Mike DeCourcy

Although coaches in the Big East Conference favored eliminating double-byes earned by the top four teams in the league’s tournament, the format will remain the same for the 2011 event.

Teams that finish first to fourth will be seeded into the quarterfinals; seeds No. 5-8 will receive a single bye; those that come in ninth through 16th will need to win five games to earn the championship.

Coaches had suggested placing all teams in a 16-team bracket.

“The equity that I’ve built certainly lacks in comparison to the ADs and presidents in our league,” Marquette coach Buzz Williams said. “If that’s what they said it’s going to be, that’s what we’ll do.

“I think there’s probably value in how it was originally formatted. I think there was wisdom in the potential change. Everybody has a different thought on it.”

Controversy developed about the double-bye format because only one of the top four teams — eventual champion West Virginia — won its first game in the 2010 tournament.

Curiously, some of the strongest advocates for the change were coaches who earned the double-bye and might have had to play an extra game that theoretically could have detracted from their performance in the NCAA Tournament.

A team good enough to finish in the Big East’s top four ordinarily would have the potential for a deep NCAA run, but the coaches felt being more involved in the Big East Tournament was worth that price.

Since the tournament format changed, the league’s traditional Tuesday night banquet had to be eliminated because games are being played and it makes no sense to bring teams to New York that early in the week when they won’t play for two more days.

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“What’s unique about the Big East, the Big East Tournament is a big deal,” Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. “The kids love it. Unless you’ve coached in the Big East or played in it, it’s really hard to understand.

“The coaches were all trying to figure out what would ultimately be the best format. The reality with our conference is, we just went to 16 teams two years ago, and you don’t want to change your conference tournament every two years.

“It’s something as coaches we felt might better suit some of the teams, but I don’t think any of us are losing any sleep over it. We understand. I don’t think the sentiment of the group was that it has to change; that was the case when only 12 teams were making it.”

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