Big East Basketball Midseason Review/Preview

This is the inaugural post Big East Basketball coverage. Giving you everything you may have missed and everything you need to know about Big East Basketball. The Big East typical plays their games on Tuesday's, Wednesday's, and Saturday's. In this column you can look for game previews and reviews, as well as weekly recaps and look a heads to important match ups. And of course NCAA tournament coverage for the best conference in college basketball. But first I'd like to kick things off with a season review up to this point. 

Big East conference play has reached the halfway point and up until now it hasent been a disappointment for the fans. With 9 games in the books and 9 remaining in the next 5 weeks, The Big East has 3 teams Squarely in the NCAA tournament (Villanova, Xavier, Providence) with 2 teams, Nova, and Xavier looking for potential 1 seeds. They also have 3-4 other teams that have put themselves in the conversation. Seton Hall was in the Last Four In as of the most recent edition of 'Bracketology' with Butler and Georgetown included in the next 5 teams out. 

With a number of games remaining between the top teams in the conference there will be plenty of opportunities for teams to prove they belong in the field of 68, and should provide as much excitement in the second half of conference play as we have seen in the first half. 

Standings 

1- #3 Villanova (8-1, 18-3)

2- #6 Xavier (7-2, 19-2)

3- #11 Providence (6-3, 18-4)

4- Georgetown (6-3, 13-9)

5- Seton Hall (5-4, 15-6)

6- Creighton (5-4, 14-8)

7- Marquette (4-5, 15-7)

8- Butler (3-6, 14-7)

9- DePaul (1-8, 7-14)

10- St. John's (0-9, 7-15)

A Number of Questions Stand to be answered in the second half of conference play. 

Will Villanova once again win the Conference Title? The Wildcats jury lost their first conference game in over. A calander year and are currently in first place at 9-1. I'm sticking with Nova for the regular season title, but I believe they're upset in the conference tournament. 

Will the Big East produce a #1 seed? Yes, the Big East will have a team seeded on the top line come March Madness, and it's my pick to upset Nova and win the Big Wast Tournamer. The Xavier Musketeers. 

How many team will the Big East get into the dance? 4 and possibly 5. Villanova, Xavier, Providence are in. I believe Seton Hall will be in and potentially either Georgetown, Creighton, or Marquette as a 5th. 

And how far will those teams advance? Villanova, a team that always disappoints come March, once agin has the makings of a team that goes out in the first weekend. If they're not mak threes it can be difficult for them to score and if they run into the right team say a Wichita State in a 3rd round 2-7 matchup. Xavier has the makings of a team prepared for a deep tourney run. They have size, shooting, depth, and senior leadership. Don't be shocked if they're one of the last Four playing in Houston. Providence and Seton are two teams that could certainly make a run to the Sweet 16. They have both proved that can play with anyone in the country. 

All in all with 5 weeks left I'm expecting a lot of good basketball and big things from the Big East come March. 

Butler and Georgetown kick off the week on Tuesday on Tuesday. Keep it here for all your Big East and NCAA Basketball needs.