By Brian Hamilton
NEW YORK -- Never, not once, in the history of the venerable Big East tournament have Notre Dame or Marquette played for the championship. And in a confluence only those with time-traveling ability could foresee, both are one step away at Madison Square Garden tonight.
Such is the mesmerizing calamity of the Big East tourney bracket. Georgetown, a semifinalist as a No. 8 seed, has seven league tournament crowns. The other three semifinalists own a grand total of zero, with the Irish and the Golden Eagles never even getting a shot.
NEW YORK -- Never, not once, in the history of the venerable Big East tournament have Notre Dame or Marquette played for the championship. And in a confluence only those with time-traveling ability could foresee, both are one step away at Madison Square Garden tonight.
Such is the mesmerizing calamity of the Big East tourney bracket. Georgetown, a semifinalist as a No. 8 seed, has seven league tournament crowns. The other three semifinalists own a grand total of zero, with the Irish and the Golden Eagles never even getting a shot.
That may change tonight. There is nothing to suggest the Irish should upend seventh-ranked and third-seeded West Virginia in the second semifinal tonight, except that Notre Dame lately has made its bones by doing solely what no one figured it could.
Pittsburgh (twice) and Georgetown are among the ranked foes vanquished by the Irish in their six-game win streak. But the Mountaineers are riding magic of their own after Da'Sean Butler's game-winning, buzzer-beating banked 3-pointer vaulted them past Cincinnati in the late quarterfinal Thursday.
But first it's Marquette and Georgetown, likely to be another tense thriller, because that is evidently the only type of game with which the Golden Eagles are familiar. Six of their last seven games have been decided by four points or less, so the drama could unfold early and last late at the Garden tonight.
Pittsburgh (twice) and Georgetown are among the ranked foes vanquished by the Irish in their six-game win streak. But the Mountaineers are riding magic of their own after Da'Sean Butler's game-winning, buzzer-beating banked 3-pointer vaulted them past Cincinnati in the late quarterfinal Thursday.
But first it's Marquette and Georgetown, likely to be another tense thriller, because that is evidently the only type of game with which the Golden Eagles are familiar. Six of their last seven games have been decided by four points or less, so the drama could unfold early and last late at the Garden tonight.
Leave a comment