Notre Dame entered the postseason on such a downswing that many prognosticators swore the Irish would lose their first-round game against a team, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, that hadn’t made the NCAA Tournament in 107 years.

That would be the first Big East team to exit. Connecticut would soon follow. (Too inconsistent.) Then Syracuse. (Too young.) Then Pittsburgh. (Too low-octane.)

Particularly among the national analysts, betting on the Big East had the trendiness of a snap bracelet.

And indeed, faults can still be found with all of the four Big East teams to receive bids to the NCAA Tournament. More importantly, though, each of the aforementioned Big East teams can still be found wading in the Sweet 16 pool, among only 12 other teams with a chance to advance to the Final Four.

For a conference that complained bitterly about disrespect only one week ago — particularly after bubble teams Boston College and Seton Hall didn’t receive at-large bids — the first week of tournament action, during which the Big East went 8-0, has served as a collective ‘Told ya so.’

‘I think that (success) is a great example of how tough our league was this year,’ Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. ‘We were probably a little underrated on the national scene.’

When Sunday’s games finished and Syracuse became the final Big East squad to advance, it marked the first time since 1985 that the league has sent four teams to the Sweet 16. Now, Notre Dame is rolling. Connecticut is playing with consistency. Syracuse has come of age. Pittsburgh’s body-thumping defense trumps all complaints about its offense.

‘Everything you do in a three- or four-month stretch can be either enhanced or totally wiped out by what you do in just one or two tournament games,’ UConn assistant Tom Moore said. ‘It’s in the national spotlight when teams and individuals make their reputations.’

It’s also where leagues make their reputations. And so long as the Big East wants to take credit for its success this year, it must also admit the obvious: In the last decade, the league’s postseason record indicates a less-than-powerful power conference.

Since 1985, teams from the Big East reached the Final Four just five times (Syracuse has two of those appearances). In the 1990s, only two teams — Syracuse in 1996 and Connecticut in 1999 — managed the feat, although the Huskies won the national championship.

In contrast, the Big Ten owns six Final Four berths in the last four tournaments. The ACC can claim a Final Four team in 14 of the past 15 years.

‘Everyone has looked at our conference and said we’ve been a little on the downside right now,’ Pitt point guard Brandin Knight said.

Just the Big East’s sixth season, 1985 was the pinnacle. Georgetown, St. John’s and Villanova, the eventual national champion, all advanced to the Final Four. Sports Illustrated featured league stars Chris Mullin, Dwayne McClain and Patrick Ewing on its cover, along with a headline that labeled the NCAAs ‘A Big East Feast.’

‘That’s something I don’t think will ever be duplicated,’ then-Villanova coach Rollie Massimino said. ‘You’re talking about teams that were truly dominant, teams consisting of All-Pros. Ewing was an All-Pro, Mullin was an All-Pro. Both of those guys ended up on the Dream Team, and you could see the potential even then.’

Although Massimino dismisses the odds that three or four teams from the conference can make the Final Four this year, there’s still a mathematical possibility. Each member of the Big East quartet is positioned in a separate region.

But with No. 1 seeds (none of which are Big East squads) remaining in all four regions, nobody from the league is the favorite to advance. Pitt, should it defeat Marquette, must upset top-seeded Kentucky. Notre Dame plays No. 1 Arizona. Connecticut plays No. 1 Texas. And Syracuse, provided it can knock off Auburn, has a potential date with favorite Oklahoma.

Regardless of what happens, coaches within the Big East feel as if the conference has already achieved its goal. The league has bolstered its postseason resume, they say, and next year, bubble teams like Boston College and Seton Hall will enjoy a substantially better shot of making the tournament.

‘The (NCAA selection) committee is not supposed to be influenced by what happened the year before,’ Moore said, ‘but I’m sure that they are, even though you won’t find anything that says so in writing.’

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim speculates that success by one conference in the tournament helps every other team in the league, too — even those that didn’t receive bids.

‘That’s why you’re always pulling for the other teams in the conference,’ Boeheim said. ‘Because the better your conference is, that helps your overall profile, it helps attendance, it helps recruiting. It helps everything, really.’

Published on March 26, 2003 at 12:00 pm