As I type this on Monday morning, classes are back in session at Marquette for the spring semester, and so I presume that’s the case around the Big East. That’s a little guidepost on our way through the college
basketball season, and so we continue to march towards the postseason week by week. As always, storylines jump up and generate themselves or continue onwards through the season, so there’s always something curious going on every single week in this conference, you just have to know where to look to see it.
Let’s get into the highlights of this week’s basketball schedule, shall we?
Tuesday, January 13: #3 Connecticut Huskies at #25 Seton Hall Pirates (7pm Central, truTV) — The 4-1 Pirates host the 6-0 Huskies in a battle of one of the three teams tied for second and the team alone in first. SHU is 1-2 against KenPom top 50 opponents since beating NC State in Maui, so this is a very big spot for them to prove that they should be taken seriously fresh off earning their first AP ranking since January 2022.
Wednesday, January 14: Marquette Golden Eagles at Seton Hall Pirates (6pm Central, ESPN+) — Based on the bracketology efforts I’ve seen pop up since the first of the year, this game is essentially an NCAA tournament play-in game. Both teams are on the edge of staking a claim to being an at-large squad, and so whoever gets the win gets one leg up on the other. PLUS: Added value of the chance of seeing SHU head coach Tony Bozzella throw his coat around Walsh Gym!
Thursday, January 15: Villanova Wildcats at #1 Connecticut Huskies (6pm Central, FS1) — Mathematically, it’s not 100% true, but essentially, UConn can clinch a regular season title here. Villanova already took a loss when they visited Marquette, and if the Huskies get the win at home here, that will be VU’s second league loss and that means everyone in the Big East that’s not coached by Geno Auriemma will have at least two losses. Do you think that anyone else in the league is going to run the table this year to stay steady at just two losses or that Sarah Strong is likely to let the Huskies slip up twice, much less three times?
Friday, January 16: Creighton Bluejays at Providence Friars (5:30pm Central, FS1) — It seemed that the Bluejays had righted themselves after a 5-5 start when they opened up Big East play 3-0. The Schedule Monster bit them a little bit by handing them at Seton Hall, at Villanova, and home against St. John’s in a row, and they went 1-2 there. They have to get through a Tuesday home game against a rapidly sinking Georgetown team before heading to Friartown, but Greg McDermott’s squad is in need of a win that’s proof they’re still on the right track. Meanwhile, Kim English’s PC squad spent last week lighting the value of their road win against St. John’s on fire by blowing a home lead against UConn and getting kicked by 13 at Xavier. They have Nova on Tuesday at home, so this is either going to be “trying to stack two wins” or “trying to avoid a fourth straight loss.”
Saturday, January 17: RV St. John’s Red Storm at RV Villanova Wildcats (7pm Central, Peacock) — This is the second game of the week for both squads with the Johnnies hosting Marquette and the Wildcats going to Providence, both on Tuesday. Each team is 4-1 in the league standings right now, and presuming they still have just one loss on Saturday, whoever wins this game will either be alone in second place or possibly (if Seton Hall helps out against UConn!) tied for first.
Here’s the full Big East men’s basketball schedule for the week, with all times Central as always.
Here’s the full Big East women’s basketball schedule for the week, with all times Central, as always.
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