FanPost

16 BIG EAST wins is not good enough?

Despite winning 17 of 19 to end the season, despite going 8-1 in conference road games (and the best road record over the past three seasons), despite finishing with the best record in the best conference in Big East history and in the NCAA in the past three decades (per Dick Vitale, Bob Valvano, etc) so far zero of the national pundits have declared that UofL deserves a #1 seed and most have declared that they are "not a true champion".  Doug Gottlieb I'm looking at you. 

Argument against being the outright champion: Louisville did not play UCONN, Pitt or Marquette on road.  UofL's three home and away matchups were USF, WVU and Notre Dame.  ND was a preseason top 10 team (picked to finish ahead of Pitt).  Pitt's 3 were UCONN, WVU and Depaul.  Outside of the road game at UCONN these conference schedules are very comparable.  UCONN's 3 games were Seton Hall, Notre Dame and Pitt.  The road game at Pitt and Marquette are tough, but at the same time UofL played Syracuse and Villanova on the road.  Also the road ND loss is still haunting UofL, but Pitt and UCONN also each had one loss to a team in the bottom half of the the conference (UCONN vs Georgetown at home and PItt @ Providence). 

Argument against #1 seed:  OU lost most of their recent games because Griffin was not playing.  Doesn't matter.  They still lost to Kansas at home (their only meeting), Texas on road and Missouri on road (their only meeting).  What quality opponents are left in the Big 12, or on their whole schedule?  Davidson and Purdue on neutral courts, Oklahoma State?  Just because they have the best player does not mean they deserve the spot.  Michigan State and Memphis play in the Big Ten and C-USA, they would have to be amazing to get the seeding over the Big East champion. 

In the end, it doesn't really matter because that trophy, whenever the conference decides to deliver it to Louisville, is going to look nice.  It is only fitting that the lack of attention paid to T-Will on the national level is being extended to the whole team.  Here's hoping that these next weeks leave America with no doubt as to how good he, and the team, really are this year.  GO CARDS.