Rick Stewart/Getty ImagesBig East Tournament Bracket Released, But Which School Boasts the Best Mascot of the Bunch?The Big East is stacked on the basketball court this season, thanks to a potential 11-bid league featuring eight teams in last week's AP top 25 (and potentially more this week, as Cincinnati and West Virginia fell into the "also receiving votes" realm last week). So, it stands to reason that their conference tournament is going to be the most hotly contested of any league tournament in the country, and is sure to produce some thrilling basketball. But, we're turning our attention off the court for a few moments to pick the best team in the Big East the same way that the lady in your office who wins the March Madness pool ever year does it: by mascot.
Much like the on-court play, the mascot battle is fierce across the board. The first school to go is St. John's; their generic Red Storm isn't even a tangible mascot, and heads home early. Likewise, Louisville's Cardinals and Villanova's Wildcats both go home thanks to generic mascots, while Marquette's Golden Eagle is close behind.
The 2010-2011 ACC Tournament pairings are set, and things couldn’t have lined themselves any worse for the NC State. If the Wolfpack were to pull some kind of miracle, we would have to do it by driving a truck right through a projected line-up of programs against which we have failed miserably since de-emphasizing basketball twenty years ago – starting with Maryland on Thursday night and followed by Duke on Friday. (In the last five years, Sidney Lowe has not beaten Gary Williams and has only defeated Coach K twice).
