March Madness selection panel will have to juggle thanks to SEC overload in bracket

The NCAA selection committee will have some juggling to do before the bracket comes out Sunday to keep March Madness from looking like an extension of the Southeastern Conference's regular season. With the country's deepest league in line to place between 12 and 14 teams in the tournament, some long-held guidelines drawn to help set the matchups will have to give way, bringing the possibility that conference rivals could face each other as early as the second round or the Sweet 16. “We will move it to try to ensure they don't play each other too frequently,” the chair of the selection committee, North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham, said Wednesday in a call to preview the selection.

Rick Pitino wins 1st Big East Coach of the Year award and RJ Luis Jr. is Player of the Year

Rick Pitino won his first Big East Coach of the Year award Wednesday and RJ Luis Jr. took Player of the Year honors after they propelled a resurgent St. John's program to its best regular season in almost four decades. UConn forward Liam McNeeley was selected the league's Freshman of the Year despite missing eight games with a high ankle sprain. Voting is done by Big East head coaches, who aren't allowed to pick their own players.