Final week of the regular season this week. I genuinely can't believe we are already here. As always all times EST and all rankings NET at the time of posting.

Tuesday 3/3:

99 Georgetown @ 22 St Johns -7pm, Peacock

56 Seton Hall @ 95 Xavier -7pm, TruTV

Wednesday 3/4:

87 Creighton @ 80 Butler -6pm, FS1

109 Marquette @ 74 Providence -7pm, Peacock

33 Villanova @ 97 DePaul -8pm, Peacock

Friday 3/6:

22 St Johns @ 56 Seton Hall -9pm, FS1

Saturday 3/7:

80 Butler @ 97 DePaul -Noon, FS1

95 Xavier @ 33 Villanova -Noon, TNT/TruTV

8 UConn @ 109 Marquette -12:30pm, FOX

74 Providence @ 99 Georgetown -6pm, TruTV

My predictions:

Tuesday, 3/3:

St. John’s over Georgetown by 17
Xavier over Seton Hall by 2

Wednesday, 3/4:

Butler over Creighton by 5
Providence over Marquette by 7
DePaul over Villanova by 2

Friday, 3/6:

St. John’s over Seton Hall by 6

Saturday, 3/7:

DePaul over Butler by 2
Villanova over Xavier by 7
UConn over Marquette by 10
Providence over Georgetown by 3

Projected Final Big East Standings:

1. UConn (18-2) - wins tie breaker
2. St. John’s (18-2)
3. Villanova (14-6)
4. Providence (9-11) - wins multi-team tie breaker
5. DePaul (9-11) - wins tie breaker over SHU
6. Seton Hall (9-11)
7. Creighton (8-12)
8. Butler (7-13) - wins tie breaker
9. Xavier (7-13)
10. Georgetown (5-15) - wins tie breaker
11. Marquette (5-15)

If this is the way it ends, is Chris Holtmann Coach of the Year? Or Kevin Willard?

Projected Final Four in Tournament - UConn, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Providence

Tournament Favorite - St. John’s

(03-03-2026 04:24 AM)Bill Marsh Wrote:  My predictions:

Tuesday, 3/3:

St. John’s over Georgetown by 17
Xavier over Seton Hall by 2

Wednesday, 3/4:

Butler over Creighton by 5
Providence over Marquette by 7
DePaul over Villanova by 2

Friday, 3/6:

St. John’s over Seton Hall by 6

Saturday, 3/7:

DePaul over Butler by 2
Villanova over Xavier by 7
UConn over Marquette by 10
Providence over Georgetown by 3

Projected Final Big East Standings:

1. UConn (18-2) - wins tie breaker
2. St. John’s (18-2)
3. Villanova (14-6)
4. Providence (9-11) - wins multi-team tie breaker
5. DePaul (9-11) - wins tie breaker over SHU
6. Seton Hall (9-11)
7. Creighton (8-12)
8. Butler (7-13) - wins tie breaker
9. Xavier (7-13)
10. Georgetown (5-15) - wins tie breaker
11. Marquette (5-15)

If this is the way it ends, is Chris Holtmann Coach of the Year? Or Kevin Willard?

Projected Final Four in Tournament - UConn, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Providence

Tournament Favorite - St. John’s

Would be a coin flip.

I don't think Seton Hall drops both games this week. Maybe that's just because I want at least 4 teams with .500 or better records in league play (a part of me wants to puke when I look at the standings, lol.) But I also just see them as a 20 win team in the regular season.

I am really hoping Providence finishes ahead of Creighton so UConn gets the 1-seed. I obviously wouldn't mind seeing Seton Hall beat SJU both so UConn is outright Big East regular season champs and the #1 overall.

Of course, I am getting ahead of myself. Marquette has been much better at home and we didn't beat them as badly as I anticipated in Storrs, so the game may not be a walk in the park.

If Providence does end up with a bye I'm going to be shocked. I was expecting a last place finish for awhile.

As far as coach of the year I'm going Holtmann. Especially if DePaul somehow finds a way to go .500 in league play. They already have as many conference wins this year as what, the past 4 years combined? Incredible job he's done there

(03-03-2026 12:20 PM)Nameless Wrote:  I don't think Seton Hall drops both games this week. Maybe that's just because I want at least 4 teams with .500 or better records in league play (a part of me wants to puke when I look at the standings, lol.) But I also just see them as a 20 win team in the regular season.

I am really hoping Providence finishes ahead of Creighton so UConn gets the 1-seed. I obviously wouldn't mind seeing Seton Hall beat SJU both so UConn is outright Big East regular season champs and the #1 overall.

Of course, I am getting ahead of myself. Marquette has been much better at home and we didn't beat them as badly as I anticipated in Storrs, so the game may not be a walk in the park.

If Providence does end up with a bye I'm going to be shocked. I was expecting a last place finish for awhile.

As far as coach of the year I'm going Holtmann. Especially if DePaul somehow finds a way to go .500 in league play. They already have as many conference wins this year as what, the past 4 years combined? Incredible job he's done there

As far as Seton Hall is concerned, I can’t see then beating St. John’s even with home court advantage. So, the question is whether they can go into the Cintas Center and beat Xavier in their house. They might. They looked good against UConn and had won 3 out of 4 going into that game. It’s a game that I think could go either way. I’m leaning toward Xavier because they’re on their own court, but I have a lot of faith in Willard’s ability to prepare his team for and to coach a big game; I have a lot less faith in Pitino the Younger. So, as I see it, you just might get your wish, but don’t put money on it.

Not to be a Homer, but Providence is playing really well. They are the team I would pick as a dark horse who is capable of winning the tournament. They are on a 3 game win streak, which could be 5 by the time we get to the tournament. So, they’re peaking at the right time. They’ve beaten St. John’s and almost beat UConn. Since they got Jason Edwards back in the lineup after he missed 7 games in January with a foot injury, they have won 4 of the 5 games he’s appeared in despite losing Stefan Vaaks to the flu in the past 2 games and Corey Floyd for the past 4 due to a hamstring issue.

(03-03-2026 04:24 AM)Bill Marsh Wrote:  My predictions:

Tuesday, 3/3:

St. John’s over Georgetown by 17
Xavier over Seton Hall by 2

Wednesday, 3/4:

Butler over Creighton by 5
Providence over Marquette by 7
DePaul over Villanova by 2

Friday, 3/6:

St. John’s over Seton Hall by 6

Saturday, 3/7:

DePaul over Butler by 2
Villanova over Xavier by 7
UConn over Marquette by 10
Providence over Georgetown by 3

Projected Final Big East Standings:

1. UConn (18-2) - wins tie breaker
2. St. John’s (18-2)
3. Villanova (14-6)
4. Providence (9-11) - wins multi-team tie breaker
5. DePaul (9-11) - wins tie breaker over SHU
6. Seton Hall (9-11)
7. Creighton (8-12)
8. Butler (7-13) - wins tie breaker
9. Xavier (7-13)
10. Georgetown (5-15) - wins tie breaker
11. Marquette (5-15)

If this is the way it ends, is Chris Holtmann Coach of the Year? Or Kevin Willard?

Projected Final Four in Tournament - UConn, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Providence

Tournament Favorite - St. John’s

PC in 4th! i'll allow it.

(03-03-2026 12:20 PM)Nameless Wrote:  I don't think Seton Hall drops both games this week. Maybe that's just because I want at least 4 teams with .500 or better records in league play (a part of me wants to puke when I look at the standings, lol.) But I also just see them as a 20 win team in the regular season.

I am really hoping Providence finishes ahead of Creighton so UConn gets the 1-seed. I obviously wouldn't mind seeing Seton Hall beat SJU both so UConn is outright Big East regular season champs and the #1 overall.

Of course, I am getting ahead of myself. Marquette has been much better at home and we didn't beat them as badly as I anticipated in Storrs, so the game may not be a walk in the park.

If Providence does end up with a bye I'm going to be shocked. I was expecting a last place finish for awhile.

As far as coach of the year I'm going Holtmann. Especially if DePaul somehow finds a way to go .500 in league play. They already have as many conference wins this year as what, the past 4 years combined? Incredible job he's done there

You got your wish, my good man. In a hard fought game, Seton Hall pulled out the win on the road that they needed.

I thought that Xavier played really great ball. Really great. But once they lost their best player, it was just asking too much for them to pull out the win.

With Seton Hall coming up with a big road win over Xavier, here’s my
Revised Projected Final Big East Standings:

1. UConn (18-2) - wins tie breaker
2. St. John’s (18-2)
3. Villanova (14-6)
4. Seton Hall (10-10)
5. Providence (9-11) - wins tie breaker
6. DePaul (9-11)
7. Creighton (8-12)
8. Butler (7-13)
9. Xavier (6-14) - wins tie breaker
10. Georgetown (6-14)
11. Marquette (5-15)

Projected Final Four in BE Tournament - UConn, St. John’s, DePaul, Providence

Tournament Favorite - St. John’s

I'm not really sure there's any advantage to being the one seed in the BET, as opposed to the two seed. For St. John's they probably match up as well with Nova as they do against anyone else in the league, especially with Hodge out. Not to mention the Johnnies have had some real struggles with the teams at the bottom. Assuming both UConn and St. John's win their last game, they will both be declared BE regular season champs, there are no tie breakers, although there are for seeding in the BET. I don't expect St john's to make the BET championship game, and won't be totally surprised if UConn doesn't win it, although i think they'll get to the finals. And finally, it would be wild if Seton hall won the BET, and the automatic bid, after being on the wrong side of the bubble for most of the season, and seeming out. Stranger things have happened.

(03-03-2026 09:05 PM)Bill Marsh Wrote:  

(03-03-2026 12:20 PM)Nameless Wrote:  I don't think Seton Hall drops both games this week. Maybe that's just because I want at least 4 teams with .500 or better records in league play (a part of me wants to puke when I look at the standings, lol.) But I also just see them as a 20 win team in the regular season.

I am really hoping Providence finishes ahead of Creighton so UConn gets the 1-seed. I obviously wouldn't mind seeing Seton Hall beat SJU both so UConn is outright Big East regular season champs and the #1 overall.

Of course, I am getting ahead of myself. Marquette has been much better at home and we didn't beat them as badly as I anticipated in Storrs, so the game may not be a walk in the park.

If Providence does end up with a bye I'm going to be shocked. I was expecting a last place finish for awhile.

As far as coach of the year I'm going Holtmann. Especially if DePaul somehow finds a way to go .500 in league play. They already have as many conference wins this year as what, the past 4 years combined? Incredible job he's done there

You got your wish, my good man. In a hard fought game, Seton Hall pulled out the win on the road that they needed.

I thought that Xavier played really great ball. Really great. But once they lost their best player, it was just asking too much for them to pull out the win.

What happened to Carroll? I missed the game.

I was thinking it was more likely Seton Hall went 2-0 this week than 0-2, not that I ever thought either was likely. 1-1 was always my gut feeling for them. Although, St Johns probably should've lost to Georgetown last night so it's not a given they win on Friday.

Carroll took a hard charge and a hard fall to the ground about 4 minutes into the game. He eventually rejoined his teammates on the bench but he never returned to the game.

It just goes to show you that with all the efforts to predict outcomes, the one thing you can’t predict is injuries. Who would have thought that Seton Hall would have won its game last night by a wider margin than St. John’s won theirs?

(03-04-2026 07:50 AM)Bill Marsh Wrote:  Carroll took a hard charge and a hard fall to the ground about 4 minutes into the game. He eventually rejoined his teammates on the bench but he never returned to the game.

It just goes to show you that with all the efforts to predict outcomes, the one thing you can’t predict is injuries. Who would have thought that Seton Hall would have won its game last night by a wider margin than St. John’s won theirs?

Thanks for the info

Now, WTF happened to Providence tonight? Embarrassed on their home floor, on Senior Night? All they had to do was win out and they likely had the 5 seed (and UConn the 1.) Think the chance of a 1st round bye has gone out the window for them now

(03-04-2026 09:43 PM)Nameless Wrote:  

(03-04-2026 07:50 AM)Bill Marsh Wrote:  Carroll took a hard charge and a hard fall to the ground about 4 minutes into the game. He eventually rejoined his teammates on the bench but he never returned to the game.

It just goes to show you that with all the efforts to predict outcomes, the one thing you can’t predict is injuries. Who would have thought that Seton Hall would have won its game last night by a wider margin than St. John’s won theirs?

Thanks for the info

Now, WTF happened to Providence tonight? Embarrassed on their home floor, on Senior Night? All they had to do was win out and they likely had the 5 seed (and UConn the 1.) Think the chance of a 1st round bye has gone out the window for them now

My Marquette guys played well tonight as they have (with obvious speed bumps) the last month or so. MU has good frosh and sophs that have now surpassed the upper class guys. Also have 3 solid frosh redshirts ( Sheek Pearson, Ian Miletic annd Nash Walker from Australia redshirting for age and physical development reasons ) and a couple incoming Eastern guys in Alex Egbuonu and Ethan Johnston. A couple decent portal guys will make this group quite relevant next year and beyond.

(03-04-2026 09:54 PM)Nukem2 Wrote:  

(03-04-2026 09:43 PM)Nameless Wrote:  

(03-04-2026 07:50 AM)Bill Marsh Wrote:  Carroll took a hard charge and a hard fall to the ground about 4 minutes into the game. He eventually rejoined his teammates on the bench but he never returned to the game.

It just goes to show you that with all the efforts to predict outcomes, the one thing you can’t predict is injuries. Who would have thought that Seton Hall would have won its game last night by a wider margin than St. John’s won theirs?

Thanks for the info

Now, WTF happened to Providence tonight? Embarrassed on their home floor, on Senior Night? All they had to do was win out and they likely had the 5 seed (and UConn the 1.) Think the chance of a 1st round bye has gone out the window for them now

My Marquette guys played well tonight as they have (with obvious speed bumps) the last month or so. MU has good frosh and sophs that have now surpassed the upper class guys. Also have 3 solid frosh redshirts ( Sheek Pearson, Ian Miletic annd Nash Walker from Australia redshirting for age and physical development reasons ) and a couple incoming Eastern guys in Alex Egbuonu and Ethan Johnston. A couple decent portal guys will make this group quite relevant next year and beyond.

Historically it seems Providence has trouble with Marquette. I'd have to look at the actual results but i think they get blown out by them at least once a season. Usually in Milwaukee though.

(03-04-2026 09:54 PM)Nukem2 Wrote:  

(03-04-2026 09:43 PM)Nameless Wrote:  

(03-04-2026 07:50 AM)Bill Marsh Wrote:  Carroll took a hard charge and a hard fall to the ground about 4 minutes into the game. He eventually rejoined his teammates on the bench but he never returned to the game.

It just goes to show you that with all the efforts to predict outcomes, the one thing you can’t predict is injuries. Who would have thought that Seton Hall would have won its game last night by a wider margin than St. John’s won theirs?

Thanks for the info

Now, WTF happened to Providence tonight? Embarrassed on their home floor, on Senior Night? All they had to do was win out and they likely had the 5 seed (and UConn the 1.) Think the chance of a 1st round bye has gone out the window for them now

My Marquette guys played well tonight as they have (with obvious speed bumps) the last month or so. MU has good frosh and sophs that have now surpassed the upper class guys. Also have 3 solid frosh redshirts ( Sheek Pearson, Ian Miletic annd Nash Walker from Australia redshirting for age and physical development reasons ) and a couple incoming Eastern guys in Alex Egbuonu and Ethan Johnston. A couple decent portal guys will make this group quite relevant next year and beyond.

Thanks for sharing that, I knew about James and some of the other freshmen + sophomores playing this year, but forgot about the redshirt guys and wasn't even aware of Egbuono or Johnson. I'm hoping they all stick around because Marquette seems to have a really solid foundation for next year.

However... I still don't think that explains the total domination of Providence last night. Providence is very talented and loaded with upperclassmen, plus as I noted earlier it was Senior Night. Yet they had barely scored 50 and were down over 20 when I saw the live look in with about 3 minutes left. They had played so much better the past few weeks I really did not expect such a weak performance from them.

Nova hammers DePaul in Chicago 76-57. Very disappointing performance for the Blue Demons

Number of note: 16. DePaul shot 16 three-pointers (making a mere two) and 16 free throws, while committing 16 turnovers and 16 personal fouls. Leading scorer Brandon Macklin totaled 16 points. With the loss, DePaul remains with 16 wins. Also, this was the 16th game that DePaul failed to score at least 70 points.

(03-03-2026 09:34 PM)Bill Marsh Wrote:  With Seton Hall coming up with a big road win over Xavier, here’s my
Revised Projected Final Big East Standings:

1. St. John’s (18-2) - wins tie breaker
2. UConn (18-2)
3. Villanova (14-6)
4. Seton Hall (10-10)
5. Providence (9-11) - wins tie breaker
6. DePaul (9-11)
7. Creighton (8-12)
8. Butler (7-13)
9. Xavier (6-14) - wins tie breaker
10. Georgetown (6-14)
11. Marquette (5-15)

Projected Final Four in BE Tournament - UConn, St. John’s, DePaul, Providence

Tournament Favorite - St. John’s

I have proven myself to be bad at prognosticating this week, picking 4 out of 5 games the wrong way so far. So, take whatever I say with a very large grain of salt. Nonetheless, I’m sticking with my picks for this weekend. Factoring in last night’s disastrous results and my predictions for the weekend, here are my

Further Revised Projected Final Big East Standings:

1. UConn (18-2) - wins tie break
2. St. John’s (18-2)
3. Villanova (15-5)
4. Seton Hall (10-10)
5. Creighton (9-11)
6. Providence (8-12) - wins tie break
7. DePaul (8-12)
8. Butler (6-14) - wins multi-tie break
9. Marquette (6-14) - wins tie break
10. Xavier (6-14)
11. Georgetown (5-15)

Projected Final Four in Big East Tournament - UConn, St. John’s, Villanova, Seton Hall

Tournament Favorite - St. John’s

Seton Hall has a chance to put themselves in a position for an at-large bid. They must beat St. John’s and get to the BET final by beating UConn in the semifinals. Unlikely, but there is enough runway.

(03-04-2026 09:43 PM)Nameless Wrote:  

(03-04-2026 07:50 AM)Bill Marsh Wrote:  Carroll took a hard charge and a hard fall to the ground about 4 minutes into the game. He eventually rejoined his teammates on the bench but he never returned to the game.

It just goes to show you that with all the efforts to predict outcomes, the one thing you can’t predict is injuries. Who would have thought that Seton Hall would have won its game last night by a wider margin than St. John’s won theirs?

Thanks for the info

Now, WTF happened to Providence tonight? Embarrassed on their home floor, on Senior Night? All they had to do was win out and they likely had the 5 seed (and UConn the 1.) Think the chance of a 1st round bye has gone out the window for them now

Some teams are just not good matchups against other teams. Marquette won their last matchup back in January. What did the two games have in common? Marquette forced 17 turnovers in the first game and 19 in this one without turning the ball over much themselves. The result was more shots for Marquette each game. Ross had 10 steals in the 2 games combined and Steven’s had 7.

Nonetheless, I had expected PC with home court advantage to win this game with a margin of difference in single digits. But given that Marquette seems to match up well against them, I think the fact that Corey Floyd was out of the lineup and that Stefan Vaaks was coming back into the lineup after missing a couple of games with the flu just made matters worse. In
the case of Vaaks, it would have been better if he hadn’t played at all. He couldn’t have been worse, shooting 1-12 overall and 0-8 from 3. And sometimes teams just have been games for a whole Loy of reasons as we just witnessed with St. John’s, losing one night by 32 and winning their next game by 32.

(03-05-2026 02:17 PM)shizzle787 Wrote:  Seton Hall has a chance to put themselves in a position for an at-large bid. They must beat St. John’s and get to the BET final by beating UConn in the semifinals. Unlikely, but there is enough runway.

I’m with you, Shizzle. I hope they do just that. It would be great to get 4 teams into the tournaments.

The Hall has played well against both teams this year, losing to St. John’s by 5 in The Garden and keeping the score within 5 points in both matchups with UConn although they lost all 3 teams.

Seton Hall is an excellent defensive team, as reflected by these stats:

- 8th in the country in Blocked Shots
- 10th in the country in Steals
- 19th in the country in Field Goal % Defense
- 25th in the country in Turnovers Forced
- 20th in the country in Turnover Margin
- 10th in the country in fewest points allowed, which is the result of all of the above.

Defense wins championships. Shaheen took his St. Peter’s team on a magical run as a 15-seed a few years ago, so why not this team in the Big East Tournament?