Big East Preview: The Respected Conference

Photo credit to W C via Flickr

College Basketball

Big East Preview: The Respected Conference

Despite losing almost half of their prestigious members to the Big 12 and ACC, the Big East has reloaded it’s accomplished conference with formidable programs looking to build themselves into powerhouses. Men’s teams such as Xavier, Butler and Creighton have grown within the respected conference since joining, although Villanova is the most recently successful school that propels the Big East into the top tier of conferences.

Villanova won their second straight National Championship last season, the first school to accomplish that since North Carolina in 2007-08. Six out of the 10 Big East schools earned NCAA Tournament bids, while Marquette played in the NIT Tournament.  Over the first five years of the 10-team Big East conference, the league has earned 28 NCAA Tournament invitations.

For the women, Connecticut ran the Big East conference and was also responsible for elevating the conference as a whole. Connecticut is gone however, so DePaul has been the school to step up most recently. DePaul’s showing in the NCAA Women’s Tournament was actually a good one, despite a one point loss to Texas A&M in the second round. It’s no secret the women’s side has taken a hit since Connecticut’s departure, but the conference is overall highly respected between both men’s and women’s programs.

Big East Men’s Schedule Released

The Big East revealed it’s 2018-19 conference schedule today for the men’s programs. The conference schedule begins on Saturday, Dec. 29, with two games, Xavier at DePaul and St. John’s at Seton Hall. The league openers continue on Dec. 31 when Creighton plays at Providence, a battle between two teams that are coming off NCAA Tournament appearances.

St. John’s hosts Marquette at the Carnesecca Arena on Jan. 1, while Butler and Georgetown start their league seasons on Jan. 2 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler and Georgetown also opened against each other last year when Butler won 91-89 in double overtime in Washington DC.  Villanova starts Big East play at home against DePaul on Jan. 2.

Madison Square Garden will host the tourney for the 37th consecutive year.  The event is college basketball’s longest running postseason conference tourney held at the same venue. The FOX broadcast network will carry the championship game at 6:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 16.  All other rounds will be telecast on FS1.

Conference Facts

• Villanova has won three of the last four Men’s National Championships, winning the conference tournament all three years.
• Georgetown is the all-time leading active school for men’s conference championships, last winning in 2007.
• DePaul’s women’s team has won three of the last five conference tournaments, with four total appearances.
• Travis Steele will replace Chris Mack, who left for Louisville, as the new men’s head coach for Xavier.
• Marquette’s Allazia Blockton returns as the only women’s player to record over 600 total points last season.

Photo credit to W C via Flickr