Big East Tournament 2018: Bracket, Schedule and Championship Odds

The Big East Tournament is always a big draw.

It’s almost as if it’s the precursor all men’s college basketball fans seek to work them into the March Madness lather before the NCAA tournament officially begins.

This season, the two teams to watch are Xavier and Villanova, which are ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the nation, respectively.

This Wednesday, 10 teams will battle it out for the Big East title over the course of four days at Madison Square Garden, the Mecca of Basketball.

Too many exciting moments have happened in the Big East tournament over the years to count.

Who could forget the 2011 Big East tourney, when Kemba Walker’s nasty step-back jumper to give UConn the 76-74 win over Pittsburgh?

Walker and the Huskies went on an 11-game run that will forever be one of the greatest runs in college basketball history.

Could the Musketeers or Wildcats go on a similar run this year?

You’ll have to tune it to see.

Big East Tournament Schedule

All times ET.

1st Round—Wednesday

Game 1 | Georgetown (8) vs. St. John’s (9) | 7 p.m. ET, FS1 Network

Game 2 | Marquette (7) vs. DePaul (10) | 9:30 p.m. ET, FS1 Network

Quarterfinals—Thursday

Game 3 | Xavier (1) vs. Game 1 winner | 12 p.m. ET, FS1 Network

Game 4 | Creighton (4) vs. Providence (5) | 2:30 p.m. ET, FS1 Network

Game 5 | Villanova (2) vs. Game 2 winner | 7 p.m. ET, FS1 Network

Game 6 | Seton Hall (3) vs. Butler (6) | 9:30 p.m. ET, FS1 Network

Semifinals—Friday

Game 7 | Semifinal 1 | 6:30 p.m. ET, FS1 Network

Game 8 | Semifinal 2 | 9 p.m. ET, FS1 Network

Championship—Saturday

Game 9 | Championship Game | 6:30 p.m. ET, FOX

*All games available for streaming on the FOX Sports GO app.     

Big Ten Championship Odds

Odds according to OddsShark.

Villanova -110

Xavier +230

Butler +700

Seton Hall +800

Creighton +800

Providence +1,600

Marquette +2,500

Georgetown +5,000

St. John’s +5,000

DePaul +10,000

Favorite: Villanova

While Xavier (27-4, 15-3 in Big East) boasts the No. 1 seed entering the tournament, Villanova (27-4, 14-4 in Big East) is expected to win it all.

Head coach Jay Wright’s Wildcats beat the Musketeers twice this season and they have won two of the last four Big East titles.

But even with those two losses to Villanova, Xavier is still a force to be reckoned with.

They clinched the Big East regular-season title Saturday with their 65-62 win over DePaul and before their last loss to the Wildcats on Feb. 17, they were on a nine-game winning streak.

They seem to have righted the ship since that loss because they are entering the Big East tourney on a three-game winning streak and are clicking on offense.

Xavier has a No. 7 ranking on KenPom for adjusted offensive efficiency with 121.3, but Villanova is No. 1 with 126.8.

Led by junior point guard Jalen Brunson, named to the Big East All-Conference First Team and one of the five finalist for the 2018 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award, the Wildcats are poised to take their free-flowing offense all the way to the finish line, where they’ll be cutting down the nets like Josh Hart and company did last year.