We've reached the halfway point of the 2011-2012 NCAA basketball season. SB Nation.com has its first bracketology post up for the 2012 NCAA Tournament. The Big East, which landed a record 11 teams last season, is currently projected to put nine teams in the tournament (more than any other conference).
The No. 1 Syracuse Orange, naturally has the overall No. 1 seed right now. They would land in the Boston (East) Regional and face 16-seed Long Island. The Marquette Golden Eagles would also land in the Boston Regional as a 6-seed against 11-seed New Mexico.
The Seton Hall Pirates are projected as a 3-seed in the Atlanta (South) Regional against 14-seed Nevada. The West Virginia Mountaineers would land a 4-seed in the Atlanta Regional against 13-seed UCF/LSU.
The Louisville Cardinals are a 5-seed in the Phoenix (West) Regional against 12-seed Northwestern. The Cincinnati Bearcats are also in the Phoenix Regional as a 10-seed against 7-seed Mississippi State.
The Georgetown Hoyas are a 3-seed in the St. Louis (Midwest) Regional against 14-seed George Mason. The Connecticut Huskies are slotted as a 4-seed in the St. Louis Regional against 13-seed Davidson.
The Big East also has a First Four selection (played at Dayton): The Notre Dame Fighting Irish as a 12-seed against fellow 12-seed Marshall. If Notre Dame won they'd be the 13-seed against 4-seed UNLV in the Phoenix regional, potentially setting up a second round game with Louisville.
So much like last season, the Big East teams face potential matchups against each other in regionals. We'd probably have to hear the same drivel as last season about how the conference is overrated while completely disregarding the fact that Big East teams playing each other means only one can advance. To that, we say...too bad.