Big East Big Five: Week 14

Villanova, 12-1.  Xavier, 10-3.

Then there's five teams with either five, six, or seven losses.  These last few games of the regular season could cause massive amounts of shifting in the standings as we try to settle on the seeding for the Big East tournament.  We've got a bunch of games involving those teams this week, either through chance of fate or just because it's impossible not to at this juncture.  Either way, lots of quality ball to watch.....

Tuesday, February 16, 2016: Creighton at Butler (5pm Central, FS1) - Are you aware that Creighton's in third place in the Big East?  Tied for the third fewest losses, and after clipping Marquette on Saturday night, they've got the third most victories.  Yeah, I know, right?  There are four squads in this league that were ranked in the top 10 at some point this season, and somehow, Creighton's doing better in Big East action than two of them.  Amazingly conveniently, Butler is one of those two teams that has fallen from the top 10, and you can bet that they'd like nothing more than to vault themselves back up the standings by taking down the Bluejays.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016: #23 Providence at #8 Xavier (6pm Central, FS1) - Can you make any sense of the Friars this season?  12-1 heading into Big East play, but now 19-7.  They've lost at DePaul and got swept by Marquette.  They're just 3-4 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center against Big East opponents, which is just totally bonkers.  They've lost four of their last six, but yet somehow, they're still ranked #23 in the country.  They're heading to Cincinnati on Wednesday, looking to avenge a 75-68 loss to the Musketeers earlier this season.  Xavier's got their own things to worry about as their loss to Creighton last week might have jeopardized their real chances at a #1 seed.  Of course, nothing helps your case more than a bunch of wins, and this is a perfect chance to prop their resume back up a bit.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016: Seton Hall at Georgetown (8pm Central, FS1) - Hey, guys.  Wanna make the NCAA tournament?  You can't lose this game.  Which team am I talking to here?  Both of them.  SB Nation's Chris Dobbertean has the Pirates just barely avoiding Dayton right now, while the Hoyas have 13 teams between them and even making it to Dayton at all.  Sometimes it doesn't have to be complicated, y'know?

The Big East Women's Basketball Game Of The Week

Friday, February 19, 2016: St. John's at Xavier (6pm Central, BEDN) - DePaul has clinched a share of the Big East regular season title and locked up the #1 seed in the Big East tournament.  That kind of takes a bit of fun out of the top of the league standings, especially when you can expect DePaul to get the win they need for sole possession of the league title against Creighton on Friday.  With that said, St. John's is the team that can still tie them, and the Red Storm have sole possession of second place in the Big East right now by half a game over Villanova and a full game over Seton Hall and.... you guessed it, Xavier.  If you want to win the Big East tournament, avoiding DePaul as long as possible is your best move, and finishing second is the way to do that.  This game is a pivotal late season game as far as who gets that #2 seed.  St. John's won the meeting in New York, 57-41.

The Worst American Athletic Conference Game Of The Week

Tuesday, February 19, 2016: South Florida at East Carolina (6pm Central, ESPN3) - The usual process for deciding which of the AAC's games is the biggest joke every week starts with looking at who's in last and second to last in the standings and then seeing what games they're playing that week.  This week, I didn't have to go any further than the very first game of the league schedule, as last place USF is heading to second to last place ECU on Tuesday night.  The two squads have combined for just 4 league wins in 25 attempts, although the Pirates (10-15) have been much more successful overall than the Bulls (5-21).  As if playing in Minges Coliseum wasn't enough of an insult for this game, it's not even officially on TV, only available via streaming on WatchESPN.