Big East What To Watch: Week 12

Let’s just jump straight into the highlights of the week, shall we?

Tuesday, February 9: #19 Creighton Bluejays at Georgetown Hoyas (8pm Central, CBS Sports Network) — At a glance, this doesn’t look like a very important game this week. However, Creighton has been drifting their way out of the AP top 25 for a few weeks now, falling from #15 last week to #19 this week after losing to [drumroll] Georgetown at home last Wednesday. Can the Hoyas repeat the magic at McDonough in this game, or have the Bluejays gotten themselves right with Saturday’s win over Marquette?

Tuesday, February 9: RV St. John’s Red Storm at Butler Bulldogs (8pm Central, FS1) — The Johnnies have won six in a row and seven of their last eight and are now receiving votes in the AP poll with three voters putting them in the top 25. This is their only game of the week, so it’s a big one for them in terms of keeping the good times going.

Wednesday, February 10: Seton Hall Pirates at #2 Connecticut Huskies (5:30pm Central, SNY) — Paige Bueckers and the Huskies are coming off a win over #1 South Carolina on Monday night and just need to get to Sunday night without a loss to be the new #1 team in the country next week. The Pirates are set to come to their building on Wednesday night, and right now, Seton Hall is in a tie with DePaul for second place in the Big East at 7-2. Going to Storrs is never a fun time, but it’s one of the few remaining legitimate shots that the league has at handing the Huskies their first loss of league play.

Saturday, February 13: Connecticut Huskies at RV Xavier Musketeers (11am Central, Fox) — Xavier has played one game since January 10th, a 13 point road win at Butler. That game was on January 30th. They’re the only team in the Big East with only two losses in league play, with Villanova sitting in first place at 7-1. It’s just that the Musketeers have only played six Big East games so far. They were supposed to be back in action on Thursday, but the Big East dumped that game because Xavier is still working their way back from a COVID stoppage on February 1st. Are they anywhere close to being ready to play basketball against a Huskies team that’s looking to shake off three losses in their last four games?

Saturday, February 13: #5 Villanova Wildcats at #19 Creighton Bluejays (4pm Central, Fox) — It’s the only two ranked teams in the league playing each other. Sometimes you don’t have to think very hard to figure out what is and is not a highlight on the schedule.

Here’s your full men’s basketball schedule for the week as we know it on Sunday, or at least as the league is showing it on their schedule page on Sunday. There’s probably changes coming one way or another, so watch for those.