Big East Tournament 2013 Schedule: Top Games to Watch in Opening Rounds

The 2013 Big East tournament will kick off Tuesday when the lowest four seeds do battle to keep their postseason dreams alive for this year. From there, the 10 remaining teams will battle it out for the chance to be named the Big East champion for 2013.

Whilst we don't quite know who will be playing who later on in the tournament, we do have a good indication of what the schedule looks like early. And in the first and second rounds, there are plenty of fascinating fixtures to get us excited about the rest of the tournament.

Read on to see the top games in the Big East tournament's opening rounds.

St. John's vs. Villanova

Villanova finished several spots above their opponents this season, but it's hard to completely rule out the Red Storm from making a real challenge here.

After all, the Wildcats did only just manage to scrape by them during the season, with an overtime affair falling the way of the home side. And were it not for Darrun Hilliard's antics down the stretch, they most likely wouldn't have progressed through that one.

St. John's only have two wins in regulation through their last 10 matches, but with the self-belief garnered from their performance against Villanova during the year, could well come out and surprise the Wildcats again with a close and tight matchup.

Cincinnati vs. Providence

Providence already stunned Cincinnati earlier in the season when they met in early February, coming away with a shocking 54-50 victory on the night.

And once again, Cincinnati will be favorites to topple Providence here.

But given the Bearcats' recent form, it's hard to say they'll be any better equipped to handle the Friars, winning just four of their last 13 matches in regulation. Granted, there have been some tough opponents in there, but with a big win earlier in the year under their belts, expect Providence to be just as tough a competitor for the Bearcats in this one.

Notre Dame vs. Winner of DePaul/Rutgers

What will be most fascinating about this game is how the winner of the first match fares against a much tougher opponent than they would have expected.

Connecticut are ineligible for the postseason—meaning that Notre Dame takes their place here—and whilst that might not seem like much of a difference, the reality is that the Fighting Irish are in much better form and are a much more complete team than the Huskies.

Though, having said that, where both teams were blown out by Connecticut earlier in the year, both also came close to beating Notre Dame in 2013. Rutgers lost by three points on the road whilst DePaul took the Fighting Irish to overtime in both of their matches.

Either team could have a real chance of upsetting Notre Dame here—an opportunity they might not have had if they were to take on Connecticut.

Full schedule of the Big East tournament can be seen via BigEast.org.

What games are you most looking forward to in the Big East this year?

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