After a wild year loaded with upsets, the Big East Tournament should be a wide open affair at the World’s Most Famous Arena.
Despite what appeared to be a clear hierarchy of the top teams, the Big East has descended into utter chaos over the past week. Marquette appeared poised to top the conference after jumping out to a 23-4 start, including a 12-2 mark in league play, but dropped four in a row to end the regular season.
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That slump allowed the defending national champions to claim the Big East’s regular season title. Jay Wright’s Villanova Wildcats (22-9, 13-5 in Big East play) weren’t always the most consistent team, but they did enough to get the top seed in the conference tournament.
The Wildcats have an advantage in their quarterfinal matchup, where they await the winner of the 8-9 game between Providence (17-14, 7-11) and Butler (16-15, 7-11). Villanova went 4-0 against those two teams, so they should move on to face the winner of the 4-5 matchup between surging Xavier (17-14, 9-9) and Creighton (18-13, 9-9).
The other half of the bracket features Marquette (23-8, 12-6) as the two seed, where they get a bye while awaiting the winner of the 7-10 game between St. John’s (20-11, 8-10) and DePaul (15-14, 7-11). That matchup is extremely intriguing since the Red Storm have dropped four of five since beating Villanova at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 17, and they were actually swept by DePaul in the regular season.
DePaul has taken a huge leap forward this season, but Marquette might actually rather face them since the Red Storm swept the Golden Eagles this year. Assuming Marquette gets by that game, they would draw the winner of the 3-6 game between Seton Hall (18-12, 9-9) and Georgetown (19-12, 9-9).
Unlike St. John’s, the Pirates have actually helped themselves immensely over the past week, beating Marquette and Villanova in Newark to all but assure themselves of an at-large bid. This game is of vital importance to Georgetown, which need to build off its win over Marquette to end the regular season to enhance its own resume.
The Big East Tournament begins on Wednesday, March 13 and concludes with the championship game on Saturday, March 16. The first three rounds will be televised on Fox Sports 1 while Fox broadcasts the title matchup.