Marquette's Shaka Smart: DePaul's 'worst year ever' led to lack of Big East schools in March Madness

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As the NCAA Tournament bracket came into clear view on Selection Sunday, one of the main storylines was the lack of Big East representation when there is usually a good amount of teams from the conference each year. 

Marquette is one of the three that made it into the tournament, earning themselves a No. 2 seed that will go against No. 15 Western Kentucky on Friday afternoon. There’s also No. 3 Creighton and the favorite to win it all again, No. 1 Connecticut. 

But teams like St. John’s, Seton Hall and Providence didn’t make the cut. Marquette head coach Shaka Smart thinks he knows why the Big East didn’t get too much love from those creating the bracket this year. 

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Head coach Shaka Smart of the Marquette Golden Eagles directs his team in the first half against the Providence Friars during the Semifinal round of the Big East Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 15, 2024 in New York City. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

"It was a perfect storm numbers-wise in our league," Smart told CBS Sports. "You had UConn having the best year ever of any Big East team. And then you had DePaul probably having the worst year ever. 

"That affected those teams in the middle."

Looking at those numbers, the Huskies went 18-2 in Big East play this season, which is the most wins for a school in the conference ever. 

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At the same time, DePaul, a team that hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since the 2003-04 season when they were in Conference USA, went an abysmal 0-20 in Big East play and 3-29 overall. 

As a result, head coach