2014 Big East Women's Soccer Tournament Scenarios

So here's the good news: We already know which six teams will participate in the 2014 Big East women's soccer tournament, even though there's still one match left to play.  While the field is set, we don't know the order of seeding yet, and there's still a lot of movement possible.  We'll go team by team here, in the order of the current standings, and figure out what's on the line for each team on Friday night.  A quick reminder: The top two teams get a bye directly to the semifinals, while third place and fourth place host quarterfinal matches next week Tuesday.

1) DePaul (6-0-2, 20 points)

Final Match: vs St. John's, 3pm Central, BEDN

It's a simple equation for the Blue Demons: Win or draw against the Red Storm and they win the regular season title outright.  If the Blue Demons lose, they come out in second place, regardless of what happens to Georgetown.  The Hoyas had a 3-3 draw with DePaul earlier this year, but the tiebreakers would go in favor of Abby Reed and company.

2) St. John's (6-1-1, 19 points)

Final Match: at DePaul, 3pm Central, BEDN

A win boosts the Red Storm to 22 points, the outright league title, a bye to the semifinals, and homefield advantage for the Big East tournament at Belson Stadium in Queens.  A draw with DePaul will get them to 20 points, and courtesy of a 1-0 win, a tiebreaker victory over Georgetown and the #2 seed.  If St. John's loses to DePaul, they'll need a GU loss or tie to preserve that quarterfinals bye.  A Georgetown win and St. John's loss pushes the Red Storm down to the #3 seed.

3) Georgetown (5-1-2, 17 points)

Final Match: at Seton Hall, 6pm Central, Paid Video Available

The Hoyas can't win the Big East title, but they can lay claim to the second bye to the semifinals with a win over Seton Hall and a St. John's loss.  A win by itself guarantees them no lower than third place, and a draw against the Pirates has no value to Georgetown at all.  If they were to lose to Seton Hall, they'll stay at #3 if Marquette loses or draws with Butler and fall to #4 if Marquette defeats Butler.

4) Marquette (5-2-1, 16 points)

Final Match: at Butler, 4pm Central

The Golden Eagles will definitely be hosting a quarterfinal match on Tuesday, as Providence can't catch them for fourth place and MU can't catch St. John's for second place.  A win over Butler on its own doesn't alter anything about Marquette's path to the postseason, but they could drift up to #3 if the Hoyas lose or draw with Seton Hall.  A loss to Butler would lock Marquette into fourth place.

5) Providence (4-4-0, 12 points) and 6) Villanova (3-3-2, 11 points)

Final Match: at Providence, 6pm Central, Paid Video Available

I'm listing these two together because 1) they can't move out of fifth or sixth and 2) they're playing each other.  Whichever team comes away with a win and three points gets to be the #5 seed and play whoever ends up in fourth place.  The Friars have the advantage here, as a draw keeps them in fifth place.