Is “Showdown Week” a thing? Feels like it’s a thing in the Big East this week.
In the past, we’ve noted when it seems the college basketball schedule has unfortunately spit out a few too many “top team vs bottom team” games in the Big East. That is, uh, not the case in the league this week. The Marquette men play two top contenders, the St. John’s men play two top contenders, the Creighton women play two…. okay, not top contenders per se but they can create space for themselves in the standings.
And to top it off, we get a ranked on ranked non-conference WBB game in the middle of the week! Sounds terrific to me, to be honest.
Let’s hit the highlights!
Tuesday, February 4: #11 Marquette Golden Eagles at #12 St. John’s Red Storm (5:30pm Central, FS1) — Marquette needs to bounce back from a loss to UConn on Saturday and shake off some rough outings as of late. St. John’s gets a date at home over a title contender in order to have a chance to solidify their hold on the top spot in the standings. That part will be important later……..
Wednesday, February 5: Seton Hall Pirates at RV Creighton Bluejays (6pm Central, FloSports) — It’s real simple, everyone. Creighton is in Not-UConn First Place in the Big East at 10-1. Seton Hall is the next team in the standings at 8-2. A win here doesn’t officially clinch the #2 seed in the conference tournament for the Bluejays, but boyyyyyyyy, it’s coming close, huh? Seton Hall needs the win for postseason reasons, too.
Thursday, February 6: #5 Connecticut Huskies at #19 Tennessee Volunteers (5:30pm Central, ESPN) — Why hello, kind of out of nowhere non-conference game between two ranked opponents! What a fun extra addition to our week! Seeing UConn on the schedule probably isn’t a fun spot for Kim Caldwell’s Volunteers, as they are 4-5 in SEC play after starting the year out 13-0.
Friday, February 7: #12 St. John’s Red Storm at #19 Connecticut Huskies (7pm Central, Fox) — And here’s where STJ getting a chance to tighten their grip on first place earlier in the week is important. This is UConn’s only game of the week, so they’ll be rested and fired up after beating Marquette on the road, while the Johnnies are hoping that they’ll be going into this one with a little house money in their pocket….. but they might be coming off a loss to the Golden Eagles at the Garden, too.
Saturday, February 8: RV Creighton Bluejays at Villanova Wildcats (1pm Central, FloSports) — Jasmine Bascoe and the Wildcats enter the week tied with Marquette for fourth place in the Big East standings, so I’m sure they would love to stack a home win over the Bluejays. This game is the follow up to hosting Seton Hall for the Jays, so that’s quite the week for them.
Saturday, February 8: #11 Marquette Golden Eagles at RV Creighton Bluejays (1pm Central, Fox) — We’re going to learn a lot about Marquette’s resilience after this week, aren’t we? Kam Jones had 22/9/5 against the Jays in Milwaukee, can he tap into that again but this time in Omaha? Meanwhile, Creighton has won seven straight heading into the week, and that could (should?) be eight after they visit Providence on Wednesday.
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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