Sports

MARCH COMES EARLY IN KILLER CONFERENCE

It is that time of year when bubbles burst for some teams and when others finish strong, earning one of the elusive spots in the NCAA Tournament.

That is no more evident than in the Big East, where eight teams still have a chance to either play their way in or out of the Big Dance. And there are plenty spots to be had, believes ESPN analyst and former St. John’s coach Fran Fraschilla.

“I would be shocked if there were less than eight teams from the Big East in the tournament,” Fraschilla said. “And I think they’d have no problem letting 10 teams in. I am thoroughly convinced that the tournament committee doesn’t care how many teams go in from any one conference.”

And with the ticket to be a part of the final 65 teams comes a chance to do something spectacular over three weeks. With no clear favorite for the national title, any team that has survived the Big East and lived to tell about it, well let’s just say no team is going to want to see them in their bracket.

The super conference has four locks for the tournament – Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Marquette and Louisville. And four teams that will need a miracle run in the Big East Tournament – St. John’s, Rutgers, South Florida and DePaul – to keep their season alive. For the other eight – Villanova, Providence, Syracuse, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Seton Hall and Georgetown – March has come early.

“For those teams March has already started, because every game from here on out is like a NCAA Tournament game in terms of intensity,” Fraschilla said. “I have always contended the most dangerous teams in the NCAA field are teams that come from conferences where they’ve had to play like their lives depended on it the final three weeks.”

None of the bubble teams is more dangerous than Syracuse, with its dynamic backcourt of Jonny Flynn and Eric Devendorf, according to the Brooklyn-born Fraschilla.

“If they can scratch and claw their way into the field of 65, they can do serious damage in the tournament,” Fraschilla said. “Nobody is going to want to play them. And West Virginia can go in that category, too.”

For the Mountaineers, Orangemen and Villanova it’s simple.

“All they have to do is not fall on their faces down the stretch and they’re in,” Fraschilla said.

For Seton Hall it’s not so simple.

“They have to win out in the regular season and make a big-time run in the Big East tournament,” Fraschilla said.

The other four fall somewhere in between, with meaningful matchups ahead and a chance to make an impression on the tournament committee that will hold their fates come March 15 – Selection Sunday.

justin.terranova@nypost.com