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With the start of the Big East conference schedule, we're going to change things up around here. With only 10 teams in the league, picking the five best games in league play every week will start turning into naming half of the games. There's not a lot being gained by doing that, so we're going to do something different.
We'll give you the three best men's basketball games of the week. To keep it at a Big Five, we'll also give you the best Big East women's basketball game of the week. I'm sure you're saying, "Hey! That's only four games!" You're right! For entertainment value, we'll also give you the absolute worst game in the American Athletic Conference every week so we can all have a hearty belly laugh about the disaster of a conference that we've managed to escape from. Conveniently, the AAC has decided to partner with us on this, and has given us the worst possible game right in the first week of the season to kick this new venture off with a bang.
Tuesday, December 31: Marquette at Creighton (9pm Central, Fox Sports 1) - Well, when the Big East and Fox Sports pick a game to main event their New Year's Eve tipoff marathon, you put it in your feature of the best games of the week. Back when this game was set as the main event, Marquette was the heavy favorite to win the league, with Creighton trailing right behind them. Now, well, not so much. But it's still the best game on New Year's Eve.
Saturday, January 4: St. John's at Georgetown (Noon Central, Fox Sports 1) - Ok, it's not the first old school Big East game on the schedule, that honor falls to Seton Hall-Providence on New Year's Eve. But Fox Sports 1 made sure to get this historic match up on the first Saturday of the conference season, and it leads off their game coverage on Saturday, too. Nice job, everybody.
Sunday, January 5: Providence at #11 Villanova (6pm Central, Fox Sports 1) - The Wildcats are the only ranked team in the conference, and they're hosting a Friars team with a strong non-conference record that's looking to prove something in conference play. It's the last game of the week, and it's got big time implications for the road team already.
Big East Women's Basketball
Saturday, January 4: DePaul at Creighton (4pm Central, Fox Sports 1) - It's the league favorite going on the road to face the team picked to finish second and the only other team to get any first place votes in the preseason poll. DePaul's Jasmine Penny is the reigning Big East Player of the Week after shooting 13-14 and scoring 29 points against Bradley yesterday. Penny moved to 1,026 points, and has the fourth highest active scoring total in the Big East.
The Worst American Athletic Conference Game Of The Week
Wednesday, January 1: Temple at Rutgers (7pm Central, ESPNU) - As I said above, this is the worst possible game that the AAC can put on this season, at least so far. Temple is currently the only team in the league with a .500 record, and Rutgers is really Rutgers-ing it up, as they're the only team in the AAC with a losing record. For the record: Temple lost at home to Texas Southern, and Rutgers lost at home to Fairleigh Dickenson. At least DePaul goes on the road for their worst losses.