(
)
Ever since my friend Chris Calhoun, a literary agent, gave me the book “52 McGs,” I have developed a somewhat macabre fascination with reading obituaries.
And for the life of me I don’t recall seeing any obit announcing the death of the Big East Conference. Yet for the last few days, there have been eulogies for the league.
Columnists have offered up their favorite moments, great games, best players, etc. They said the nicest things about the league, which is what people usually say about the dead. The casket was open.
But the Big East is not dead, though this will be the last season many of the familiar faces show up for this college basketball gala.
Syracuse, Louisville, Pitt and probably Notre Dame will make their last appearances before heading to what they believe to be greener pastures. Connecticut would be making its last stand — except the NCAA threw the book at the Huskies for not hitting the books.
Make no mistake, the losses of Connecticut and Syracuse are significant and will be felt for years to come. But life goes on, and so will the Big East.
You saw that firsthand Saturday. After Marquette won a share of the Big East regular-season crown by edging St. John’s 69-67 in overtime on Vander Blue’s schoolyard drive, the Golden Eagles held aloft the championship trophy with utter euphoria. No Marquette fan stopped to ask about Connecticut or Syracuse.
“I am emotionally bankrupt to play at Madison Square Garden, to play for the league, and to play in overtime and it be a last-second shot,’’ said Marquette coach Buzz Williams, who always sounds like he’s emotionally bankrupt after a game.
The Big East had become a league bankrupt in soul. Once it became a halfway house for programs from Louisiana to Idaho (almost), the Big East was on a death watch. Then the Catholic Seven sent up one heckuva white smoke signal by withdrawing from the conference. It had to be done.
Can you imagine the scene next season in front of the Garden: SMU fans from Houston wearing their 10-gallon hats and cowboy boots, mingling with fans from Georgetown wearing their blue blazers and penny loafers?
I’m all in favor of mixed marriages, but there has to be common ground.
Of the programs leaving for the ACC, Syracuse and Louisville will be fine. They are national powers with all the pieces in place to continue to recruit elite prep talent. Pittsburgh might find it a little tougher to lure recruits from the metropolitan area now that the Panthers aren’t coming to the Garden each March. Notre Dame is a football school and will always be a football school.
Connecticut is going to be a fascinating case study on the effects of conference realignment. Twenty years ago, it would have been madness to put Connecticut in the same sentence with elite programs Duke, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina and UCLA.
But the Huskies forced their way in, using a lot of New York-area muscle — think: Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Kemba Walker — muscle that might not want to flex in a league that includes Tulane and probably Tulsa.
This new conference, reportedly to be named the America 12 Conference, won’t play its tournament in the Garden, though it could find a home in the metropolitan area. Imagine the Big East (Garden), Atlantic 10 (Barclays Center) and America 12 (Nassau Coliseum) all being played here in March. It could happen.
This is certain: The Big East is living on and there’s no reason to think many of the programs currently in the league (Georgetown, Marquette, St. John’s) and many that are coming in (Butler, St. Louis, Xavier) won’t get significantly better. Those schools already have put their money where their mouths are.
There have been some great Big East tournaments, some dazzling performances and some breathtaking moments. But unless I missed the obit, the Big East isn’t holding a wake this week, it’s holding its 31st league tourney at the Garden and its 34th overall.
This is embarrassing, but there needs to be a retraction. The Big East isn’t dead.
Big East awards
St. John’s freshmen JaKarr Sampson and Chris Obekpa were named to the Big East All-Rookie Team. Sampson, a seven-time Rookie of the Week honoree, is the favorite to win Rookie of the Year tomorrow.
Sampson also garnered All-Big East Honorable Mention. Guard D’Angelo Harrison, who was suspended for the rest of the season on Feb. 28, was not named to any postseason team despite finishing third in the league in scoring.
Connecticut’s Omar Calhoun of Brooklyn also was named to the All-Rookie Team. Pitt’s Tray Woodall and Villanova’s JayVaughn Pinkston, both of Brooklyn, were named to the All-Big East Third Team.
Cincy’s Sean Kilpatrick of White Plains received Second Team honors and Louisville’s Russ Smith of Briarwood was a First Team pick. Georgetown’s Otto Porter Jr., the Post’s Preseason Player of the Year, was the only unanimous selection to the First Team.