The Big East Tournament site is here.

Here’s an interesting thought.

Ask yourself this question today as Pitt prepares to head to New York for the Big East tournament: Are the Panthers playing better entering the postseason this season than they were last year when they had three losses by a total of seven points?
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Pitt was 27-3 heading into the Big East tournament last season and was playing for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

But that team wasn’t exactly hitting on all cylinders before heading to Madison Square Garden to defend its championship. Despite winning five of their final six regular-season games, the Panthers were mired in a late-season offensive slump.

There was that 49-46 home loss to Syracuse in late February, a game in which the Panthers scored their fewest points in 22 years. Then there was the regular-season finale against Villanova, when they scored 17 points in the first half of a come-from-behind 59-45 victory.

Here’s the thing. Last year, I picked Pitt to win the BE Tournament against UConn. It was all about match-ups. The way the BET was set, Pitt had a relatively clean line to the BET Championship game.

This time things are a bit different, if for no other reason than the first game against Villanova. It’s not that Pitt lost to ‘Nova earlier, it’s that ‘Nova’s style of game — with Sumpter able to go inside and out, along with guards who don’t live just on the perimeter — is a match-up headache for Pitt.

So whether Pitt is playing better or not, is not an issue. It’s whether Pitt has figured things out.

The Big East Tournament will decide Pitt’s seeding in the NCAA Tournament. In most published “bracketologist” boards, Pitt is a #5 seed (BTW, ESPN.com has Pitt with a potential 2nd round match against Holy Cross (Ralph Willard) and even a Sweet 16 against UCLA (Howland), but take this bracket with a grain of salt since it puts Kent St. in the Cleveland pod as a 12 seed.). If Pitt wins their first game, they might move up one spot to a #4. Make it to the Championship, and it is clinched. If they win the BET, then they almost have to be a #3 seed.

Bendel’s notebook observes that Kendall has seen his minutes drop to next to nothing as his production has plummeted. Benjamin has played 1 minute in the last 4 games.

Pitt has already put out its game notes for Villlanova (PDF) on Thursday. The Big East Tournament Media Guide is here (PDF) with Seniors Hakim Warrick and Chris Thomas on the cover (Where’s Troutman?).

For those who are working or unable to get to a TV, the Big East will be providing live stats during games.

Boston College seems to be getting ready for the BET by convincing the team that the BE is out to screw them. The charge is led by their, oh so honorable, AD Gene DeFilippo.

Boston College athletic director Gene DeFilippo lashed out yesterday at Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese for presenting the University of Connecticut with a championship trophy after the Huskies clinched a share of the league’s regular-season title with an 88-70 victory over Syracuse Saturday afternoon, and not doing the same for the fifth-ranked Eagles, who not only clinched a share of the league title but earned the top seed in this week’s conference tournament with a 78-66 victory Saturday night at Rutgers.

“It was not surprising and very petty that the commissioner and the Big East Conference would go to Connecticut and present their coaches and their players with a championship trophy and not do the same for our players and our coaches and our fans,” DeFilippo said at the Big East women’s tournament in Hartford.

DeFilippo claimed the move was an attempt to punish BC for joining the Atlantic Coast Conference next season.

“Our coaches and our players had absolutely, positively nothing to do with Boston College’s move to the Atlantic Coast Conference,” DeFilippo said. “If they want to blame somebody, they should blame me and they should take it out on me, and not on our players and not on our coaches.”

DeFilippo was also not at the BC-Rutgers game to, you know, honor the achievement. BC is up in arms because a co-championship trophy was given to UConn that day, because the game was played on UConn’s home court.

Tranghese said UConn got the trophy because the Huskies played at home, and the Eagles didn’t get theirs because they were playing on the road.

In 26 years, we have never presented a trophy on a foreign floor,” said Tranghese, who arrived at the women’s tournament after BC had already played (coincidence?).

Tranghese also said he attended the UConn-Syracuse game Saturday to present awards to coaches Jim Calhoun and Jim Boeheim for winning their 700th games.
“Connecticut called me and asked if I’d give (the trophy) to them if they won,” the commissioner said. “There was no slight intended toward BC. I just wouldn’t do that to Al (Skinner) and his kids.”

The facts back up the Big East since the Rutgers women’s basketball team won the regular season on the road and did not get a trophy presentation.

This is simply BC’s AD trying to game the BE officials and refs in advance of the BET, generate sympathy in the media and get the BC team convinced they are alone against the whole conference.

Well it’s worked in one way. The crowds at MSG should be very, very hostile to BC when this gets wider play.