Thursday afternoon, the Big East will showcase four Top-20 teams in an afternoon tripleheader. The day starts with #6 Xavier visiting #16 Villanova at 11:00am on FS1, followed by Creighton at St. John’s at 1:00pm on FS1. Then #12 Providence visits #9 Butler at 1:30pm on CBSSN. The Bluejays/Red Storm game will struggle for attention in the midst of that lineup (and against the College Football Playoff), but the conference opener for both teams should be an exciting one.
It’s the first conference home game for Chris Mullin, 30 years after he led the Red Storm to the 1985 Final Four, and the first game for the Bluejays at Carnesecca Arena, as their previous two trips to St.