2011 Big East Basketball Tournament

The 2011 Big East Basketball tournament gets underway from Madison Square Garden on March 8, 2011. The first game to tip-off is Connecticut versus Depaul. Connecticut will win the game, but not so easy with Depaul giving everything they got. However, Kemba Walker will light up the box score sending the Huskies to Round 2 versus the Georgetown Huskies.

The second game of the Big East Tournament will tip-off at 2:00 p.m. that features Seton Hall versus Rutgers. Seton Hall along with Jeremy Hazell and Herb Pope will lead Seton Hall to victory, but Rutgers will make a game of it and this one should come down to the wire.

The third game of the Big East Tournament will feature Villanova versus South Florida tipping off at 7:00 p.m.. Villanova who early in the year looked like a possible Final Four team have had some ups and downs over the last couple of months. However, Jay Wright will have his team ready and will beat the South Florida Bulls with ease.

The last game of the first day of the Big East Tournament will tip-off at 9:00 p.m. and feature Marquette versus Providence. Marquette needs the win to keep their hopes alive of making March Madness. Marshawn Brooks has scored from everywhere this year, but his fire power alone will not tame Marquette. Marquette will advance to play on day two, which they'll face the West Virginia Mountaineers.

Round 2 begins on Wednesday, March 9, 2011:

The first game of day two will feature the Georgetown Hoyas and the Connecticut Huskies. The game will tip-off at noon and should be an interesting game that will come down to the wire with the Connecticut Huskies pulling out the victory and advancing on in the Big East Tournament.

The second game of day two features St. John's versus Seton Hall. Seton Hall and Jeremy Hazell pulled off an upset in beating St. John's about a week ago. However, this time in Madison Square Garden where St. John's have been strong all year will put away Seton Hall in the 2nd half and advance on into round 3.

The third game of day two consists of Cincinnati Bearcats and the Villanova Wildcats. This game will go back and forth until late into the 2nd half when Corey Fischer leads the Wildcats to victory and onward into the Big East Tournament.

The last game of day two features Marquette Golden Eagles versus the West Virginia Mountaineers. This game will be close all the way down to the wire. Marquette beat West Virginia early in the year at the Bradley Center on January 1, 2011 by five. However, the Mountaineers are battle tested with seniors John Flowers, Joe Mazzula and Cam Thoroughman and will prevail at Madison Square Garden and advance on to round 3.

Round 3 of the Big East tournament will feature some great games. The first game to tip-off on day 3 features the Pittsburgh Panthers versus the Connecticut Huskies. The Panthers will use their size and physical play to dominate the Huskies. Pittsburgh will advance on to the semi-finals of the Big East Tournament.

The second game of round 3 features Syracuse versus St. John's . This game will be a struggle on both ends of the floor and will come down to who is making shots or not. Syracuse will prevail in the game, but not without a battle from the Red Storm.

The third game will consist of Notre Dame and hot hand Ben Hansbrough facing the Villanova Wildcats. Hansbrough will lead the sharp-shooters of Notre Dame to victory and leave the Wildcats scratching their hand on how the regular season has unfolded.

The last game will feature two powerful defenses in the Louisville Cardinals and the West Virginia Mountaineers. Louisville squeaked out a win at home and West Virginia just this past week come back from 5 down to beat the Cardinals by two in Morgantown, West Virginia. Hot-hand senior Casey Mitchell made two 3s to tie the game before Truck Bryant sealed the win on the foul line. However, this game will be a great game to watch because of both team's defenses and West Virginia will grab another victory from the Cardinals send the Mountaineers to the semi-finals.

Big East Semi-Finals

Pittsburgh Panthers and the Syracuse Orangemen will square off in the first game of the semi-finals. Ashton Gibbs will lead the Panthers to victory beating Syracuse easily by ten.

The second game will feature the West Virginia Mountaineers versus the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. West Virginia destroyed the Irish in Morgantown earlier this month and it will happen again with the in-your-face defense that Bobby Huggins will play throughout the Big East Tournament.

The Big East Finals will feature the Pittsburgh Panthers and the West Virginia Mountaineers who the Panthers have beat twice this year. However, the Mountaineers have been in this position before and will clamp down on the Panthers and squeak out another Big East title for the second straight year. Casey Mitchell and Kevin Jones will dominate during the tournament and have the Mountaineers looking ahead to maybe another possible Final Four.