Big East Media Day Recaps

A quick look at what many of the newspapers in Big East country are saying about yesterday's media day in NYC:

The guys over at the Pitt Sports Blather offer a terrific recap/analysis.

Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Malcom Moran of USA Today interviews Mike Tranghese on the state and future of the Big East.

Kim Baxter of the Syracuse Post-Standard talks about Rick Pitino.

Frank Litsky at the New York Times on the Big East's Sweet 16.

Bill Koch of the Cincinnati Enquirer talks about the road ahead for the newcomers.

Joe Gergen of the New York Daily News leads with the injury-prone, preseason favorite Villanova. Jay Wright, "I don't think I'm unfortunate," the coach said. "I feel bad for these kids. Curtis worked so hard all summer to get back to 100 percent. At a time like this, you feel like a parent. I feel good we have experienced guards and that Jason Fraser is healthy. Experience in this league is very important."

Shannon Ryan of the Philadelphia Inquirer offers a preview, including thoughts from a very candid Jim Calhoun, "The bigger aspect is [because of] football....I don't think any sane person could think about a 16-team basketball league and then talk about the... rivalries. A kid can go through his whole season and might never play [a certain team]. I might see someone at the banquet and say, 'Hi, I'm Coach Calhoun. Nice to meet you.' "

Steve Politi of the Newark Star-Ledger struggles to see the wisdom of a 16-team basketball league. Mike Tranghese, "Everybody keeps telling me we're too big,.....Well, everybody in American is too big. We're all too big, we just happen to be a little bigger than the others."

Dave Mackall of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review notes that 'all but one of the 16 teams that are now a part of Big East basketball has played in a Final Four, and 10 of the 16 teams made it that far during the past 25 years'.

And finally, MSNBC ponders the question, 'Who's playing where' with this interactive guide to the conference shuffle.