Wednesday night, both Creighton and Villanova took care of business by winning their Big East Conference opener, setting up a rarity in major conference basketball: a battle of undefeated teams in conference play. It hasn’t happened in a major conference in almost eight years — 15-0 Wake Forest met 16-0 Clemson in an ACC battle on January 17, 2009.
This is how rare it is: it’s only happened once before in the entire history of the Big East, when #5 Georgetown played at #10 Seton Hall on January 3, 1989. The the Pirates won 94-86 in front of their first-ever sellout at the old Meadowlands Arena, a rambunctious crowd that coach PJ Carlesimo recalled fondly on the game’s 25th anniversary.