We’ve got the last two women’s basketball unbeatens squaring off in what’s probably the biggest game of the week, men’s or women’s
We have a Monday evening men’s basketball game on the schedule this week. As such, this is going up bright and early on Monday morning and so everything you’re seeing in terms of Associated Press rankings below, both in the highlights and the full schedule, are from last week’s polls. When we get the new polls on Monday, we’ll update the post and POOF this paragraph will magically disappear!
Things got VERY interesting in the Big East men’s basketball league on Saturday, as both Marquette and Connecticut took losses at home. Those had to be considered to be expected wins for two of the three top favorites in the conference this season, so that’s going to have wide ranging effects on how things shake out the rest of the way. The Rest Of The Way gets started this week, because that’s how the natural progression of time works, so let’s see what’s on deck in terms of big highlights coming up in the next seven days…….
Monday, January 20: Georgetown Hoyas at Villanova Wildcats (5pm Central, FS1) — Hey, remember when Georgetown was a fun national story when they were 12-2 and 3-0 in Big East play? That was as recent as January 6, and now they’ve lost five in a row. If they lose at the Finn — Villanova has their own problems, but it’s still hard to win at the Finn — that’ll be six straight Hoyas losses…… heading into Ed Cooley heading back to Providence for Saturday’s game. Freshman big man Thomas Sorber missed GU’s most recent loss to DePaul with an elbow injury. Will he be back for this one?
Tuesday, January 21: #7 Marquette Golden Eagles at Seton Hall Pirates (7pm Central, Peacock) — It’s been a minute since Marquette looked like a completely competent team for 40 straight minutes, and that chicken came home to roost on Saturday in a 59-57 loss to Xavier where the Golden Eagles trailed by 19 at one point. Why is this on here? Because this is their next game, and because Seton Hall has the worst defense in league play. The Pirates haven’t won in regulation/beat someone that wasn’t DePaul since December 4th, and they just got crushed by 28 by St. John’s in a game where the SHU faithful was vociferous in their distaste for Kadary Richmond’s return to The Rock. If Marquette’s bothered by their crashout against XU, they bounce back big time here. If not…….
Wednesday, January 22: Marquette Golden Eagles at Providence Friars (11am Central, FloSports) — Marquette’s coming off a frustrating loss where they let Seton Hall wander off too far and couldn’t swing back into the game. They’ve had a week off to reset, but they have to go to Rhode Island here and tangle with the Friars in the middle of the day and it’s PC’s local school kids outreach day. The potential for Seriously Damaging Loss is pretty big, given how far Grace Efosa and her teammates have fallen from being picked to finish third in the Big East this season.
Wednesday, January 22: Xavier Musketeers at RV St. John’s Red Storm (6pm Central, FS1) — Zach Freemantle & Friends didn’t fix their season on Saturday against Marquette, but it was their third straight win. The problem is their next game is this road trip against a Johnnies team that’s clearly in contention for the top spot in the conference. But, if the X-Men can find a way to win, that’s a big time fourth straight win, and we’ll pick this up in a minute……
Saturday, January 25: St. John’s Red Storm at Seton Hall Pirates (Noon Central, FloSports) — I’m putting this on here because it’s Seton Hall’s only game of the week, and so it’s their only opportunity to prove that they are still the third best team in this league. That’s particularly notable after losing by SIXTY to UConn on Sunday afternoon. St. John’s is down bad right now, so that’s great timing for Jada Eads and her teammates.
Saturday, January 25: #6 Connecticut Huskies at Creighton Bluejays (4:30pm Central, Fox) — I think it’s really neat that Fox sought out the biggest possible hurdle to UConn running the table in the Big East — and thus the obvious biggest WBB game of the week in the league — and intentionally gave it the biggest audience that they possible could give it. National TV, everyone can see Lauren Jensen and the Bluejays try to throw a loss at Sarah Strong and the Huskies. Can’t beat it.
Saturday, January 25: #14 Connecticut Huskies at Xavier Musketeers (7pm Central, Fox) — And this is where we pick up the Xavier discussion again, as whatever happens on Wednesday gets followed up by this home date with the Huskies. If they win both, the pathway to the NCAA tournament opens up pretty wide for the Musketeers. Lose both…. and they head to Omaha for their next game next week kind of back where they started before the win over Marquette in terms of the postseason.
Here’s the full Big East men’s basketball schedule for the week, with all times Central, as always.
Here’s the full Big East women’s basketball schedule for the week, with all times Central, as always.
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