The other part of it is that it is a single elimination tournament. Does anybody think the 1983 NC St. team that beat Houston was the best team in the country that year? How about 1985 Villanova? Fact is that in a single elimination tournament, the underdogs are going to make a little noise. Combine that with the fact that when you are branded the best conference, you're likely to get everyone's best shot, just like dook takes everyones best shot as the defending champs.
Of the 8 Big East teams eliminated, 2 were eliminated by other Big East teams (Syracuse and Cincinnati), St. John's lost a significant player for the season in the BE tourney, Villanova has been in free fall, Pitt lost to last year's runner-up who were only seeded low because they started slow due to injuries, WV lost to a higher seed (#4 seed Kentucky) that a lot of people thought should have been a 3 seed, Georgetown lost their PG to a wrist injury before the tournament, which leaves sorry ass Notre Dame - and the eat ass so I'm not going to defend their pasting by a great defensive team in Florida St.