#BIGEASTwbb Minute: National Postseason Tips Off Friday
BIG EAST Notes - NCAA/WNIT First Round
NCAA Lineup
Seventh-seeded DePaul tips off NCAA Tournament action for BIG EAST teams at noon (ET) on Friday as the Blue Demons face 10
th-seeded Northern Iowa in the First Round in Starkville, Miss. The tilt is the first of two NCAA Tournament games for conference teams on Friday, as fellow BIG EAST co-regular-season champion and seven seed Creighton squares off with 10
th-seeded Toledo at 7:30 p.m., in Corvallis, Ore. BIG EAST Tournament champion and fifth-seeded Marquette rounds out the NCAA First Round tilts on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., in Coral Gables, Fla., against 12
th-seeded Quinnipiac. All three NCAA pairings are fairly unfamiliar ones, as DePaul and Northern Iowa have met just three times previously but not since 2001, Creighton and Toledo have played just once before (1997), and Marquette and Quinnipiac have never played one another. All three NCAA Tournament games are slated to air on ESPN2 and the Watch ESPN app. For the full game previews, click here:
DePaul | Creighton | Marquette
WNIT Tripleheader
In addition to the trio of NCAA Tournament teams, three BIG EAST squads earned bids to the WNIT on Monday night, with all three of them playing their first-round tilts on Friday evening. Villanova takes the short drive to Princeton at 6 p.m. (ET), before Georgetown hosts Fordham and St. John’s welcomes Sacred Heart, both at 7 p.m. For full game previews, click here:
Georgetown | St. John’s | Villanova
In The Polls
The final AP Poll of the season, unveiled on Monday, saw DePaul listed at No. 19, while Creighton and Marquette received votes. The Blue Demons appear in the final AP Top 25 for the third time in the last four seasons, with the No. 19 ranking being their best in the final poll since 2011 when DePaul finished ninth. Monday’s
USA Today Coaches’ Poll had DePaul matching their AP ranking of 19, while the Golden Eagles broke into the top 25 for the first time since the final poll of the 2010-11 season, coming in at No. 25. The Bluejays continued to receive votes in the coaches’ poll as well. The BIG EAST had multiple teams in the top 25 of the coaches’ poll for the third week this season.
BIG EAST Teams In The NCAA Tournament
First Round – Friday – Starkville, Miss.
No. 7 DePaul vs. No. 10 Northern Iowa, Noon
First Round – Friday – Corvallis, Ore.
No. 7 Creighton vs. No. 10 Toledo, 7:30 p.m.
First Round – Saturday – Coral Gables, Fla.
No. 5 Marquette vs. No. 12 Quinnipiac, 1:30 p.m.
All games Eastern and subject to change, airing on ESPN2
BIG EAST Teams In The WNIT
First Round - Friday - Princeton, N.J.
Villanova at Princeton, 6 p.m.
First Round - Friday - Queens, N.Y.
St. John’s vs. Sacred Heart, 7 p.m.
First Round - Friday - Washington, D.C.
Georgetown vs. Fordham, 7 p.m.
All games Eastern