Big East Schedule Release

[MUPanther]

17 games on FOX compared to 12 games last season.

[mel ott]

As a Nova fan the 5 games I am most excited about:

@ Butler (Hinkle payback)
@ X (two top dogs of the conf)
@ SJU (MSG; will prob be there in person)
vs. SHU (always a street fight; Delgado and Spellman)
@CU & @TheDunk (tie--enjoy both fan bases enthusiasm in those two away games)

Just great games all around. Can't wait.

Gumby come to CU and I will get you a great seat- right across from Jay when he loses (or not).

[Jet915]

17 games on FOX compared to 12 games last season.

Plus two games on CBS as well.

[MullinMayhem]

Insane that G'Town has that OOC schedule. Yes this season will be very hard on them, but at least play quality teams, take your lumps and move on. Gotta have that pride still. I can't wait to see SJ V. Nova. I don't think SJ has beaten Nova since 2011 and we may finally have the team to do it. I also love how there are a decent amount of FOX national games on the Big East schedule. Looks like Nova got most of those slots and very well-deserved. You win and you get exposure.

[MUPanther]

FS1 does have a MLK games that start at 4:30pm Et. Butler at PC, Maryland at Michigan & DePaul at Marquette

[Red Rooster]

Insane that G'Town has that OOC schedule. Yes this season will be very hard on them, but at least play quality teams, take your lumps and move on. Gotta have that pride still.

Some posters on one of their forums are doing more deflection and spinning than a volleyball and figure skating event, respectively, combined. Excuses and contradictions aren't absent on there, either.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

Top five conference games in each major college basketball league this season – Matt Norlander, CBS Sports – September 19, 2017

We look at the 'Major 7' leagues and give you the best of what's to come in conference play in 2017-18

So let's look at the Major 7 conferences (ACC, AAC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC) and pluck some of the best matchups. No team is listed more than three times, and no matchup was listed twice. So, while Xavier-Villanova's home-and-home certainly qualifies as two of the top five games in the Big East this season, it's only listed once.

Big East

Villanova at Butler - Dec. 30
Butler has a new coach, LaVall Jordan, and he gets no gimmie to start his Big East tenure. But at least it's a home game. Jordan takes over for Chris Holtmann, who was lured away to the Ohio State job after Thad Matta's unexpected firing in early June. The Bulldogs bring back two vital pieces in senior Kelan Martin and sophomore Kamar Baldwin. Martin's production and usage, in particular, could be different from how he was utilized under Holtmann.

Xavier at Seton Hall - Jan. 20
Seton Hall hasn't received a lot of offseason attention, but the Pirates have expectations of being a top-three team in the league. Also in that group? Xavier. The Musketeers will travel to New Jersey and will meet up with Angel Delgado, who led college basketball in double-doubles last season. This game features Delgado and X's Trevon Bluiett, two players who have the support and skillset to wind up as First, Second or Third Team All-Americans come season's end.

Creighton at Providenceb - Jan. 20
Providence lost two of its three games vs. the Bluejays last season, but the Friars should be able to hold court here. Kyron Cartwright will lead the offense, and Rodney Bullock returns for his senior season. Creighton's got a potential 22-point-per-game guy in Marcus Foster, plus the ever-valuable two-way player in Khyri Thomas. This is a terrific matchup, and both teams, at their best, can be single digit seeds in the NCAAs.

Villanova at Xavier - Feb. 17
The big one here. Villanova has owned the Big East since the league went to a 10-team alignment, but Xavier's been consistently punching up and will have J.P. Macura and Kaiser Gates set up for big seasons in support of Bluiett. Nova boasts Jalen Brunson, who will be in strong consideration for CBS Sports' preseason All-America team. Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo, Eric Paschall, Phil Booth and Omari Spellman (sat last year) are back for Nova. That team is loaded, which is saying something after losing Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins.

Seton Hall at Providence - Feb. 21
Pirates and Friars had six points decide their two games, which split, last season. Plus, one needed overtime. The Big East sent seven of its 10 teams to the NCAAs last season, definitively landing the conference as the third-best in college hoops (behind the Big 12 and ACC). If the league is to come close to repeating the feat, a game like this will be more about two teams fighting to stay on the 5, 6 or 7 line than being close to the bubble.

[BigmanU]

I'll say this first, Hoya fans have differing opinions on the schedule.

I personally have no problem with the cupcake city schedule because of the following reasons.

This is a 1st time head coach at any level and needs to implement his system.
Hired late in the process and had to recruit & re-recruit players to fill out his roster, get acclimated to the college landscape etc.
Hoyas finished 9th last year even with his best two players (Peak & Pryor) on the roster.

Mullin jumped in feet first his 1st year and s*** all over himself, we shall see (this is the year) if that was a wise idea. I like WoJo's approach start slow, rebuild/establish an identity and winning will come. Ewing is destroying this thing and rebuilding again. He wants to reinstill confidence while implementing his game plan. I could care less about the SOS and how it affects the league. All I care about is the Hoyas and hopefully (if were lucky) cracking BEast heads in the not too distant future. Most Georgetown fans are realist and know this isn't a NCAA team, this is a rebuild year. If by luck we are winning come BEast time, we better win 10 games in conference or the BEAst tourney. If were that good it will have to be played out during the conference season. Just want to crack heads and reestablish our brand of ball in the BEast, everything else is gravy. I'm pretty sure this is a one year thing for Ewing and personally would be upset if the weak schedule trend continues, but I will give our HOF'er the benefit of the doubt this year.

[GoldenWarrior11]

The thing I'll say about Wojo's tenure is that - even with years as the lead assistant to Coach K - there was/is definitely a learning curve, and that fans need to have patience. When Wojo came on board, we had lost three recruits thanks to Buzz's departure - Ahmed Hill, Marial Shayok, and Satchel Pierce. We also lost Todd Mayo due to a variety of off-court reasons. We had one single recruit come in, Sandy Cohen, and got four transfers in the process - Wally Ellenson, Matt Carlino, Luke Fisher and Gabe Levin (who left without ever playing). Deonte Burton left at the start of the season as well.

Bottom line, there was a ton of turnover. While the long-term vision was building up a sustainable top-flight Big East program, there needed to be short-term patches in order to not only try and field a competitive team, but also lay the groundwork for a strong foundation for future success. Wojo has made very strong strides as an in-game coach, and his personality has definitely become more confident and outgoing as he enters his 4th season. While I think we will be fighting for a tournament spot this year, I would not be surprised if we are NIT bound. With next year's talent and depth, that is when things should really take off and become more balanced with the classes and incoming recruits (not to mention us being in the conversation for Quentin Grimes).

In relation to Ewing/Mullin, both entered immediate rebuilding jobs. Each has taken a different approach to get to the same end-goal. If you look at Tom Crean's tenure at Indiana, it took three full atrocious losing seasons in order to build a competitor. Obviously, you can go down the Kelvin Sampson/Larry Brown path and break the rules in order to get an immediate winner and worry about the consequences later. However, with each new coach in the Big East, every program definitely has had its sights set on the long-term vision as much as current landscape.

[NJRedman]

I'll say this first, Hoya fans have differing opinions on the schedule.

I personally have no problem with the cupcake city schedule because of the following reasons.

This is a 1st time head coach at any level and needs to implement his system.
Hired late in the process and had to recruit & re-recruit players to fill out his roster, get acclimated to the college landscape etc.
Hoyas finished 9th last year even with his best two players (Peak & Pryor) on the roster.

Mullin jumped in feet first his 1st year and s*** all over himself, we shall see (this is the year) if that was a wise idea. I like WoJo's approach start slow, rebuild/establish an identity and winning will come. Ewing is destroying this thing and rebuilding again. He wants to reinstill confidence while implementing his game plan. I could care less about the SOS and how it affects the league. All I care about is the Hoyas and hopefully (if were lucky) cracking BEast heads in the not too distant future. Most Georgetown fans are realist and know this isn't a NCAA team, this is a rebuild year. If by luck we are winning come BEast time, we better win 10 games in conference or the BEAst tourney. If were that good it will have to be played out during the conference season. Just want to crack heads and reestablish our brand of ball in the BEast, everything else is gravy. I'm pretty sure this is a one year thing for Ewing and personally would be upset if the weak schedule trend continues, but I will give our HOF'er the benefit of the doubt this year.

Shitting all over himself? You think it's going to look better going 10-2 in OOC then 0-18 in conference play?