Big East up to seven NCAA Tournament teams in latest ESPN bracket; Nova still a 4 seed
The Wildcats were ranked 13th in Joe Lunardi's latest projection, meaning they're the best of the 4 seeds. Georgetown got in as the seventh team from the Big East.
Villanova was ranked as the highest of the No. 4 seeds in the latest NCAA Tournament projections released Tuesday by ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, and the Wildcats found themselves with lots of company from their fellow Big East teams.
With Georgetown defeating Butler last Saturday, the Hoyas made it into the bracket as the last team in, giving the Big East seven teams in the field, second only to 10 from the Big Ten.
Lunardi put Georgetown in ahead of Indiana, which is the first team out. Under that scenario, the Hoyas would be in a First Four game in Dayton, Ohio.
“Georgetown is just playing better right now than Indiana,” he said. “They have injuries but they still win.”
Guard Mac McClung, the Hoyas’ No. 2 scorer, has missed the last five games with a foot injury. The team has been going mostly with a six-man rotation.
As for Villanova, with wins over Marquette and Temple, the Wildcats moved up from No. 15 last week to No. 13 in Lunardi’s overall ranking, giving them a 4 seed in the West Region. It’s a crowded Big East with Seton Hall a 3 seed, Creighton a 4, Marquette a 5, and Butler, which once was one of the four No. 1 seeds, now a 6.
“I don’t ever remember it being this tight in the new Big East era,” he said. “Usually, you have Villanova kind of running away. The one year, Xavier was right with them when they were both No. 1 seeds, but for the most part, you had a 1 or a 2 seed in Villanova and then you had other teams that were good but not great.
“Here, you’ve got three teams seeded [in the top four] to play in the second weekend, and that would be a great year for the league."
Lunardi advanced Penn State to a No. 3 seed after the Nittany Lions defeated Northwestern on Saturday for their eighth straight win. The Lions hosted Illinois Tuesday night.
As for Rutgers, Lunardi kept the Scarlet Knights as a No. 8 seed. The Knights are dominant at the RAC, now 16-0 at home, but are 1-8 away from North Jersey, 1-6 in true road games, with their only win at Nebraska.
Rutgers hosts Michigan on Wednesday night, then has road games at Wisconsin on Sunday and at Penn State next Wednesday.
“They’ve got enough really good wins, admittedly at home,” Lunardi said. “Everybody who’s gone into the RAC gets racked. It’s been a mausoleum for two decades, but not right now. It’s arguably the best home court in the country.”