University in 2008 and grew up in the capital region of New York during the dying glory days of Big East basketball. That said, I'm not listening to this "Well, it's just bad luck" horses***. St. John's and Seton Hall both got hosed. Seton Hall beat UConn by 15 points and St. John's twice during Big East play.
UConn Huskies SG Cam Spencer fights for a loose ball vs. the St. John's Red Storm in the 2024 Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)
The Johnnies beat the Creighton Bluejays, got revenge on Seton Hall in the Big East tourney, and lost to UConn 95-90 in the conference tourney semis. The most infuriating thing about St. John's being left out of the Big Dance is the NCAA had the Johnnies 32nd in its NET rankings. St. John's wasn't one of the "first four out", per the selection committee.
READ: Rick Pitino Calls NET Rankings 'Fraudulent,' Turns Down NIT Bid After NCAA Snub
Since 68 teams made the tournament, the NCAA had 40 teams better than its 32nd-ranked team. Make sense of that. Oh wait, you cannot because it's bleeping stupid. The NCAA uses NET rankings to keep fans updated about the selection committee's thought process. However, the selection committee doesn't care about its NET rankings and might not even pay attention to college basketball.
Also, there's a reason five Mountain West teams were out after the Round of 32: They didn't belong in the first place. The idea of the selection committee picking three Big East teams to make the tourney and six Mountain West teams is nonsense. The Mountain West has zero national titles. While the Big East has 10, including the reigning champion, UConn, who is dominating the tourney.
UConn head coach Dan Hurley cuts down the net after defeating the San Diego State Aztecs in the national championship of the 2023 NCAA Tournament at NRG Stadium in Houston. (Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports)
I know the NCAA is hell-bent on losing relevancy, but selecting only three Big East teams for the tournament is criminal. Hell, the Pac-12 got four teams into the tourney and that conference will be dissolved in a few months. I'll give you three more teams besides four in the Mountain West that St. John's and Seton Hall should've gotten in over: Wisconsin, lame a** Virginia, and TCU.
Finally, the Big East has eight titles since the Pac-12’s last (1999), seven since the Big Ten’s last (2000), and four since the SEC’s last (2012). Having an NCAA Tournament without at least five Big East teams is like having a College Football Playoff without the SEC champion.
Shame on the NCAA and shame on Lunardi for talking out of his neck about the Big East.
_____________________________
Follow me on X (or Twitter, whatever) @Geoffery-Clark and check out my OutKick Bets Podcast for more betting content and random rants.