Good morning everybody! It’s a great day to be a college hoops fan, especially if you love the Big East (or hate the Big East, I guess). Today is Day One of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York City – the city that never sleeps. It’s a good thing the city never sleeps; otherwise it would probably be a little groggy at noon on a Tuesday, when the tournament actually begins.

As you know, Georgetown will play St. John’s in Game 2 of the opening session. DePaul and Cincinnati get things going at 12:00 and 20 minutes after the conclusion of that game, the Hoyas and Red Storm will tip off. There are a lot of “ifs” coming into the tournament for the Hoyas. I’m only going to use one “if” to get us started, and assume the other “ifs” as often as needed.

If everything goes according to plan, today will be the last time that Jessie Sapp ever wears the gray Hoya jersey. The Hoyas are the higher seed today against the Johnnies which means that they get to wear the home uniforms. Georgetown will not be the higher seed at any other point in the tournament, so it’s blue unis for as long as the Hoyas keep playing.

Even without winning the Big East Tournament, Georgetown can still submit their tournament resume with a final record of 19-14. 19 wins for a team that played the #1 toughest schedule in the country is definitely worthy of at-large consideration. Throw into the equation five quality wins – Connecticut, Memphis, Marquette, and Villanova twice, and all of a sudden you’re looking at a team that is a very reasonable selection. The Hoyas will garner a low seed in the NCAA tournament and will not need their gray uniforms in that tournament at all. Get a good look at the gray shirts, hopefully you won’t see them again.