Big East and Pac-10 Tournaments To Get Underway

  

Both the Big East and Pac-10 tournaments begin today [Wed.] and there are quite the amounts of storylines.

UCONN AND VILLANOVA FIGHTING FOR #1 SEEDS:  Most likely both are top seeds regardless of what happens in this tournament.  But, to erase any doubt....a semifinal appearance will erase that.

SYRACUSE FIGHTING TO GET IN:  The Orange will most likely need to get to the Big East semis to have a shot.  If they did that, they would've beaten Cincinnati and UConn....both dancin' teams with UConn the #1 team in the land.  Still, they may need to make a Finals run [ala West Virginia last year] to guarantee it. 

CALIFORNIA FIGHTING:  Cal has gotta beat USC in the quarters.  Do that, and they face Washington.  A good showing there may get them in....with a win nearly guaranteeing it.  They key will be how the committee views the Pac-10.  Remember, they are rated below the Missouri Valley Conference in the pecking order and has no real elite team in the bunch.  Not to mention that the young Pac-10 tournament has routinely had some big upsets in it. 

STANFORD'S MOOD:  If there are any teams in either conference that could pull a whammy and win the "whole f-n thing" [thanks Jake Taylor!] it would be Stanford winning the Pac-10.  They'd have to win it to get a berth...but it could happen.  They have the talent to do so in a conference tournament that has routinely had it's share of weirdness.  A few breaks and turns and the Cardinal could be getting an auto invite. 

SEEDING ISSUES:  The Big East is highly regarded....so teams like Pittsburgh, Marquette and West Virginia are trying to capture geographically-friendly pods.  On the left coast, UCLA and Washington want a good seed while Cal and Arizona are trying to stay out of those 8-9 games.