Big East What To Watch: Week 1

WE’RE BACK! WE’RE BACK!

College basketball is BACK, baby! Well, okay, you’re seeing this for the first time on Saturday, November 1st, and we won’t actually get basketball until Monday. BUT CLOSE ENOUGH! There’s nothing but previews and positive thoughts for the season right now, so let’s jump right into the first Big East What To Watch of the season! Down below, you’ll see the full schedules for Big East men’s and women’s basketball this week, and between here and there, I’ll run through some highlights and notable games for the week.

Advertisement

Let’s get right into it!

Monday, November 3: Creighton Bluejays vs RV South Dakota State Jackrabbits (6pm Central, ESPN+) — I think it’s a pretty bold idea by CU head coach Jim Flanery to run his freshly remade roster with his three ESPN top 100 prospects out in Game #1 of the year against not just an SDSU team earning AP votes but picked to win the Summit League, too. Let’s see what happens….

Monday, November 3: Villanova Wildcats vs #8 BYU Cougars (8:30pm Central, TNT) — Kevin Willard’s first test as the brand new Villanova head coach is to head out to Las Vegas and deal with AJ Dybantsa, BYU’s megawatt freshman who miiiiiight just be the National Freshman of the Year and maaaaaaybe the first pick in the NBA Draft next summer. Oh, and yeah, the Cougars are a preseason top 10 team. Have fun, Kevin!

Tuesday, November 4: #1 Connecticut Huskies vs #20 Louisville Cardinals (4:30pm Central, ESPN) — It’s the first ranked vs ranked game of the year for women’s basketball in the Big East and it’s the second ranked vs ranked game in the entire country after Duke/Baylor on Monday. This game was supposed to be in Germany, but the government shutdown left too many questions about the US military base in question, so now it’s at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.

Advertisement

Wednesday, November 5: Villanova Wildcats vs Fairfield Stags (6pm Central, ESPN+) — This is a sneaky important game on the schedule for Jasmine Bascoe et. al.. Fairfield comes into the year at #48 in the BartTorvik.com rankings and they’re the favorite to win the MAAC, too.

Wednesday, November 5: Marquette Golden Eagles vs Southern Jaguars (7pm Central, ESPN+) — Yes, at a glance, this game stands out as the only men’s game that I’m highlighting that’s not against a Power 4 conference opponent. However, Southern is the only “buy game” opponent on the entire Big East MBB schedule that’s projected to win their conference this season according to KenPom.com. The Jaguars are also the only “buy game” opponent that’s better than 200 in the preseason KP rankings, coming in at #165. Yes, Marquette is favored by 16. Yes, it might be a sneaky good win for the Golden Eagles as long as they close the deal.

Friday, November 7: Butler Bulldogs vs RV Columbia Lions (5pm Central, ESPN+) — Columbia isn’t the favorite in the Ivy League, that’s Princeton. But they are earning preseason top 25 votes and Lily Zeinstra & Company get the Lions in Hinkle Fieldhouse for a big chance at an early season notable victory.

Friday, November 7: Georgetown Hoyas at Maryland Terrapins (5pm Central, FS1) — Look, I’m not expecting a lot out of Georgetown this year….. but there are worse times to play a Buzz Williams coached team than in their second game of his tenure. P.S. — Ed, send your scouting reports and postgame debriefs to the Super Secret Big East Coaches Dropbox ASAP, thank you.

Advertisement

Friday, November 7: St. John’s Red Storm at Harvard Crimson (7pm Central, ESPN+) — All I’m saying is that the Crimson beat the Red Storm at Carnesecca Arena last season. I don’t know why head coach Joe Tartamella agreed to this home and home, but he did and now we get to see what happens here.

Saturday, November 8: #5 St. John’s Red Storm vs #15 Alabama Crimson Tide (11am Central, FS1) — Yeah, it’s the first ranked vs ranked game for men’s basketball in the Big East this season, so that’s a big deal. It’s also the third ranked vs ranked game in the entire country, so a nation’s lonely eyes turn to you, Rick Pitino.

Saturday, November 8: Providence Friars vs Virginia Tech Hokies (3pm Central, Peacock) — This is PC’s second game of the year after a Monday night opener against Holy Cross, and it’s a neutral site game up at Mohegan Sun Casino. I’m not trying to tell you that this is a must win game for head coach Kim English at this point of his third season in Friartown….. but KenPom says Friars by three, and so losing to a high major team that’s supposed to be worse than you would probably be a bad sign, right?

Sunday, November 9: Marquette Golden Eagles vs RV Indiana Hoosiers (12pm Central, ESPN) — Usually on this site, if you see RV, it means “Receiving Votes.” Plural. In this case, it’s Receiving Vote, as Indiana got one 25th place vote in the preseason AP top 25 poll. This game down at the United Center in Chicago (and I’ll be there!) will be MU’s third game of the season, while Indiana opens at home on Wednesday against Alabama A&M.

Advertisement

Sunday, November 9: #1 Connecticut Huskies vs Florida State Seminoles (3:30pm Central, FS1) — FSU isn’t ranked, but they are a top 40 Torvik team going into the year, and they’re not the team going to Germany for a game very late on Tuesday night. Just sayin’, that’s all.

Sunday, November 9: DePaul Blue Demons at UNLV Runnin’ Rebels (4pm Central, Mountain West Network) — This game might get lost amongst the shuffle of the week in general and because it’s on the Mountain West Network (which I think is just their app on Roku TVs and the like? Maybe?) but the fact of the matter is that UNLV is a top 60 team on the BartTorvik.com preseason rankings and the favorite in the Mountain West. That might be a tall ask for Kate Clarke and the Blue Demons, especially on the road, but it looks like it’s a big opportunity for them.

Here’s the full men’s basketball schedule for the week!

And here’s the full women’s basketball schedule for the week!