Click here to download the 2018-19 BIG EAST Men's Basketball Schedule (PDF)
NEW YORK – The 2018-19 BIG EAST Conference men’s basketball schedule released today features a sixth straight season of comprehensive coverage by FOX Sports, the league’s television partner.
The BIG EAST will have more over-the-air national telecasts than any conference. The exposure on the FOX broadcast network includes at least 17 games in the regular season, all on weekends. The league’s continuing double round-robin competition culminates with FOX Sports complete coverage of the BIG EAST Tournament played at Madison Square Garden.
This season, FS1 will carry more than 100 BIG EAST games overall. All 90 conference regular-season games again will be televised. Eighty-four of the 90 BIG EAST contests will include at least one league team that made the postseason in 2017-18. Play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson along with analysts Bill Raftery and Jim Jackson are back to form the FOX Sports lead announce teams.
CBS Sports and CBS Sports Network again will televise selected BIG EAST games, with CBS Sports carrying at least three contests on its broadcast network. The two league games are St. John’s at Georgetown on Jan. 5 and reigning NCAA Champion Villanova at Xavier on Feb. 24. Butler versus Indiana on Dec. 15 in the Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis, Ind., is the non-league contest.
The BIG EAST will have at least 21 over-the-air network broadcasts – 17 or 18 on FOX in the regular season, the BIG EAST Tournament title game, and three on CBS Sports.
The CBS Sports Network schedule includes 16 conference contests and at least one non-league game as well as Providence vs. Wichita State in the Veterans Classic on Nov. 9 at the Naval Academy. Each of the six BIG EAST schools that played in the NCAA Tournament will make multiple appearances.
The BIG EAST conference schedule begins Saturday, Dec. 29, with two games – Xavier at DePaul and St. John’s at Seton Hall.
The league openers continue on Dec. 31 when Creighton plays at Providence, a battle between two teams that are coming off NCAA Tournament appearances. St. John’s hosts Marquette at Carnesecca Arena on Jan. 1. Butler and Georgetown start their league seasons on Jan. 2 with a battle at Hinkle Field House. The Bulldogs and Hoyas also opened against each other last year when Butler won 91-89 in double overtime in Washington DC. Villanova starts BIG EAST play at home against DePaul on Jan. 2.
Last season, six of the 10 BIG EAST schools – Butler, Creighton, Providence, Seton Hall, Villanova and Xavier – earned NCAA Championship bids and Marquette played in the NIT. Over the first five years of the 10-team BIG EAST, the league has earned 28 NCAA Tournament invitations.
The BIG EAST will play on MLK Day, Jan. 21 when Creighton visits Georgetown.
FOX and FS1 again will serve as the television home of the BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 13-16. The World’s Most Famous Arena will host the tourney for the 37th consecutive year. The event is college basketball’s longest running postseason conference tourney held at the same venue. The FOX broadcast network will carry the championship game at 6:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 16. All other rounds will be telecast on FS1.
Additionally, FS1 will telecast all four BIG EAST home games in the fourth annual Gavitt Tipoff Games, a series between the BIG EAST and the Big Ten Conferences held during the first full week of the regular season. Those games are: Wisconsin at Xavier on Nov. 13, Michigan at Villanova on Nov. 14 and Ohio State at Creighton along with Penn State at DePaul on Nov. 15.
Highlights of the 2018-19 schedule:
- BIG EAST coverage on the FOX broadcast network includes at least 13 league games and four non-league contests. FOX will carry BIG EAST doubleheaders on Sunday, Jan. 27, and Saturday, Feb. 23. On Jan. 27, Georgetown meets St. John’s at Madison Square Garden followed by Seton Hall at Villanova. On Feb. 23, Marquette plays at Providence followed by Georgetown at Creighton. On both doubleheader days, the first game starts at noon and the second contest begins at 2:30 p.m.
- The regular season concludes on Saturday, March 9, with a tripleheader of Wildcard games on FOX and two games on other FOX platforms. The five-game schedule is: Georgetown at Marquette, DePaul at Creighton, Butler at Providence, Villanova at Seton Hall and St. John’s at Xavier.
- The four non-league games on FOX are slated for early December. On Dec. 1, Seton Hall hosts Louisville at noon and Creighton plays at home against Gonzaga at 2 p.m. On Dec. 8, Seton Hall takes on Kentucky at Madison Square Garden at noon as part of the Citi Hoops Classic and Marquette hosts Wisconsin at 5 p.m. The FOX broadcast network schedule is listed in this release following the composite league schedule.
- CBS Sports will telecast three games involving BIG EAST teams: Butler meets Indiana in the annual Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis, Ind., on Dec. 15. St. John’s plays at Georgetown in a battle between coaches Chris Mullin of the Red Storm and Patrick Ewing of the Hoyas on Jan. 5. Villanova travels to Xavier on Feb. 24. Last year, Villanova swept Xavier, but the Musketeers won the league’s regular-season title.
- CBS Sports Network again will carry another strong lineup of BIG EAST competition, including 16 conference games, at least one non-conference game and Providence vs. Wichita State in the Veterans Classic at the Naval Academy. The first league contest is Marquette at Creighton at 9 p.m. on Jan. 9.
- The BIG EAST again will have a game on MLK Day, Jan. 21. Creighton plays at Georgetown at 8:30 p.m. on FS1.
- For the fourth straight year, the BIG EAST Tournament championship final will be carried on FOX. Tipoff will be 6:30 p.m. ET. The FS1 tourney coverage will begin with a first-round-doubleheader on Wednesday, March 13. Quarterfinal doubleheaders will be played Thursday afternoon and evening, March 14. The semifinal doubleheader will be held Friday, March 15, followed by the championship game on Saturday evening, March 16.
- FS2 and the FOX Sports Regional Networks will air games not carried by FOX, FS1, CBS or CBS Sports Network, including conference and non-conference contests.
- The BIG EAST will feature an 18-game double round-robin conference schedule for a sixth straight season.
BIG EAST basketball during the 2018-19 season will also be seen on the BIG EAST Digital Network. BEDN has its own branded channel within the FOX Sports App. The FOX Sports App provides live streaming video of FOX Sports content at home or on-the-go. FOX Sports 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.
Last year, the BIG EAST launched Shootaround, a live weekly men’s basketball online show that captures interviews and highlights of league action. BEDN will carry 225 live streamed events in 2018-19, including every women’s basketball conference game not carried by FOX Sports or CBS Sports Network. BEDN content also will include Olympic sports weekly updates, selected news coverage and shoulder programming.
CBS Sports’ coverage will be available to stream live via the CBS All Access subscription service, with additional coverage on CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports app.
The BIG EAST will conduct its Men’s and Women’s Basketball Media Day on Oct. 25 at Madison Square Garden.
Each of the BIG EAST’s 10 schools will separately announce their full individual schedules.The 2018-19 BIG EAST Conference men’s basketball schedule released today features a sixth straight season of comprehensive coverage by FOX Sports, the league’s television partner.