Big East 'very disappointed' by league's lack of teams in NCAA Tournament

The Big East is well-represented among the top of the 2024 NCAA Tournament’s overall seeds.

Occupying three of the top 10 spots with No. 1 overall seed UConn, 2-seed Marquette and 3-seed Creighton — but that’s where the Big East’s tournament teams end. Teams like Seton Hall and St. John’s will not be dancing in the tournament this season, and the conference has since released a statement regarding the situation.

“We have great respect for the NCAA men’s basketball committee and the time and effort that goes into selecting and seeding the teams for the NCAA tournament,” the Big East wrote in a statement. “It is a very challenging job, and we have been advised that this year’s upsets added to the complexity and contributed to the committee’s final bracket selections.

“Given the high level of play in our league, we are understandably very disappointed that some worthy Big East teams were not selected to participate. We will be working closely with our schools in the coming months to best position the Big East next year and to ensure that we continue to be represented in March Madness in a manner befitting our stature as one of the best conferences in college basketball.”

At the same time, the Big East has the odds-on favorite to not only win the NCAA Tournament — but to repeat as NCAA Champions, which is something that hasn’t been done since Florida did so in the mid-2000s.

Still, the conference is feeling good about its three teams’ chances to make a run this postseason — especially following a record-breaking conference tournament.

“These high seeds follow our most successful Big East Tournament to date, which saw five sellouts and our usual impassioned crowds at The World’s Most Famous Arena,” the statement reads. “Our four-year extension with Madison Square Garden, announced on Friday, means that the event, a New York City staple, will celebrate its 50^th anniversary at MSG in 2032, a run unmatched in the college basketball world.”

The Big East will be represented well in the NIT, however. Seton Hall, Villanova, Providence, Butler and Xavier will all participate in the postseason tournament, which means all but three teams in the conference will be playing for some sort of postseason championship.

St. John’s opted out of the NIT, while Georgetown and DePaul did not qualify for an invitation to the tournament. First-round NIT action begins on Tuesday featuring three matchups — and all will feature Big East teams.