The Big East consists of 16 teams which would seem to make it perfect for a standard tournament where the #1-seed plays the #16-seed, the #2-seed plays the #15-seed and so on.

But such a format would require the two teams that faced each other in the championship game — two teams likely to play in the NCAA Tournament the following week — to play four games in four days. The conference simply does not want to wear down its top teams before the Big Dance.

Also, the conference recognizes the tournament as its Championship, so the top teams should be rewarded in some way. A double bye gives the top four seeds a couple of days rest before their automatic bid into the quarterfinals. The next four teams get a round one bye, which means that the bottom eight teams have to play in the first round on Tuesday.

Click here to see the 2010 Big East Men’s Basketball Championship bracket.