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The Daily OrangeMBB | Tournament snub still burns Big East coaches
By Kyle Austin
Posted: 10/24/07, 11:32 PM EST Section: Sports
NEW YORK - When Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese addressed the media at the league's annual men's basketball media day Wednesday in Madison Square Garden, he only mentioned one specific team during his four-minute speech: Syracuse.
"I can't tell you how disappointed I was last year in Syracuse not getting in," Tranghese said of SU not receiving a bid to the NCAA Tournament in March. "I've studied it, I've looked at it, I've tried to be objective about it. And at the end of the day, I can't tell you why they didn't get in."
Seven months after the Orange was snubbed, the day still serves as a grim reminder of the state of the Big East. On a day used to preview the upcoming season, the commissioner used an example from the past to illustrate the pre-eminent issue in the conference: the size of the conference - 16 teams, the largest in the country - is keeping strong teams out of March Madness.
When Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim sat down to address the media, his first question was about the tournament committee's decision. And while he said he wants to focus on the upcoming year, the Hall of Fame coach did offer his two cents.
"The only thing I'll say about the Tournament that I think is important is the media and really everybody at the end of the day says, 'The Big East gets six teams in, the Big Ten gets six teams in, the Pac-10 gets six teams in,' like that's all equal," Boeheim said. "Well, that's 37 percent of the Big East in the Tournament. That's over 50 percent in the tournament in those other two leagues."
The size issue was the hot topic of the day, as every Big East team converged in the Big Apple. Each one brought its head coach and between two and four players, and members of the media spent two-and-a-half hours questioning them.
Louisville and Georgetown both received the same number of votes to finish first in the preseason coaches poll. Syracuse was picked to finish fifth, behind Marquette and Pittsburgh. Orange freshmen Donte Greene and Jonny Flynn were selected as preseason co-rookies of the year and Eric Devendorf was named to the conference's first team.
"I can't tell you how disappointed I was last year in Syracuse not getting in," Tranghese said of SU not receiving a bid to the NCAA Tournament in March. "I've studied it, I've looked at it, I've tried to be objective about it. And at the end of the day, I can't tell you why they didn't get in."
Seven months after the Orange was snubbed, the day still serves as a grim reminder of the state of the Big East. On a day used to preview the upcoming season, the commissioner used an example from the past to illustrate the pre-eminent issue in the conference: the size of the conference - 16 teams, the largest in the country - is keeping strong teams out of March Madness.
When Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim sat down to address the media, his first question was about the tournament committee's decision. And while he said he wants to focus on the upcoming year, the Hall of Fame coach did offer his two cents.
"The only thing I'll say about the Tournament that I think is important is the media and really everybody at the end of the day says, 'The Big East gets six teams in, the Big Ten gets six teams in, the Pac-10 gets six teams in,' like that's all equal," Boeheim said. "Well, that's 37 percent of the Big East in the Tournament. That's over 50 percent in the tournament in those other two leagues."
The size issue was the hot topic of the day, as every Big East team converged in the Big Apple. Each one brought its head coach and between two and four players, and members of the media spent two-and-a-half hours questioning them.
Louisville and Georgetown both received the same number of votes to finish first in the preseason coaches poll. Syracuse was picked to finish fifth, behind Marquette and Pittsburgh. Orange freshmen Donte Greene and Jonny Flynn were selected as preseason co-rookies of the year and Eric Devendorf was named to the conference's first team.
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