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Louisville coach Rick Pitino doesn't have any doubt.

"Certainly getting the double-bye after competing 18 games in the Big East is a major advantage. To get ready for the tournament, you need some rest....We would love to get the double-bye just to get a little rest going into the tournament," Pitino, whose Cardinals captured Big East regular-season and tournament titles last year, said on Thursday's Big East conference call.

If the season ended today, Syracuse, Villanova, Pittsburgh and West Virginia would receive a double-bye into the quarterfinals March 11.

Marquette, Georgetown, Louisville and Seton Hall would be seeded 5-8, respectively, and would secure a bye into the second round March 10.

Cincinnati, UConn, Notre Dame, South Florida, St. John's, Providence, Rutgers and DePaul would be seeded 9-16, respectively, and would have to play first-round games March 9.

Still, the standings figure to be fluid over the last week of the regular season as teams fight tooth and nail for every win.

There are currently 11 teams tied for their respective places. The standings show a two-way tie for third, a three-way tie for fifth, a four-way tie for eighth and a two-way tie for 14th.

Last March two of the top four seeds lost in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament after receiving double-byes and a third was nearly upset.

No. 7 West Virginia beat No. 2 Pitt and No. 6 Syracuse beat No. 3 UConn in the historic six-overtime affair. No. 4 Villanova edged No. 5 Marquette on a shot at the buzzer.

Top-seeded Louisville ended up winning the tournament.

Those upsets prompted off-season discussion about changing the tournament's format.

League officials toyed with the idea of doing away with the double-bye system and having the top four teams play the bottom four teams on the tournament's first day, Tuesday, and then giving the winners a day off before playing the quarterfinals on Thursday. The teams seeded 5-12 would have squared off on Wednesday.

Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said he could understand the line of thinking that advocated the change.

"There is something to be said that playing a game and...getting a win and having the other team sitting out for two days is an advantage," Dixon said. "But I think most teams would like to be in that top spot for obvious reasons."

Gerry McNamara led Syracuse to a dramatic Big East crown in 2006 after playing four days in a row, but asking another team to repeat that effort is a tall order.

The bottom eight teams would have to win five games in five days to capture the tournament, a seemingly impossible feat given the strength of the league.

"Well, I mean it's been done with four so it's not impossible," Dixon said. "I think five makes it even more difficult but nothing's impossible and that's been proven."

Whatever happens, the Garden is sure to be filled with still more dramatic and tense moments once the tournament begins.

"The Big East tournament is going to play out like the regular season," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said.

"Everybody has watched the best league in the country beat each other up and go at it for two months. Now they're gonna tune in again and watch it for one week. It's going to be amazingly exciting, as it always is."

Gody's Status
Brey said senior forward Luke Harangody was "doubtful" for Saturday's game against Georgetown (noon, CBS.).

"I'm doubtful that he will play Saturday," he said. "Stranger things have happened. We'll keep evaluating it. If we can't get him ready for Saturday we'll evaluate it later in the week for Wednesday [against UConn]."

Notre Dame beat No. 12 Pittsburgh 68-53 Wednesday night, but Harangody missed his third straight game with a bone bruise in his right knee.

Harangody leads the Big East in scoring (24.1 ppg) and ranks third in rebounds (10.0).

The Irish (18-10, 7-8) are 1-2 in his absence.