It’s early enough in the league calendar that there’s lots of time to turn things around, but late enough to see some notable trends emerging.
Everybody in Big East men’s basketball has played at least five games now. That means the league is past the quarter pole on the way to a 20 game schedule. Things are a bit more lopsided on the women’s side, as teams are varying between four games played and six games played. Six is the one-third pole, as that side of the Big East is playing an 18 game league slate.
The point is that things are getting very real right now. If you’re Xavier on the women’s side at 0-5 or DePaul and Butler on the men’s side at 0-6, things are getting pretty late pretty early in the season for you. Teams like Creighton on the men’s side (3-2) are deep in the weeds of figuring out what happened to a season that started with so much promise and how they can still make something out of it, while Providence women’s basketball (1-4) might be beyond the ability to save things after being picked to finish third in the league this year.
10 more men’s games this week, 10 more women’s games this week. Some things have been set in motion already, some things aren’t too late to fix.
Let’s get into the highlights of what’s going on this week!
Tuesday, January 14: Villanova Wildcats at Xavier Musketeers (5:30pm Central, FS1) — Xavier hasn’t beaten anyone but DePaul and Seton Hall in Big East action, while Villanova’s coming off having a three game winning streak snapped by St. John’s at MSG on Saturday. Both squads need to prove something here.
Tuesday, January 14: Georgetown Hoyas at RV St. John’s Red Storm (6:30pm Central, Peacock) — Georgetown used to be 3-0 in Big East action. Then they blew a 15 point lead on the road against Marquette, and followed that shoddy second half with giving up a 17-2 run to open the back end of their not-as-close-as-the-final-score loss to UConn. Now they visit the Johnnies, as Rick Pitino has rounded his squad into what appears to be the clear third best team in the league. I’m not saying GU’s NCAA tournament chances are on the line here…… but it’s getting really touch and go otherwise, y’know?
Wednesday, January 15: Seton Hall Pirates at Marquette Golden Eagles (8pm Central, FS1) — It’s the only women’s game on national television this week, so that right there is worth pointing out. Jada Eads and Seton Hall have the second most wins in league play so far with four, sitting behind both UConn and Creighton with six. Halle Vice and the Golden Eagles got back above .500 in the league at 3-2 with a win over Villanova on Saturday, and it’s clear that MU wants to be a player in the top half of the table this year. Big spot for both squads to figure out a thing or two, especially if Marquette will be without Skylar Forbes again.
Saturday, January 18: Creighton Bluejays at #14 Connecticut Huskies (11am Central, Fox) — If Creighton loses to Providence at home earlier in the week, then the value of this game goes out the window. But as long as they beat a scuffling Friars squad (no credit to them for beating Butler and Seton Hall) then the Bluejays have a chance to get their season back on track if they can knock off UConn on the road. This is the Huskies’ only game of the week, so we’ll see if Solo Ball and friends are still cranky about their loss to Villanova.
Saturday, January 18: DePaul Blue Demons at RV Creighton Bluejays (2pm Central, FloSports) — This is the only game of the week for Lauren Jensen and the Bluejays, so the fact that they’re hosting a DePaul team that’s only lost to Marquette so far in league play is kind of a whole thing. Jorie Allen and the Blue Demons do have to get through a visit to Villanova on Wednesday to really pay this one off, but even if that’s an L, it’s still a big spot for the Bluejays to create separation with teams not named Connecticut.
Here’s the full men’s basketball schedule for the week, with all times Central, as always.
Here’s the full women’s basketball schedule for the week, with all times Central, as always.
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