Now we have some conference games to give some perspective on what's important around these parts. We only had one non-conference game last week, and USF came out with the win, so nice job by those guys.

I don't want to write a whole Around The Big East post for one game, so we'll point out that Syracuse squeaked by South Florida yesterday and move on to this week.

Monday, January 7: #17/16 Notre Dame at #21/20 Cincinnati (5:30pm Central, ESPN2) - It's not really the best way for the Bearcats to come back from a home loss to St. John's, but it's better than going to South Bend, I suppose. They do catch a break in that there will be no one in the stands to cheer for Notre Dame, as Irish fans are otherwise preoccupied tonight.

Tuesday, January 8: Pittsburgh at #19/22 Georgetown (8pm Central, ESPNU) - Quick show of hands: Who thought this was going to be the first Big East win for one of these two teams? Mind you, I don't actually advise watching this game, since it involves two of the 50 slowest teams in the country.

Wednesday, January 9: #3/4 Louisville at Seton Hall (6pm Central, ESPN2) - Seton Hall squeaked by DePaul and got skunked by Notre Dame, while this is Louisville's first true road game since a trip to Memphis on December 15.

Wednesday, January 9: Rutgers at St. John's (6pm Central, Big East Network) - Both teams looked good in wins in their most recent games. Who can maintain momentum?

Saturday, January 12: Villanova at #7/7 Syracuse (11am Central, Big East Network) - With two winnable road games for both squads this week, this could be a battle of teams without a conference loss.