Pitt lays another egg in the tourney...

Pitt loses by nearly 20 points in their first tournament game despite having a pretty good year. 

Score: 73-55  loss to 9th seeded Wichita State. 

Jamie Dixon is one of three coaches in the Big East that do so little with so much talent. 

Before I finish this, I'll also add that 3rd seeded Marquette had to pull one out of their asses today. 

Yes, the Big East sure does shine in the tourney. 

 

I got the Shockers in the elite eight, so it's no surprise to me. 

Two words: Jamie Dixon

I love it how some of these Big East programs are good, yet, they barely win in the NCAA Tourney. Programs like Pitt, Georgetown under JT3, and Villanova come to mind. They've had a good run or two under these coaches, but barely win outside of that. 

Heard them talking during the game that Dixon was considering taking the job at USC.  If I was a Pitt fan I'd say good riddance!  Has this guy ever done anything good when it really matters?

Pitt didn't have any go-to scorers.  Woodall was very streaky and Donte Taylor, who knows??  LaSalle proved last night, to win, you need guys that can get to the rack and create space for their teammates.  Feel really sorry for whomever gets to play them tomorrow, they mean business.

Really not sure why USC seems like an attractive job offer to these coaches lately. 

I mean the nice weather and view are nice, but USC isn't exactly a historic program. Why leave a program that's good in basketball and in a better conference for USC unless you're big on the weather like I am.  

MikeSyr18

Both of his parents live in L.A. and it would present him with a remarkable opportunity to move closer to them.  I think the reasons for him taking the job are more personal than professional since he wants to take care of his parents.  Plus, he has plateaued at Pitt.  This program will never meet expectations.  For a team that is considered a "powerhouse", it is peculiar they have never been to the Final Four.  Plus, it will allow him to match wits with his mentor across the town.

That team that had Blair, Young, Fields one of the greatest teams to come up short.  Good call on Dixon, the Philly teams are surging, he should go west.

I guess it's fair to question Dixon's coaching skills in the NCAA's, but I'll never bag on the guy since the tragic death of his sister a few years ago.  A high school friend of mine died of a massive heart attack at the age of 27.  Maggie Dixon died at the age of 28, but she looked like the picture of health, whereas my friend was decidedly overweight.  Since Maggie Dixon died about this time of year, it's got to be a pretty bittersweet time of year for the Dixon family.

MikeSyr18

Both of his parents live in L.A. and it would present him with a remarkable opportunity to move closer to them.  I think the reasons for him taking the job are more personal than professional since he wants to take care of his parents.  Plus, he has plateaued at Pitt.  This program will never meet expectations.  For a team that is considered a "powerhouse", it is peculiar they have never been to the Final Four.  Plus, it will allow him to match wits with his mentor across the town.

Which is understandable. But I'm not talking about just Dixon. There seems to be other coaches out there that are interested in the USC job as well including Syracuse's Mike Hopkins whom is supposed to take the reigns of this program as head coach after Jim Boeheim retires. 

I mean Southern Cali is a nice area and if somebody were to offer me millions of dollars to coach a basketball I'd take it in a heartbeat. ButI don't think a guy like Dixon will be more successful there than he currently is at Pitt, and the same goes for Mike Hopkins. 

But like you said, Dixon would probably like to move closer to his parents. I'm hoping Pitt will be able to find a prestigous basketball coach to replace him if he decides to leave the program for good.  

Pitt loses by nearly 20 points in their first tournament game despite having a pretty good year. 
Score: 73-55  loss to 9th seeded Wichita State. 

Before I finish this, I'll also add that 3rd seeded Marquette had to pull one out of their asses today.

My Bracket  (the Big East) 

Pitt- I had this team winning against Wichita St then losing to Gonzaga in the next round.

Cincy (@ Creighton)  Notre Dame (vs Iowa St) and Villanova (@ UNC)  will also lose in the 1st round. 

Georgetwon against Florida Gulf Coast should make it out of the 1st round before losing to Oklahoma.

Syracuse and Marq will make the sweet 16 then will lose. Syracuse loses to Indiana and Marq loses to Miami. That over-ranked Cuse team was rewarded 2 mid-major teams to start the tourney. I wish now I would have picked UNLV to beat them.

Louisville will be the only Big East team that makes the Elite 8. Then they lose to Duke.


Summary:

Sweet 16- Big East will have 3 teams.
Elite 8 -  only 1 team 
Final Four- Zero teams

I knew the Big East was overrated. Especially Syracuse with an undeserving #4 seed. Now I will sit back and watch it all unfold.

Yep, I hope no Big East teams make the Final Four.................the rest of the conference will hang their hats on that one team. The conference puts more teams into the tournament than any other conference regularly; then when 7 teams flame out by the end of the first weekend, the entire conference hangs their hat on the one team that didn't as proof that the Big East is a superior conference.

My Bracket  (the Big East) 

Pitt- I had this team winning against Wichita St then losing to Gonzaga in the next round.

Cincy (@ Creighton)  Notre Dame (vs Iowa St) and Villanova (@ UNC)  will also lose in the 1st round. 

Georgetwon against Florida Gulf Coast should make it out of the 1st round before losing to Oklahoma.

Syracuse and Marq will make the sweet 16 then will lose. Syracuse loses to Indiana and Marq loses to Miami. That over-ranked Cuse team was rewarded 2 mid-major teams to start the tourney. I wish now I would have picked UNLV to beat them.

Louisville will be the only Big East team that makes the Elite 8. Then they lose to Duke.


Summary:

Sweet 16- Big East will have 3 teams.
Elite 8 -  only 1 team 
Final Four- Zero teams

I knew the Big East was overrated. Especially Syracuse with an undeserving #4 seed. Now I will sit back and watch it all unfold.

Interesting, but at least there is one Big East team making it to elite 8. No Big 12 team is going to elite 8 this year though.

I remember hearing that same crap when UConn won it all a couple of years ago.  I guess it will take someone from the Big East to win the championship to justify all those teams?  We have this argument every March.

The Big East will have zero teams in the final four.  Wow! what a brave prediction.

The (insert conference) will have zero teams in the final four.  IMO almost all (inserts) will be correct.   

I remember hearing that same crap when UConn won it all a couple of years ago.

Yes, but if i remember, every other Big East team flamed out by the end of the first weekend. Yet, the Big East homers were thumping their chests, hanging their hats on UConn.

You gotta be kidding me!  I for one, cannot stand UConn.  Did not matter to me whether they got beat or not but I did have mixed feelings when they played Kentucky.  Not every fan of a specific team in a conference will pull for other teams out of that conference.  Also, there were many more people making posts on here about how overrated the Big East was than the ones supposedly thumping their chests.  I was around...and I do remember.

Where's dynamouth? Oh yea.. he never comments on threads about his team. Now I know why.

So a #3 seed and 2 #5 seeds go down today and MikeSyr18's big rant is that a #9 seed beat a #8 seed.  WOW!!