Big East What To Watch: Week 13

The way I see it, there’s one truly “hey, look at that, that’s Must See TV” type game in the Big East this week. The sad part is is that it is a non-conference game because Geno Auriemma is an absolute sicko for scheduling like this in the tail end of January. The extra sad part about it is that I can’t even put my entire chest into telling you that you need to watch it because of how badly Geno’s Huskies have been stomping teams as of late.

With that said, there is a bunch of “oh, hey, let’s go stare at this problem” type of game on the schedule this week. Look, is this situation fun:

No, it’s not, right? But you DO want to see what happens, right? Lot of that on the board this week.

Tuesday, January 27: Providence Friars at Connecticut Huskies (6:30pm Central, TNT/truTV) — Is this an important game? No, not really, not in the standings. It is a good note to Kim English and his team why it’s a bad idea to foul a three-point shooter when you’re up three at the end of regulation and also why you shouldn’t blow a 20 point lead at home. PC should be going into this game on a three game winning streak, instead it’s back-to-back losses facing down a top five team on the road.

Wednesday, January 28: Butler Bulldogs at #25 St. John’s Red Storm (6pm Central, Peacock) — The Bulldogs have won three in a road after a four game skid where they really didn’t take on any bad losses. They’re going to have to mind their knitting very closely the rest of the season, but if you squint…. do they have a shot at a tournament bid here? Finley Bizjack and the guys need a statement win at the very least, and this is one of just three true chances at that left on the schedule.

Wednesday, January 28: Xavier Musketeers at Seton Hall Pirates (6:30pm Central, Peacock) — Two weeks ago, Seton Hall was the #25 team in the country in the Associated Press poll. They haven’t won since. Losing at home to UConn by five and on the road to St. John’s by five? Not a big deal, more a function of schedule. Losing by 11 at home to Butler and by seven on the road against DePaul? Well, the Pirates have burned all of the goodwill from their 11-1 start to the season and right now? They’re not a tournament team. The path to fixing that starts here at home against a Musketeers team that they should be favored to beat.

Friday, January 30: Providence Friars at RV Villanova Wildcats (6pm Central, FS1) — SCHEDULE DIDN’T GET EASIER, DID IT, KIM ENGLISH?

Saturday, January 31: Marquette Golden Eagles at Seton Hall Pirates (11am Central, Peacock) — Remember all the things we said about Shaheen Holloway’s Pirates up above? Yeah, this is their other game of the week. Seton Hall needed a 13-0 run to end the game to beat Marquette by six in Milwaukee earlier this season. They got it, and credit to them for doing it, but if SHU is slipping and the Golden Eagles are getting organized…. well, you can see the problem here, especially if Xavier wins at The Rock earlier in the week.

Sunday, February 1: #15 Tennessee Volunteers at #1 Connecticut Huskies (11am Central, Fox) — Sarah Strong and the Huskies beat Notre Dame by 38 last week. They beat a top 15 ranked Iowa team by 26 right before Christmas. What kind of threat can the Lady Vols muster here?

Sunday, February 1: Marquette Golden Eagles at Georgetown Hoyas (4pm Central, truTV) — First of all, I think it’s very funny that they’re putting a game at McDonough Arena on national television. Second, sure, Marquette’s shot at an NCAA tournament bid is pretty much gone now, but from a purely “hey, what are you about?” perspective, this return bout after the Hoyas started off the game in Milwaukee on a 19-0 run is going to be incredibly informative about Cara Consuegra’s team.

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.