Updated 2013 Big East conference tournament bracket prior to Friday’s (3/15/13) games
Georgetown Hoyas forward Otto Porter (22) shoots over Cincinnati Bearcats forward Titus Rubles (2) during the second half of a quarterfinal game during the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden. (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)
This is the swan song for the Big East as we have come to know it over the past few decades. After the lights go out at Madison Square Garden in a few days’ time, Syracuse, Pitt and Notre Dame will all be headed to the ACC, with Louisville another year away. UConn, Cincy and South Florida will find themselves with seven new programs in a league with a new name while the so-called ‘Catholic 7′ — Georgetown, Marguette, Villanova, St. John’s, Seton Hall, DePaul and Providence — are splitting off and taking the ‘Big East’ moniker with them.
For some teams, the ride is already over; USF, Seton Hall, Providence, Cincy, Pitt, Nova, St. John’s, Rutgers, DePaul and Marquette are all finished with this version of the Big East forever.
On Friday, college basketball fans across the country and from every generation are going to be treated to a curtain call for the ages. For one final time as members of the same conference, Georgetown and Syracuse face off in what will surely be an epic battle for the right to face the winners of the Louisville-Notre Dame tilt in the tourney’s championship game.
Georgetown and Louisville are playing for a potential No. 1-seed in the Dance, while any of the four remaining teams will be able to ride off into the sunset as the winners of the final Big East Tournament in its current form.
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h/t: SB Nation
