A Guest Blog By Fanspeak Contributing Writer Brian Murphy:

What a night it was in college basketball on this Wednesday!  With multiple top-25 and rivalry match-ups, it had all the makings of an early March game night.

#21 UNC 73 vs. #5 Duke 79: North Carolina absolutely dominated the first half of the first game this year between the best rivals in college basketball.  The Tar Heels took a 14 point lead into the half, but of course you can never count out Duke in Cameron Indoor.  The Blue Devils came out of the locker room like they actually visited Hell and were on fire, getting their first lead of the game with 9:14 remaining in the second half.  They did not look back the rest of the game.  Led by Seth Curry’s 22 points, Duke made clutch three after three and nailed their free throws to seal another great one between Tobacco Road’s finest.

#10 Villanova 76 vs. Rutgers 77: Looking at tonight’s games, no one would have thought that this game would be the most exciting finish of all.  Let’s fast-forward to the second half where ‘Nova had a 12 point lead with only 3:34 left and then 10 with 2:52 left.  Rutgers’ Jonathan Mitchell and James Beatty decided to do the uncanny and hit five 3-pointers combined in the final 1:50.  Now get this: the Wildcat’s James Bell hit a 3 to go up by 5 with 16 seconds left. Game over right?  Not so much in the RAC said the Scarlet Knights as James Beatty cut it to a 2-point game with 11 seconds left.  Villanova’s Corey Fisher made one free throw to go up by 3 with 9 ticks left.  Then the unthinkable happened: Jonathan Mitchell for Rutgers caught a deep pass and put up a 3 that swished in!!….AND 1!!  Mitchell was fouled on his made 3-pointer and went to the foul line with .8 left in a tied-up ball game.  Mitchell shoots it and…..Buckets!  The Rutgers fans stormed the court and craziness ensued in Jersey!

#15 Louisville 79 vs. #7 Notre Dame 89 (OT):  Many folks that follow these teams will tell you that when you match up the Cardinals and Fightin’ Irish, there is a good chance the game will go into overtime.  On Wednesday night, overtime was needed yet again to determine the winner of this classic Big East battle (5th OT game in last 9 meetings).  Louisville, led by Kyle Kuric and his 28 points, had the lead most of the game.  It was never a big enough lead that ND was out of the game and they tied it up and went up by a couple many, many times.  Louisville had the final shot to win it in regulation but it fell short. Once overtime started, Notre Dame, led by Ben Hansbrough’s 25 points, came out like wildmen and just blew out Louisville scoring the first 14 points of overtime.  Notre Dame is further strengthening its case as the best team in the Big East.  They are currently in second place in the Big East standings, only behind Pittsburgh who ND beat on the road.

#11 Georgetown 64 vs. #13 Syracuse 56: In arguably the most back and forth game of the night, the visiting Hoyas pulled away in the final four minutes to give Syracause another Big East lost.  The game had seven lead changes and numerous ties as Georgetown won its seventh game in a row.  Syracuse lost its third straight in the Dome, which is only the third time that has happened in coach Jim Boeheim’s 35 year tenure there.  This game definitely showcased two teams going in opposite directions.  The Hoyas are hot and making quite the Big East run, whereas the Orange have been struggling big time as of late in the Big East and are plummeting in the standings.

As if those four games weren’t enough for you, there were two top-25 teams not in the Big East or ACC who had scares on the road.  #14 Wisconsin needed overtime to beat the lowly Hawkeyes of Iowa on the road by only three points.  Similarly, #22 Texas A&M needed overtime to squeak by Colorado by three points.  Is this a glimpse of what college basketball in March this season will be like.  I bet yes, is it March yet?!

The Big East Tournament is in many ways like a mini-NCAA Tournament, considering the talent and depth of teams involved. It is by far the most prestigious of the conference tournaments, as well as the toughest. This year that last part has been well emphasized, as many top teams have already fallen. In the first round perennial powerhouse UConn was throughly beaten by St. Johns. The second round saw last year’s winner Louisville, lose a close game to Cincinnati. Yesterday though was filled with upsets, with three of the top four seeds losing in their first game. Top ranked Syracuse lost to 8th seed Georgetown, while Pittsburgh got knocked off by 7th seed Notre Dame, and Villanova lost to Marquette. The lone top four seed to advance, was 3rd seed West Virginia who needed a last second shot to hold off Cincinnati.

Now because of yesterday’s massacre of top seeds, people will begin to question the Big East Tournament format and whether or not it should be changed. Because of it’s 16 team size the Big East Tournament has a unique format, where in which the top 8 teams receive a bye, and the top four teams get a double bye. In the last two seasons with the double bye format, those teams with the extra rest are 3-5 in their first round game. Now people are already calling for a change in format. I feel that is well premature. While it is disturbing that the double bye teams are falling so early, a few things should be remembered. One, these games for the most part have been very close, that number could have been worse, but it also could have easily been 6-2 or 7-1, in favor of the double bye teams. Two, we are only talking about two years here. If this was a trend over 5-6 years, I’d maybe say you have a problem, but if the top four seeds sweep the next two years (which is not out of the question) then that number is 11-5, quite a difference in opinion. The last thing that should be remembered is that this is the Big East we are talking about. They are by definition a super conference.

The Big East has more talent and parity then we’ve ever seen in college basketball before. Last season they had THREE number 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, despite the fact that two of those teams, UConn and Pitt lost their opening game in the Big East Tournament. This year the Big East isn’t as talented, but they will still send 8 teams tournament bound, and still have some of the top teams to watch. Teams like Marquette, Georgetown, and Louisville would have probably finished 3rd or 4th in most conferences. And teams like South Florida, Cincinnati, Seton Hall and even Connecticut, would have likely been top 8 seeds in another conference. My guess is if you broke up the Big East and spread them around the other conferences, you’d probably have a good 10-12 teams make the NCAA tournament each year, with at least two receiving number 1 seeds. That is how deep and talented this conference is.

Now I’m not saying this as a pity party for the Big East, just pointing out that all conference’s aren’t created equal. You can’t compare how the top four seeds in the Big East do, compared to the Big Ten or Pac-10 (honestly couldn’t just about any team in the Big East win the Pac-10 this season?). Or even compare them to two of the better conferences Big-12 and ACC. Those other ‘powerhouse’ conferences might run 7 or 8 teams deep, but the Big East runs a good 12 teams deep.

I think it would be too much of a knee-jerk reaction to change the format of the Big East Tournament. I don’t think they could go back to the way it was 3 years ago when only the top 12 teams made it. And while its feasible, I’m not sure if teams would want to do a tournament bracket system,where 1 seed plays 16, ect. Since that would negate any team from getting a bye. Hopefully wiser heads will prevail and they will keep the tournament as is for the next couple years before they make any changes. Maybe the double bye is harmful to those teams, but I’m not sold yet, and in the meantime I’ll just keep enjoying the best postseason basketball in the country.

The Syracuse Orangemen survived a late rally by the Georgetown Hoyas, to improve to 12-2 in the conference and 25-2 overall. Early on it looked as though the 5th ranked would rout the 10 ranked Hoyas on their home floor, jumping out to a 15 point halftime lead. Syracuse led by as much as 23 points, with 12:30 left on the clock, but the Hoyas weren’t going to go down without a fight. Georgetown kept chipping away at the lead, and with a minute remaining just one point separated the two top ranked teams.  Georgetown had a chance to take the lead but missed, and Syracuse forward Kris Johnson responded, giving the Orangemen the 3 point lead with 7 seconds remaining. Free throws decided the rest of the game and Syracuse remains undefeated on the road.

With four games to go Syracuse has a half game lead on Villanova for the conference. The two teams face off for conference supremacy on February 27th (though WVU and Pitt could still overtake them, each 2 1/2 games back). Right now I think the conference is Syracuse’s when it is all said and done. The Orange finish out at Providence, home against Villanova and St. Johns, then their last game at Louisville. Providence and St. Johns are two of the weaker teams in the conference so the ‘Cuse should have no problems there. Louisville is always a dangerous team and beat Syracuse in the Carrier Dome earlier this season, but I think Syracuse can take them.

Their tough test will be at home against Villanova, not because Villanova is ranked 4th in the nation, but because its at home. Amazingly, their only losses are at home this season, in the Carrier Dome, one of the hardest venues in college basketball for away teams to play in. Syracuse is actually really lucky how their schedule turned out, with no back-to-back away games in the final stretch, and with an easy game before each of their tough matchups. Villanova on the other hand isn’t so lucky. Their final five games are a bit tougher; they are at 21st ranked Pittsburgh (and the Peterson Events Center may rival the Carrier Dome in terms of home court advantage), home vs South Florida, who has played some great basketball against top teams this year, at Syracuse and Cincinnati back to back, before finishing up with 8th ranked West Virginia at home. While anything can happen in the Big East, the Orangemen will likely hold on to their half game lead for the regular season title (the Big East Tournament is a completely different animal).