The Big East Tournament: March 10 - 14

"March madness" begins in NYC today as the Big East Tournament kicks off, a pre-cursor to next week's even bigger NCAA men's basketball tournament.
This year's Big East tournament is the biggest in their history, as all 16 teams have been invited to Madison Square Garden. The top 4 teams have earned a double bye into the quarter finals, while the next top 4 get a single bye. That means teams #9 - #16 kickoff the tournament tonight, hoping to be a Cinderella team and extend their seasons. The first round is not televised (WTF?), but you can watch it on-line at Bigeast.tv

The games are sold out, so if you want tickets, check out StubHub.com

Tuesday, March 10 - First Round
Noon: # 9 Cincinnati vs. # 16 DePaul
2pm: # 12 Georgetown vs. # 13 St. John's

7pm: # 10 Notre Dame vs. # 15 Rutgers
9pm: # 11 Seton Hall vs. # 14 USF
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Wednesday, March 11 - Second Round
Noon: Cincinnati/DePaul vs. No. 8 Providence
2pm: Georgetown/St. John's vs. No. 5 Marquette

7pm: Notre Dame/Rutgers vs. No. 7 West Virginia
9pm: Seton Hall/USF vs. No. 6 Syracuse
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Thursday, March 12 - Quarter Finals
Noon: No. 1 Louisville vs. TBD
2pm: No. 4 Villanova vs. TBD

7pm: No. 2 Pittsburgh vs. TBD
9pm: No. 3 Connecticut vs. TBD
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Friday, March 13 - Semi Finals
7pm: First Quarter-final Winners
9pm: Second Quarter-final Winners
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Saturday, March 14
Big East Championship
Teams t.b.a.

Pre/Post-game suggestions:
Here are some suggested bar / restaurants to pop in for a pre-game meal or post-game cocktail...

Stout
133 W. 33rd St.
(bet. Sixth & Seventh Ave.)
New York, NY
(212) 629-6191
StoutNYC.com



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Fat Annie's Truck Stop
131 W. 33rd St.
(bet. Sixth & Seventh Ave.)
New York, NY
(212) 695-1122
FatAnniesTruckStop.com


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Tracks Raw Bar & Grill
Penn Station
LIRR level
New York, NY
(212) 244-6350
TracksBarGrill.com

To watch the games elsewhere in the city, check out MurphGuide's Directory of NYC Sports Bars:
MurphGuide.com/sports.htm