One of the big questions coming into this offseason was how the Big East’s tournament would look in 2013.
With West Virginia heading to the Big 12 and UConn spending next March on sabbatical, how would the Big East put together a 14 team tournament? Would there be just two double-byes? Would the bottom two teams be left out of the field? Will we still need to block out five days in order to take in all of the action?
Well, Mike Waters of Syracuse.com has an answer:A Big East source said the conference will likely continue its recent tournament format with a few minor changes.
Keeping with recent form, the top four teams in the final regular season standings will receive double-byes, advancing directly to the quarterfinals on Thursday.
In recent years, the teams that finish fifth through eighth will have first-round byes and will begin play in Wednesday’s second-round games.
In 2013, the teams that finish ninth and 10th also figure to receive first-round byes.
The remaining four teams would then play in a double-header on Tuesday, according to the source. The No. 11 seed would play No. 14, while No. 12 would play No. 13.
There it is.
Now to figure out what the Big East tournament will look like in 2015, when it counts half of Division I 18 teams as member institutions.
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.