January 23, 2012 - 10:29am
Though the BIG EAST sent a conference, and NCAA-record, eight teams to the Big Dance last season, no one knows at this point just how many members of the league will be part of the 64-team field come March when the tournament committee announces its choices on Selection Monday.
That's why, though theres still a week-and-a-half left in January, here in the BIG EAST Conference, with its six nationally ranked teams plus a steadily improving seventh one very much part of the discussion, most of the group of postseason aspirants are already in NCAA-tournament mode night after night.
On top of that, the BIG EAST elite are regularly putting their national rankings and BIG EAST standings on the line in big step-out games against other ranked opponents, with severalstep-out such games ahead in the near future.
The next step-out game of major consequence comes Monday night when No. 9 Tennessee visits Notre Dame in the first meeting between the two since last spring, when the Irish upset the Lady Vols in the Dayton Regional to advance to the Womens Final Four and eventual championship contest, losing to Texas A&M.
Last year's win was the first for the Irish, currently ranked No. 2, in 21 meetings with Tennessee.
Will Monday night see the second?
