CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - FEBRUARY 12: Head coach Steve Wojciechowski of the Marquette Golden Eagles shakes the hand of Markus Howard #0 of the Marquette Golden Eagles during the game against the DePaul Blue Demons at Wintrust Arena on February 12, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
For the 37th straight season, the Big East Tournament emanates live from Madison Square Garden in New York City, beginning with two games on Wednesday night. It is also currently the longest-running conference tournament at any single venue.
The first-round games (Wed, March 13), quarterfinals (Thur, March 14) and semifinals (Fri, March 15) will all be televised on Fox Sports 1, while the championship (Sat, March 16) will be on Fox. If you don’t have cable, you can watch a live stream of both of those channels via one of the following live-TV streaming services:
FuboTV: Fox (available live in select markets) and Fox Sports 1 are two of 85-plus live-TV channels included in the main FuboTV bundle, which is largely tailored towards sports.
You can sign up for a free 7-day trial of FuboTV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of every game on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast or other supported device via the FuboTV app.
PlayStation Vue: PS Vue–which doesn’t require an actual PlayStation console to sign up or watch–offers four different live-TV channel packages: All four include Fox (available live in select markets) and Fox Sports 1.
You can start a free 5-day trial of PS Vue right here (select “Start Streaming” in the upper-right corner), and you can then watch a live stream of every game on your computer via the PS Vue website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation (3 or 4), or other supported device via the PS Vue app.
Hulu With Live TV: In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu also offers a bundle of 50-plus live TV channels, including Fox (available live in select markets) and Fox Sports 1.
You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of every game on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show, or other streaming device via the Hulu app.
2019 Big East Tournament Preview
The conference boasts the defending national champion Villanova Wildcats (22-9; 13-5 in-conference), winners of two of the last three NCAA Tournament titles, entering as the tournament’s top seed. Despite a choppy season from head coach Jay Wright’s club, the Wildcats have bounced back to win two of their final three games. Seniors Phil Booth, who led the team averaging 18.6 points per game, and Eric Paschall (16.5 PPG) will look to provide veteran leadership needed to provide another conference tournament title to Villanova.
Villanova enters the Big East Tournament as one of only two programs ranked inside the AP Top 25 heading into Wednesday. The tournament’s No. 2 seed, the Marquette Golden Eagles (23-8; 12-6 in-conference), who actually finished the regular season ranked ahead of Villanova (No. 25) in the AP Poll at No. 23 in the country, are led by junior guard Markus Howard who is averaging 25 PPG. Howard ranks an astonishingly high sixth in Division I in scoring.
Feast your 👀
The #MarchToMSG is over, now it’s time to head home for the #BEtourney
Action begins Wednesday when Butler takes on Providence, followed by DePaul against St. John’s in the later game.
What to Watch Out For:
Despite no standout dominant team, there are several Big East teams who have notable wins on their resume and can make a run to an improbable conference tournament victory.
To start, Seton Hall has the player — junior guard Myles Powell, who is averaging 22.6 points per game this season — needed to make a three-day run to win a major conference tournament. Powell has failed to register double-figures in scoring in all but one game this season, January 27 against Villanova (80-52 road loss for the Pirates). Because of the bracket, Seton Hall faces Georgetown (No. 6 seed) in the quarterfinals, and would draw the winner of Marquette vs. St. Johns-DePaul in the semifinals. The Pirates just also happen to own non-conference wins against Kentucky and Maryland, possibly the strongest in the field.
Georgetown has been pesky all season, and will be no different here. They are the other half of the intriguing three-six matchup against Seton Hall in the quarterfinals. The Hoyas also just happen to boast a matchup nightmare in the paint for Seton Hall, junior center Jessie Govan (17.6 PPG). The Hoyas also own wins against Villanova, Seton Hall and Marquette over their final six games.
Of the four teams playing Wednesday, no team is more intriguing than head coach Chris Mullin’s St. John’s Red Storm (20-11; 8-10 in-conference. Shamorie Ponds (19.6 PPG) is a stud, despite the junior actually averaging two less PPG than last season.
Ponds and fellow junior Mustapha Heron theoretically should form one of the most dynamic backcourts in the country, but that has not necessarily been the case as Mullins has struggled to figure out how to get the most out of those two in the same game on most nights. The Johnnies also play up to competition (swept Marquette, wins against Villanova and Seton Hall), and down to the lesser Big East teams. A 30-point thumping (91-61) at the hands of Duke on February 2 doesn’t help either.
Tournament History:
2013-14 will always signal the first true year of the revamped Big East Tournament, following the mass exodus of several elite, storied programs. Since then, Villanova has won three of the five tournament championship crowns, while finishing as the runner-up to Seton Hall in 2015-16. The Wildcats have defeated the Creighton Blue Jays and Providence Friars in consecutive Big East Tournament Championship Games, and — factoring in the entire 30-plus year history of the tournament — aim to become the first program to three peat in conference history this season.