Big East Big Five: Week 1

For our ongoing look at the five best games in the Big East this week, we have a couple of caveats to remember. First, much like KenPom, we don't consider games that might happen in case of tournaments like the preseason NIT or the Paradise Jam. Second, we don't consider Marquette games until the conference schedule starts. With 14 other teams playing games, we have more than enough choices to pick from.

With that said, let's get to it!

Tuesday, November 13: St. John's vs Detroit (1pm Central, ESPN) - The Red Storm host the Titans and Ray McCallum as part of ESPN's Tip Off Marathon. This is St. John's first game of the year, so this will be Steve Lavin's return to the sideline as well.

Thursday, November 15: Providence vs Massachusetts (6:30pm Central, ESPNU) - The Friars get one of the six teams that got a first place vote in the Atlantic 10 preseason coaches' poll in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tip Off.

Thursday, November 15: Villanova vs Purdue (8:30pm Central, ESPN2) - The Wildcats face off with the Boilermakers at MSG in the 2KSports Classic. I'm not even bothering to look up to see how good Matt Painter's crew is supposed to be this year, because this one gets on the list for benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project.

Friday, November 16: Connecticut vs Wake Forest (5:30pm Central, CBS Sports Network) - Kevin Ollie got a big win in his first game as head coach of the Huskies, but can he win games outside of Germany? The Demon Deacons wait in the first round of the Paradise Jam.

Friday, November 16: #20/#21 Notre Dame vs St. Joseph's (8:30pm Central, truTV) - Remember the wildly split A10 poll I mentioned a moment ago? St. Joseph's ended up as the preseason favorite, so they should provide an excellent test for the Irish in the Coaches vs Cancer Classic. Since this is at the Barclays Center, I'm curious to see if they'll use the Nets' herringbone pattern court.