Pitino Previews This Week's BIG EAST Championship
March 10, 2009 | Men's Basketball
March 10, 2009
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville men's basketball head coach Rick Pitino met with members of the media on Tuesday at the Yum! Center to preview this week's BIG EAST Conference Championship in New York City. The top-seeded and No. 5 nationally ranked Cardinals will open tournament play on Thursday at noon ET at Madison Square Garden and on ESPN against the winner of Wednesday's Providence-DePaul game.
On Saturday night, Louisville claimed its first BIG EAST Conference Championship with a 16-2 league mark in its fourth season competing in the BIG EAST after a 62-59 win at West Virginia. It was the Cardinals' 20th conference championship and first since U of L won the 2005 Conference USA title in its final season in that league (regular season conference championships: BIG EAST 1, Conference USA 1, Metro 12, Missouri Valley 6).
Louisville has finished second in the BIG EAST the last two seasons. Louisville has won its conference championship or finished second in 24 of the last 33 years. U of L was chosen to finish second behind Connecticut in the 2008-09 BIG EAST Conference in a preseason poll of league coaches.
2009 BIG EAST Championship presented by Aeropostale
Madison Square Garden - New York, N.Y. (after first round, all televised by ESPN)
Tuesday, March 10 (First Round)
Game 1 - (9) Cincinnati vs. (16) DePaul - Noon ET
Game 2 - (12) Georgetown vs. (13) St.John's - 2:00 p.m. ET
Game 3 - (10) Notre Dame vs. (15) Rutgers - 7:00 p.m. ET
Game 4 - (11) Seton Hall vs. (14) USF - 9:00 p.m. ET
Wednesday, March 11 (Second Round)
Game 5 - (8) Providence vs. Cincinnati/DePaul winner - Noon ET
Game 6 - (5) Marquettte vs. Georgetown/St. John's winner - 2:00 p.m. ET
Game 7 - (7) West Virginia vs. Notre Dame/Rutgers winner - 7:00 p.m. ET
Game 8 - (6) Syracuse vs. Seton Hall/USF winner - 9:00 p.m. ET
Thursday, March 12 (Quarterfinals)
Game 9 - (1) Louisville vs. Cincinnati/DePaul/Providence winner - Noon ET
Game 10 - (4) Villanova vs. Georgetown/St. John's/Marquette winner - 2:00 p.m. ET
Game 11 - (2) Pittsburgh vs. Notre Dame/Rutgers/West Va. Winner - 7:00 p.m. ET
Game 12 - (3) Connecticut vs. Seton Hall/USF/Syracuse winner - 9:00 p.m. ET
Friday, March 13 (Semifinals)
Game 13 - Thursday afternoon winners - 7:00 p.m. ET
Game 14 - Thursday evening winners - 9:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, March 14
Game 15 - Championship Game - 9:00 p.m. ET
