With a very close friend as a rabid UConn fan, and my mother-in-law and a couple family members as Marquette grads, and living in the burbs of NYC, and I've been following the Big East a little more closely this year. It's been quite a drama and is bringing back memories of how much fun "the old big east" used to be back in the 80's and 90's.
UCONN is ranked #1 in the country (and KU gave them one of their 2 losses this year), and Creighton and Marquette (who beat us) are in the top 20. Seton Hall has come alive and is 6-1 in their conference after starting the season 7-4. Rick Pitino (the Don Juan of restaurant booths) is suddenly back at a relevant school again and is in a constant verbal slap fight with UCONN's Bobby Hurly, metaphorically yelling "you kids get off my lawn" at Bobby's Bratty Boy. Shaka Smart seems to have gotten good traction at Marquette, partially because he's literally playing 6th man defense along the sidelines (he's averaging 5 steals a game). Just last night, Pitino was out with "COVID" (denies any rumors being treated for crabs that may or may not have been acquired after hours at IHOP) and Seton Hall smoked the Johnnies last night in his absence.
While I'm not a big fan of any of these teams, it's pretty entertaining basketball, and the Big East Conference that used to be a hotter ticket than anything Broadway had running should be back to what it was this year. On nights when there's no Big 12 games worth watching, these guys are playing some very entertaining ball.
