It’s the full fledged launch of conference play for men’s basketball, while women’s basketball is stocked up with a bunch of great non-conference contests.
It’s a big week of basketball in the Big East!
The list of highlights below tilts more towards women’s basketball than men’s basketball because of the 18 game conference slate the women play. As such, they’ve got a little bit more time to get in non-conference games, and three teams in the league are playing tippity top teams this week. One squad — guess who, yes, it’s that one — is actually playing two teams earning votes in the AP top 25 this week, and that pair was actually more impressive sounding in the preseason.
The men’s side is almost exclusively playing league games this week — I see your crosstown squabble, DePaul — so it’s a little hard to tell what games are the most important for them. Only Providence and DePaul have played a league game so far, so it’s the opening steps of conference action, and as such, there’s not that much in terms of league standing drama going on right now. But all 20 games have value, of course, so we’ll see what happens as the week goes along.
Tuesday, December 17: DePaul Blue Demons at RV St. John’s Red Storm (5:30pm, Peacock) — DePaul fell in overtime to Providence in their Big East opener last week. They get the second game on the league slate given the timing of this one, and, well, it would really be a major disappointment for the Blue Demons if they fell to 2-0 before everyone even got one game in. As such, this is kind of a measuring stick for whether or not Chris Holtmann and his guys have the juice or not.
Tuesday, December 17: Seton Hall Pirates vs #5 LSU Tigers (5pm Central, FS1) — This one’s coming at you by way of the Hall of Fame Showcase, and it’s up at Mohegan Sun Casino. I don’t know if that gives the Pirates any kind of advantage against Kim Mulkey’s Tigers, but Uncasville is definitely closer to South Orange than it is to Baton Rouge. With a nailbiter loss to Princeton and a blowout loss to USC, Faith Masonius and Seton Hall don’t have much in the way of an NCAA tournament profile right now, but a win here would change that.
Tuesday, December 17: #4 Connecticut Huskies vs RV Iowa State Cyclones (7:30pm Central, FS1) — This is the other half of the Hall of Fame Showcase at Mohegan Sun, and it’s probably going to essentially be a home game for Paige Bueckers and the Huskies. I’m curious how that might affect the Seton Hall game, as I would openly cheer for the Pirates if I was there early. In any case, the Cyclones are slipping a little bit after being a preseason top 10 team, and former Marquette wing Kenzie Hare is now out for the season with a recurring hip injury. It’s a big spot for ISU, as well as a chance for UConn to put up a quality win after losing to Notre Dame last week.
Wednesday, December 18: Marquette Golden Eagles at Bowling Green Falcons (6pm Central, ESPN+) — This is a sneaky important game for Skylar Forbes and the Golden Eagles. This bird-on-bird clash looks like a pretty competitive game on paper, and if Marquette wants to show that they need to be taken seriously in Big East play, they need to find a way to get past the Falcons here.
Wednesday, December 18: Butler Bulldogs at #9 Marquette Golden Eagles (8pm Central, FS1) — Neither of them are a notably problematic loss, but the fact of the matter is that MU has lost two of their last three. The most recent one is probably more troubling than the other, as MU got out to a big lead very early on Dayton and then flubbed the entire second half. Butler doesn’t project as an NCAA tournament team, but they are the league opener for Kam Jones And Friends. So, it’s probably important that they look pretty good against the Bulldogs…. especially after last year’s “hey, how do you shoot a basketball anyway?” loss to them at home.
Friday, December 20: RV Creighton Bluejays vs #1 UCLA Bruins (10pm Central, FS1) — It’s a late night start not because this is a road game, but instead because it’s in San Francisco at the Golden State Warriors arena in the “Bay Area Women’s Classic.” Sure. Anyway, it’s a Big East squad facing the #1 team in the country, what’s not to like? Also: Yeah, look, UCLA was going to be great this year, but man, that #1 ranking is just an extra layer on the “this Creighton schedule is nuts” cake.
Saturday, December 21: #9 Marquette Golden Eagles at Xavier Musketeers (11am Central, Fox) — I’m putting this one on here not because I want to talk more about Marquette’s season, but just to point out that the Big East schedule makers handed Dayvion McKnight’s team a road trip to UConn on Wednesday of this week and then this one at home on Saturday, less than 72 hours later. On paper, that sure looks like it’s headed towards an 0-2 start for Xavier, doesn’t it? And they come into the week with losses in three of their last five, and it should be four of five given how that South Carolina State game went.
Saturday, December 21: #4 Connecticut Huskies vs #7 USC Trojans (7pm Central, Fox) — Paige vs Juju! I don’t have to explain this.
Here’s the full men’s basketball schedule for the week!
Here’s the full women’s basketball schedule for the week!