Seeds and pairings are set for the 2013 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament. After losing to Louisville in Saturday's regular season finale, Notre Dame is the No. 6 seed in the event. The Irish would have been the No. 4 seed and would have received a double bye if they had won.
The Irish (23-8, 11-7) do receive a first-round bye though as the No. 6 seed. They will play Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET against the winner of the first round matchup between No. 11 Rutgers and No. 14 DePaul. That game will take place at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday. Notre Dame tied for fifth with Syracuse (23-8, 11-7), but the Orange get the higher seed based on their head-to-head win last month.
Georgetown (24-5, 14-4) earned a share of Big East regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the tournament with Saturday's 61-39 trouncing of Syracuse. Louisville (26-5, 14-4) and Marquette (23-7, 14-4) claimed a share of the title as well with Saturday victories. The three teams finished with identical 14-4 conference records, but the Hoyas beat the other two during the regular season. Pittsburgh (24-7, 12-6) is the No. 4 seed. The top four all receive double byes.
This year marks the 31st consecutive Big East Tournament to be played at Madison Square Garden. It is the longest-running conference tournament in one venue in the nation. That could change with this week's announcement that the "Catholic 7" schools from the conference will go their own way to form a new league and keep the Big East name next year.
Tuesday's only other first-round game pits No. 12 Seton Hall against No. 13 South Florida at 7 p.m. ET. The winner of that game faces Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
In addition to DePaul and Rutgers, Louisville, Marquette, Villanova and St. John's are all on Notre Dame's side of the tournament bracket. If the Irish win their second round game against the DePaul-Rutgers winner they would face Marquette Thursday night at 9 p.m. The Irish lost 72-64 to the Golden Eagles last week.
Here is a look at all the matchups:
Tuesday, March 12 – First Round (ESPNU)
No. 13 USF (12-18) vs. No. 12 Seton Hall (14-17) - 7 p.m.
No. 14 DePaul (11-20) vs. No. 11 Rutgers (14-15) - 9 p.m.
Wednesday, March 13 – Second Round (ESPN/ESPN2)
No. 9 Cincinnati (21-10) vs. No. 8 Providence (17-13) - Noon
USF/Seton Hall winner vs. No. 5 Syracuse (23-8) - 2 p.m.
No. 10 St. John’s (16-14) vs. No. 7 Villanova (19-12) - 7 p.m.
Rutgers/DePaul winner vs. No. 6 Notre Dame (23-8) - 9 p.m.
Thursday, March 14 – Quarterfinals (ESPN)
8/9 winner vs. No. 1 Georgetown (24-5) - Noon
5/12/13 winner vs. No. 4 Pittsburgh (24-7) - 2 p.m.
7/10 winner vs. No. 2 Louisville (26-5) - 7 p.m.
6/11/14 winner vs. No. 3 Marquette (23-7) - 9 p.m.
Friday, March 15 – Semifinals (ESPN)
Thursday afternoon winners - 7 p.m.
Thursday evening winners - 9 p.m.
Saturday, March 16 – Championship (ESPN)
Semifinal winners - 8:30 p.m.
