The tournament is being held at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY, with first-round action set to begin on Wednesday, March 9. Quarterfinal games are scheduled for March 10, while the semifinal matchups will tip-off on March 11. The tournament will conclude with the conference championship game on Saturday, March 12 at 6:30 p.m. on FOX.
The 11 Big East teams competing in the tournament are as follows: No. 1 Providence, No. 2 Villanova, No. 3 Connecticut, No. 4 Creighton, No. 5 Marquette, No. 6 Seton Hall, No. 7. St. John’s, No. 8 Xavier, No. 9 Butler, No. 10 DePaul, and No. 11 Georgetown.
Villanova currently sits at the shortest odds despite being the No. 2 seed while regular-season champion Providence has the third-shortest odds behind both the Wildcats and UConn Huskies. Nova completed a season sweep of the Friars and are favored by most metrics. Marquette (+700) and Creighton (+1000) trail not too far behind as respectable dark horses.
The winner at Madison Square Garden will qualify for the NCAA Tournament via an automatic bid, aka March Madness. An automatic bid is awarded to the team that wins their respective conference, thus clinching an NCAA tournament berth, which begins on March 15-16 with the First Four.
The field of 68 is announced a week from today on Selection Sunday, March 13, at 6:00 p.m. ET on CBS with the Final Four April 2 and the Championship Game on Monday, April. 4.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9
Game 1: No. 8 Xavier vs. No. 9 Butler, 4:30 p.m., FS1
Game 2: No. 7 St. John’s vs. No. 10 DePaul, 7:00 p.m., FS1
Game 3: No. 6 Seton Hall vs. No. 11 Georgetown, 9:30 p.m., FS1
THURSDAY, MARCH 10
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. No. 1 Providence, 12:00 p.m., FS1
Game 5: No. 4 Creighton vs. No. 5 Marquette, 2:30 p.m., FS1
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. No. 2 Villanova, 7:00 p.m., FS1
Game 7: Winner Game 3 vs. No. 3 Connecticut, 9:30 p.m., FS1
FRIDAY, MARCH 11
Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 6:30 p.m., FS1
Game 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7, 9:00 p.m., FS1
SATURDAY, MARCH 12 – CHAMPIONSHIP
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, 6:30 p.m., FOX
