By Josh Adams
There is no free lunch in the Big East Conference.
Last season the conference was so stacked it sent seven teams to the NCAA Tournament. With seniors like Villanova All-American Josh Hart graduating and players like St. John’s guard Shamorie Ponds and Providence guard Kyron Cartwright emerging as stars, the Big East could see a bit of a shift in the standings in 2017-18. Villanova will be hard pressed to defend their Big East title considering they have an absolutely brutal conference schedule in February. The Wildcats play NINE times in the month facing off against Seton Hall twice, Creighton twice, Providence, Xavier, DePaul, St. John’s and Butler.
The Big East’s success has been noticed nationally with the major networks. The conference will have 16 national games on Fox and 3 on CBS. The Big East Tournament Championship game will be broadcast on Fox at 6:30 this season instead of the regular 5:30 start.
In other storylines:
Georgetown begins the Patrick Ewing era at home when they face Butler on December 27th. The Bulldogs have a new coach as well with LaVall Jordan taking the reigns from Chris Holtmann who departed to Ohio State.
Seton Hall returns four senior starters as they look poised to make a deep run into the NCAA Tournament. The Pirates open up at home against Creighton on December 28th. The Blue Jays have an All- Big East player in Marcus Foster while trying to replace the production that was lost from the departure of Maurice Watson and Justin Patton.
Xavier advanced to the Elite 8 last year and they have returned preseason Big East Player of the Year Candidate Trevon Bluiett. The Musketeers backcourt of J.P. Macura and Bluiett will be one of the better tandems in the nation. They open up on the road against a Marquette team that is young but has plenty of talent. The Golden Eagles returned to the NCAA Tournament last year after missing the postseason for the three previous years.
Providence returns almost everyone from a team that was supposed to be rebuilding last season. Ed Cooley and his Friars never got the memo and made it to their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament. They open up on the road against St. John’s. Progress for the Red Storm under Chris Mullin has been slow but steady. The program looks to make a leap this season with the addition of several impact transfers that will help the nucleus of Ponds and Marcus LoVett take the team to it’s first postseason birth under Mullin.
Villanova lost Hart and NCAA Championship hero Kris Jenkins to graduation. The Wildcats won’t miss a beat without them. Jalen Brunson is an All-American candidate at guard and Villanova has multi-dimensional players like Eric Paschall and Mikal Bridges to fill in the roles left by Hart and Jenkins. They open up against DePaul who will be moving into a new downtown arena that will hopefully kickstart a program that has been in the basement of the conference for years. The Blue Demons hope the new digs help them keep some Chicago recruits local and turn around the program.
The games and TV listings are as follows:
Wednesday, December 27
Butler at Georgetown 6:30 FS1
Villanova at DePaul 7:30 CBSSN
Xavier at Marquette 8:30 FS1
Thursday, December 28
Creighton at Seton Hall 6:30 FS1
Providence at St. John’s (CA) 7:00 FSN
Saturday, December 30
DePaul at Xavier 2:00 FS1
Villanova at Butler 4:00 CBS
Georgetown at Marquette 4:30 FS1
Sunday, December 31
St. John’s at Seton Hall Noon or 5:00 FS1
Providence at Creighton 2:30 FS1
Tuesday, January 2
Butler at Xavier 7:00 FS1
Georgetown at DePaul 9:00 FS1
Wednesday, January 3
Marquette at Providence 6:30 CBSSN
St. John’s at Creighton 8:00 FS1
Saturday, January 6
Xavier at Providence Noon FOX
Creighton at Georgetown Noon FSN
DePaul at St. John’s (CA) 2:00 FSN
Seton Hall at Butler 2:30 FS1
Marquette at Villanova (WF) 7:30 FS1
Tuesday, January 9
Georgetown at St. John’s (MSG) 6:30 FS1
Butler at Creighton 8:30 FS1
Seton Hall at Marquette 9:00 CBSSN
Wednesday, January 10
Xavier at Villanova (WF) 8:00 FS1
Friday, January 12
Marquette at Butler 6:30 FS1
Providence at DePaul 8:30 FS1
Saturday, January 13
Georgetown at Seton Hall Noon FS1
Creighton at Xavier 2:00 FOX
Villanova at St. John’s (MSG) 8:00 TBD
Monday, January 15
Butler at Providence 4:30 FS1
DePaul at Marquette 9:00 FS1
Wednesday, January 17
Villanova at Georgetown 6:30 FS1
St. John’s at Xavier 8:30 CBSSN
Seton Hall at Creighton 8:30 FS1
Saturday, January 20
St. John’s at Georgetown Noon FS1
Butler at DePaul 2:00 FS1
Xavier at Seton Hall 2:30 FOX
Creighton at Providence 3:00 CBSSN
Tuesday, January 23
Providence at Villanova (WF) 6:30 FS1
Creighton at St. John’s (CA) 8:30 FS1
Wednesday, January 24
Marquette at Xavier 6:30 FS1
DePaul at Georgetown 8:30 FS1
Saturday, January 27
St. John’s at Butler 2:30 FS1
Georgetown at Creighton 8:00 CBSSN
Sunday, January 28
Villanova at Marquette 1:00 FOX
Seton Hall at DePaul 4:00 CBSSN
Tuesday, January 30
Xavier at St. John’s (CA) 8:30 CBSSN
Wednesday, January 31
Providence at Seton Hall 7:00 FS1
Butler at Marquette 9:00 FS1
Thursday, February 1
Creighton at Villanova (WF) 6:30 FS1
Saturday, February 3
DePaul at Butler Noon FS1
Providence at Marquette 2:30 FS1
Georgetown at Xavier 6:00 CBSSN
Sunday, February 4
Seton Hall at Villanova (WF) Noon FOX
Tuesday, February 6
Xavier at Butler 6:30 FS1
Georgetown at Providence 8:30 FS1
Wednesday, February 7
Marquette at Seton Hall 7:00 FS1
St. John’s at Villanova (WF) 7:00 CBSSN
Creighton at DePaul 9:00 FS1
Saturday, February 10
Butler at Villanova (WF) Noon FOX
Marquette at St. John’s (CA) Noon FSN
Xavier at Creighton 2:30 FOX
Seton Hall at Georgetown 4:00 CBSSN
DePaul at Providence 4:00 FSN
Tuesday, February 13
Georgetown at Butler 6:30 CBSSN
Wednesday, February 14
Villanova at Providence 7:00 FS1
St. John’s at DePaul 9:00 CBSSN
Seton Hall at Xavier 9:00 FS1
Saturday, February 17
Providence at Butler Noon FOX
Villanova at Xavier 4:30 FOX
Marquette at Creighton 10:00 FSN
Sunday, February 18
DePaul at Seton Hall 1:00 FS1
Tuesday, February 20
Creighton at Butler 7:00 FS1
Wednesday, February 21
Xavier at Georgetown 6:30 FS1/FSN
Seton Hall at Providence 6:30 FS1/FSN
St. John’s at Marquette 8:30 FSN
DePaul at Villanova (WF) 8:30 FS1
Saturday, February 24
Seton Hall at St. John’s (MSG) Noon FOX
Marquette at DePaul Noon FSN
Providence at Georgetown Noon CBSSN
Villanova at Creighton 2:30 FOX
Monday, February 26
Marquette at Georgetown 7:00 FS1
Tuesday, February 27
DePaul at Creighton 9:00 FS1
Wednesday, February 28
Providence at Xavier 6:30 FS1
Villanova at Seton Hall 8:30 FS1
Butler at St. John’s (CA) 9:00 CBSSN
Saturday, March 3
Xavier at DePaul Noon TBD
Butler at Seton Hall TBD TBD
Creighton at Marquette TBD TBD
Georgetown at Villanova (WF) TBD FOX
St. John’s at Providence TBD TBD
The BIG EAST Tournament
March 7 First Round Doubleheader 7:00 FS1
March 8 Quarterfinal Doubleheader Noon FS1
Quarterfinal Doubleheader 7:00 FS1
March 9 Semifinal Doubleheader 6:30 FS1
March 10 Championship Game 6:30 FOX
FOX Broadcast Network Schedule
Dec. 16 Butler vs. Purdue Noon
Jan. 6 Xavier at Providence Noon
Jan. 13 Creighton at Xavier 2:00
Jan. 20 Xavier at Seton Hall 2:30
Jan. 28 Villanova at Marquette 1:00
Feb. 3 Duke at St. John’s (MSG) Noon
Feb. 4 Seton Hall at Villanova (WF) Noon
Feb. 10 Butler at Villanova (WF) Noon
Xavier at Creighton 2:30
Feb. 17 Providence at Butler Noon
Villanova at Xavier 4:30
Feb. 24 Seton Hall at St. John’s (MSG) Noon
Villanova at Creighton 2:30
March 4 FOX Wildcard TBD
FOX Wildcard TBD
FOX Wildcard TBD
CBS Sports Schedule
Dec. 16 Syracuse at Georgetown 12:30
Dec. 30 Villanova at Butler 4:00
