Villanova won the 2015-16 Regular Season.
FS1 To Telecast Nearly 100 Games Nationally
BIG EAST Marathon To Run On MLK Holiday
NEW YORK – The 2016-17 BIG EAST Conference men’s basketball schedule was released today and features a fourth straight season of comprehensive coverage by FOX Sports, the league’s national television partner. The league’s continuing double round-robin competition culminates with the 35
th BIG EAST Tournament played at Madison Square Garden. The schedule also includes a five-game BIG EAST Marathon on FS1 on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
This season, FS1 will carry close to 100 BIG EAST games nationally, and FOX broadcast network coverage of BIG EAST action will include 12 regular-season games, all on weekends. All 90 conference regular-season games will be nationally televised. Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery return to serve as the FOX Sports lead announce team.
The conference season begins Dec. 28 and Dec. 29. Four games will be played on the 28
th, featuring Villanova, the 2016 NCAA national champion, hosting DePaul at The Pavilion. BIG EAST Tournament winner Seton Hall opens at Creighton; Xavier, the 2015-16 regular-season runner-up, hosts Providence; and Georgetown travels to Marquette. On the 29th, Butler plays St. John’s at Carnesecca Arena.
The BIG EAST Marathon on MLK Day, Jan. 16, will showcase five league games televised consecutively on FS1. The Marathon begins with Marquette at Butler at noon ET and ends with Providence playing Georgetown in Washington, D.C. at the Verizon Center at 9 p.m.
CBS Sports and CBS Sports Network again will televise selected BIG EAST games, with CBS Sports carrying two games featuring BIG EAST teams and CBS Sports Network set to air a total of 18 conference-controlled contests. CBS Sports Network also will televise two events with BIG EAST teams, the Veterans Classic at the Naval Academy and the Emerald Coast Classic.
FOX and FS1 will serve as the television home of the 2017 BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 8-11. Held at the World’s Most Famous Arena for the 35th consecutive year, the event is college basketball’s longest running postseason conference tourney conducted at the same venue. The BIG EAST will celebrate the Tournament’s historic 35 years of the Tournament throughout the season through print, radio, television and digital platforms.
Additionally, FS1 will telecast the four BIG EAST home contests in the second annual Gavitt Tipoff Games, a non-conference series between the BIG EAST and the Big Ten held during the first full week of the regular season. Those games are: Maryland at Georgetown and Wisconsin at Creighton on Nov. 15, Northwestern at Butler on Nov. 16 and Rutgers at DePaul on Nov. 17.
More highlights of the 2016-17 schedule:
- BIG EAST coverage on FOX broadcast network includes nine regular-season league games and three non-league contests. The FOX broadcast network coverage begins with Xavier hosting Utah on Dec. 10. On Jan. 14, Georgetown meets old foe Connecticut at the Verizon Center. The other non-conference contest has Villanova hosting Virginia at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday, Jan. 29. The first BIG EAST game of the FOX slate is Butler at Georgetown on Jan. 7. FOX will air a doubleheader on Feb. 11, with Marquette visiting Georgetown followed by Villanova at Xavier. On March 4, the last day of the regular season, FOX will carry wildcard games at noon and at 2 p.m. or 2:30 p.m. The FOX broadcast network schedule is listed in this release following the composite league schedule.
- CBS Sports again will broadcast two BIG EAST games: Georgetown at Xavier on Sunday, Jan. 22, and Villanova against Notre Dame on Dec. 10 in the Never Forget Tribute Classic at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. CBS Sports Network again will carry a strong lineup of BIG EAST play, including 15 conference games and three non-conference games. BIG EAST teams will also be featured in early season action on CBS Sports Network: Marquette vs. Vanderbilt on Nov. 11 in the Veterans Classic at the Naval Academy and Providence in the Emerald Coast Classic with coverage beginning on Nov. 25.
- The annual BIG EAST Marathon will be played on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Monday, Jan. 16. The day begins with Marquette and Butler tipping off at noon ET, followed by Creighton at Xavier at 2 p.m. At 4:30 p.m., DePaul will play at St. John’s in Carnesecca Arena. In a rematch of last year’s BIG EAST Tournament final, Seton Hall plays Villanova at 6:30 p.m. The marathon ends with Providence playing at Georgetown in Washington, D.C. at 9 p.m.
- The 2016-17 regular season will come to a close on Saturday, March 4, with all 10 teams in action battling for seeding for the following week’s BIG EAST Tournament at MSG. The matchups are: Seton Hall at Butler, Xavier at DePaul, Villanova at Georgetown, Creighton at Marquette and Providence at St. John’s.
- For the second straight year, the BIG EAST Tournament final will be carried on FOX at 5:30 p.m. ET. The FS1 tourney coverage will begin with a first round-doubleheader on Wednesday, March 8. Quarterfinal doubleheaders will be played Thursday afternoon and evening, March 9. The semifinal doubleheader is held Friday, March 10, followed by the championship game on Saturday evening, March 11.
- FS2 and the FOX Sports Regional Networks will air games not carried by FOX, FS1, CBS and CBS Sports Network, including conference and non-conference contests.
- For the fourth straight season, the BIG EAST will feature an 18-game double round-robin conference schedule.
BIG EAST basketball during the 2016-17 season will also be carried on the BIG EAST Digital Network. BEDN has its own branded channel within FOX Sports GO, the app that provides live streaming video of FOX Sports content at home or on-the-go. FOX Sports GO app users who are also subscribers of participating video providers can live stream men’s basketball telecasts carried on the FOX broadcast network, FS1, FS2, and the FOX Sports Regional Networks.
BEDN will also carry 225 live streamed events, including every women’s basketball conference game that is not carried by FOX Sports or CBS Sports Network. All BIG EAST championships will be carried on a FOX Sports channel or BEDN. BEDN content also will include highlights, selected news coverage and shoulder programming.
Last season, five of the 10 BIG EAST schools – Butler, Providence, Seton Hall, Villanova and Xavier -- earned NCAA Championship berths. Villanova defeated North Carolina 77-74 in the national championship game in Houston, Texas. Butler, Providence and Xavier all recorded NCAA Tournament victories. Creighton also advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT.
The BIG EAST will conduct its Men’s and Women’s Basketball Media Day on Oct. 11 at Madison Square Garden.
Each of the BIG EAST’s 10 schools will separately announce their full individual schedules.