Big East Basketball What To Watch: Week Sixteen

Wednesday, February 21: Seton Hall Pirates at Providence Friars (5:30pm Central, Fox Sports Regional) - On Sunday, Seton Hall escaped from The Rock with an 82-77 victory over DePaul. That win snapped a four game losing streak by the Pirates and moved them back up to .500 in Big East play at 7-7. They may still be comfortable in regards to the NCAA tournament, thanks to that neutral site win over Texas Tech, but they can’t afford to take on that many losses in their final four games. Meanwhile, Providence has dropped two of their last three games, and right now, they’re only five spots clear of the First Four according to Bracket Matrix on Sunday morning. They could use a win in a big way, just like the Pirates could use it.

Wednesday, February 21: #4 Xavier Musketeers at Georgetown Hoyas (5:30pm Central, FS1) - Don’t overthink this. Xavier is 12-3 in Big East action. Villanova is 11-3. This regular season title situation has to get decided somehow.

Wednesday, February 21: St. John’s Red Storm at Marquette Golden Eagles (7:30pm Central, Fox Sports Wisconsin/FS Regional affiliates) - Two things butt heads in a big way in Milwaukee on Wednesday night. Item #1: Marquette can not afford to lose another regular season game if they want an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. This is their first game since knocking off Creighton on the road on Saturday, and they’ll probably be without star sophomore guard Markus Howard. The Golden Eagles need a big performance. Item #2: St. John’s has won four straight and has a very real possibility of at least getting discussed in the conference room when the NCAA selection committee meets as long as they don’t lose again in the regular season. One of these two “Must-Win” scenarios will break in this game. That’s a recipe for “Must-Watch” television if I’ve ever heard one.

Wednesday, February 21: DePaul Blue Demons at #3 Villanova Wildcats (7:30pm Central, FS1) - Don’t overthink this. Xavier is 12-3 in Big East action. Villanova is 11-3. This regular season title situation has to get decided somehow.

Friday, February 23/Sunday, February 25: DePaul Blue Demons/Marquette Golden Eagles at St. John’s Red Storm/Seton Hall Pirates (Big East Digital Network) - One final weekend in the women’s basketball schedule for all the marbles. Marquette and DePaul have both played 16 league games, and they’re both 13-3. Thanks to the travel partner system, they’ll both be out in the New York City area this coming weekend for games against St. John’s and Seton Hall. If they both win both games, they share the regular season title and due to the season series split, the tiebreaker for the #1 see will (I think) fall to their record against whichever team ends up in third place. Right now, that’s Creighton, and that means it’s advantage DePaul. If one team wins both and the other loses even once, then the 2-0 team wins the league outright and will be the #1 seed in Chicago next week for the Big East tournament. Both squads will clinch a top 2 finish in the league with just one win or a Creighton loss in either of their road games against Georgetown or Villanova.

Saturday, February 24: Seton Hall Pirates at St. John’s Red Storm (11am Central, Fox) - Take everything I said about Seton Hall and St. John’s from their games against Providence and Marquette earlier in this article and increase the tension and the drama. That’s what you get for this game. Sounds like fun!

Saturday, February 24: #3 Villanova Wildcats at Creighton Bluejays (1:30pm Central, Fox) - Don’t overthink this. Xavier is 12-3 in Big East action. Villanova is 11-3. This regular season title situation has to get decided somehow.

Here’s the men’s basketball schedule for the week!