Big East Tournament 2017: Basketball Bracket and Championship Picks

The Big East men's basketball tournament has been one of the best competitions in American sports over the past few decades, featuring massive star power, great teams and classic games at Madison Square Garden.

It's always a must-see event every year, even in the era of the "new" Big East. Last year, Villanova and Seton Hall played a thrilling championship game in which the Pirates won 69-67 in the last seconds.

This year, Villanova is a very heavy favorite to recapture the Big East crown. Will any team take the Wildcats down?

Below you'll find the Big East tournament schedule, the bracket and round-by-round picks.

Big East Tournament Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Round	Matchup	Television
Wednesday, March 8	7 p.m.	First	No. 8 St. John's vs. No. 9 Georgetown	FS1
Wednesday, March 8	9:30 p.m.	First	No. 7 Xavier vs. No. 10 DePaul	FS1
Thursday, March 9	Noon	Quarterfinals	No. 1 Villanova vs. 8/9 winner	FS1
Thursday, March 9	2:30 p.m.	Quarterfinals	No. 5 Seton Hall vs. No. 4 Marquette	FS1
Thursday, March 9	7 p.m.	Quarterfinals	No. 2 Butler vs. 7/10 winner	FS1
Thursday, March 9	9:30 p.m.	Quarterfinals	No. 3 Providence vs. No. 6 Creighton	FS1
Friday, March 10	6:30 p.m.	Semifinals	TBD	FS1
Friday, March 10	9 p.m.	Semifinals	TBD	FS1
Saturday, March 11	5:30 p.m.	Final	TBD	Fox

Information via bigeast.com. All games will be played at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Big East Tournament Bracket

Championship Picks

First Round

As poorly as No. 7 Xavier has played down the stretch, losing six straight games before winning its regular-season finale, the Musketeers should easily take care of business against No. 10 DePaul, who Xavier swept this season by an average of 12.5 points.

No. 8 St. John's and No. 9 Georgetown play for the right to lose to No. 1 Villanova in the next round. Give the edge to the Red Storm, who are playing in their home city.

Quarterfinals

No. 4 Marquette vs. No. 5 Seton Hall will likely be the only competitive game in this round. The Golden Eagles and Pirates have played two great games this season, with Seton Hall winning in New Jersey, 69-66 and Marquette taking an 89-86 overtime win in Milwaukee.

These two teams are evenly matched, so like St. John's-Georgetown, the edge goes to the team closer to home and likely to play in front of many local fans in Seton Hall.

Otherwise, No. 1 Villanova should easily beat St. John's, who lost two games to the Wildcats by 13 points this year. No. 2 Butler should take down Xavier, which has failed to win a game against a team not named DePaul since February 4.

In the last quarterfinal, No. 3 Providence should handle No. 6 Creighton simply because they are two passing ships in the night. The Friars have won six straight, while the Bluejays have dropped seven of 12 games.

Semifinals

Seton Hall has been no match for Villanova in their two contests this year, losing its two games by a combined 52 points. There's no evidence to suggest that the third time is a charm.

On the other end of the bracket, Butler and Providence should play a good game. This one could go either way, but the guess here is that Butler's deep bench (nine players have averaged at least 11 minutes per game this year) proves to be the difference.

Finals

Butler is Villanova's kryptonite this year, as the Bulldogs swept the Wildcats this year, winning both of their games by eight points.

Villanova will break the Butler slump and win the Big East title this time around. Butler is a good team and will be a tough test for anyone it plays in the NCAA tournament, but Villanova shot very poorly in the first game (37.3 percent) and didn't fare a whole lot better in the second game (43.9 percent). Senior guard Kris Jenkins also had one of his worst games of the year in the latter contest, shooting just 1-of-8.

The odd thing is that Butler doesn't have a great defense. The Bulldogs rank 204th in Division I in field-goal percentage defense (44.3) and sit 50th in the Ken Pomeroy Rankings in defensive efficiency.

The Wildcats, who are ninth in the nation in field-goal percentage (49.6), are too good of a team to shoot that poorly a third time against Butler, right?

That's the pick here, at least. Villanova will break the cold streak against Butler and win a close one for its third Big East title in school history.