Big East Tournament 2022: Bracket, TV Schedule, Dates and Predictions
The 2022 Big East tournament has the potential to live up to the high standard set in previous years by the event inside Madison Square Garden.
The return of the Connecticut Huskies to a Big East tournament with a full crowd could energize the "World's Most Famous Arena" to the levels it reached during the program's first era of Big East basketball. UConn returned to the Big East in 2021, but there were still restrictions in place on crowds.
UConn won seven Big East tournaments in the first iterations of the Big East, but since it left, the Villanova Wildcats have been the dominant program.
Villanova owns four Big East tournament titles since 2015 and the two squads are expected to meet in the semifinal round.
The Providence Friars, who won the regular-season crown, reside on the opposite end of the bracket. Providence went 14-3 in league play, but two of the losses came to Villanova.
Ed Cooley's team could use the Big East tournament as a vehicle to prove it can win an event against one of the conference's two powerhouses.
The top three teams will try to restore some order to the competition after the Georgetown Hoyas won four games in four days as the No. 8 seed in 2021. Georgetown has not won a league game since the 2021 Big East tournament final.
The Seton Hall Pirates, Xavier Musketeers and St. John's Red Storm are the best candidates to replicate Georgetown's path from a year ago, but it may be tough to manage with three strong teams at the top of the conference.
Big East Tournament Bracket
Wednesday, March 9
No. 8 Xavier vs. No. 9 Butler (4:30 p.m. ET, FS1)
No. 7 St. John's vs. No. 10 DePaul (7 p.m. ET, FS1)
No. 6 Seton Hall vs. No. 11 Georgetown (9:30 p.m. ET, FS1)
Thursday, March 10
No. 1 Providence vs. Xavier/Butler winner (noon ET, FS1)
No. 4 Creighton vs. No. 5 Marquette (2:30 p.m. ET, FS1)
No. 2 Villanova vs. St. John's/DePaul winner (7 p.m. ET, FS1)
No. 3 UConn vs. Seton Hall/Georgetown winner (9:30 p.m. ET, FS1)
Friday, March 11
Semifinal No. 1 (6:30 p.m. ET, FS1)
Semifinal No. 2 (9 p.m. ET, FS1)
Saturday, March 12
Championship Game (6:30 p.m. ET, Fox)
Predictions
UConn Reclaims Big East Tournament Throne
UConn is finding its form at the perfect time.
The Huskies won six of their last seven games, including a home win over Villanova.
Dan Hurley's team should enter the semifinal round with a ton of confidence from its current play and the February 22 home victory.
UConn has a long history of winning the Big East tournament, but none of its current players have had the taste of a fully-packed Madison Square Garden for the event.
The Huskies fans should pack MSG and potentially make it one of the biggest home-court advantages in the competition.
UConn has a star guard in RJ Cole and a big man in Adama Sanogo that can take advantage of Villanova's lack of size in the paint.
Sanogo led all scorers with 20 points in the win over Villanova, and if he is as effective in the semifinal, he could power the Huskies into the final.
UConn's assumed opponent in that situation would be Providence, but the top part of the bracket carries a few dangerous programs that could spring upsets on the Friars.
Providence Stumbles Before Final
Providence picked up critics throughout the season because it was not totally dominant across the Big East.
The Friars picked up seven of their last eight victories in games decided by seven points or fewer. Providence also went into overtime in three of those contests.
Ed Cooley's team navigated close games as well as anyone in the country, but it may run into some difficulties in New York.
Providence is also dealing with the longest layoff in the Big East. The Friars had the weekend off and will go nine days without playing a game.
The Friars could run into a desperate Xavier team that needs one or two wins to feel 100 percent safe of its NCAA men's basketball tournament status.
Xavier will have some revenge on its mind in the quarterfinal round since it was close to beating Providence at the Dunkin' Donuts Center on February 23 before a weird set of circumstances occurred. The roof started leaking after Xavier took a three-point lead, Providence completed the comeback in regulation and then won in triple overtimes.
Xavier entered Saturday as one of the "Last Four In" teams on the bracket of ESPN's Joe Lunardi. A win over Providence would improve the Musketeers' resume and could be enough to push them away from the bubble and safely into the field of 68.
If Providence loses before the final, the winner of the potential UConn-Villanova semifinal would be viewed as the favorite to cut down the nets at MSG.
