Big East What To Watch: Week Two

After a slow Week 1 on the men’s basketball side of the proceedings, things kick into high gear this week for them. Not only is it Gavitt Tipoff Games week, but we also get the start of Feast Week events even though Thanksgiving itself is still 10 days away when this publishes on Monday. The women’s league is a little bit less interesting than last week, and is definitely less high profile than the men’s schedule, but there’s still some good stuff out there.

Monday, November 13: Xavier Musketeers at #2 Purdue Boilermakers (7:30pm Central, FS1) — This isn’t the first Gavitt Game, that’s St. John’s hosting Michigan two hours earlier, but it’s definitely the biggest one relative to the nature of the opponent. The Musketeers haven’t really had any difficulties without Zach Freemantle or Jerome Hunter against Robert Morris and Jacksonville, but tangling with the behemoth that is Purdue’s Zach Edey is a different deal. This one’s quietly interesting for Marquette, as they might need the film multiple times this season if they get to see the Boilermakers in Hawaii next week.

Tuesday, November 14: #4 Marquette Golden Eagles at #23 Illinois Fighting Illini (7pm Central, FS1) — MU has cruised in their two opening week games, so we’ll see what those 80 minutes have taught the Golden Eagles about themselves as they put their very shiny national ranking on the line against a good Illinois team. With that said, the Illini needed a late run to rally to beat Oakland on Friday night, and had a 40-10 run that dictated their 28 point win over Eastern Illinois in the opener.

Wednesday, November 15: RV Marquette Golden Eagles at IUPUI Jaguars (6pm Central, ESPN+) — A curious spot for the Golden Eagles as they head down to Indianapolis for this one. They’re fresh off an home win over then-#23 Illinois, and will need to avoid the upset themselves to make that Saturday W valuable.

Thursday, November 16: RV St. John’s Red Storm vs North Texas Mean Green (12:30pm Central, ESPNU) — 1) Sneaky good game with SJU only favored by 3 per KenPom.com heading into the week, 2) First Feast Week game for the Big East, 3) DAYTIME BASKETBALL~!

Thursday, November 16: #8 Connecticut Huskies vs #20 Maryland Terrapins (5:30pm Central, FS1) — This game got incredibly more interesting as a result of Sunday’s contests. The Terrapins gave up 114 to then-#6 South Carolina in a road loss, while the Huskies gave up a double digit unanswered run to an then-unranked NC State team in a 92-81 defeat down in Raleigh. Someone’s walking away with a second straight loss.

Friday, November 17: Providence Friars vs Kansas State Wildcats (5pm Central, CBS Sports Network) — This is the second high major game out of three in a row this week for the Friars after hosting Wisconsin for the Gavitt Games. It’s also Providence’s first game in the Baha Mar Hoops event in the Bahamas. If PC thinks that they are a tournament team, they probably need to go at least 1-2 in these three games (they get either #12 Miami or Georgia on Sunday, depending on this result), and depending on how Tuesday went, this might be the critical one for them.

Saturday, November 18: Georgetown Hoyas vs Mount St. Mary’s & Seton Hall Pirates vs Wagner Seahawks (11am Central for both) — I’m only dropping this in here because the Big East’s television partners had no interest in picking these games up (largely because they’re on Saturday when schedules are full of college football) and left them to a local TV broadcast only, and that’s funny to me. I think you can stream them on Fox Sports’ website if you have a cable sign in, but that might be a “tune in to rubberneck at an ongoing disaster only” situation.

Sunday, November 19: #5 Connecticut Huskies vs Indiana Hoosiers (Noon Central, ESPN) — Imagine being UConn and getting attached to a multi-team event (the Empire Classic in this case) that gives you a home game at Madison Square Garden on a Sunday afternoon against a quality Big Ten opponent. What luck. Kind of critical for the Huskies to get the win here. Win, and you probably play Texas on Monday night at MSG. Lose, and you probably get saddled with Louisville and their (presumed) NET hit after the Cards lost to Chattanooga by 10 at home on Friday night.

Sunday, November 19: #22 Creighton Bluejays at Nebraska Cornhuskers (1pm Central, Big Ten Network) — In-state rivalry, both squads holding onto some national attention one way or another after the Huskers were getting preseason top 25 votes, big time spot for both sides, bragging rights on the line, what’s not to like here?

Sunday, November 19: #8 Connecticut Huskies at Minnesota Golden Gophers (4pm Central, FS1) — Wanna find out what Williams Arena sounds like as a home crowd for UConn? Here’s your chance, as this is on the board as a homecoming game for Huskies guard Paige Bueckers. Also: What if UConn loses to Maryland earlier in the week?

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

Here’s the full women’s basketball schedule for the week!