Villanova is the No. 1 seed in the 2016 Big East Tournament March 9-12 at Madison Square Garden. The Wildcats won their third straight Big East regular-season title by compiling a 16-2 league mark. Villanova is 27-4 overall.
Xavier is the No. 2 seed after finishing in second place with a 14-4 mark. The Musketeers are 25-4 overall. In this week’s national polls, Villanova is ranked second in the USA Today poll and third in the Associated Press poll. Xavier is fifth in both polls.
The two teams met in last year’s Big East championship game with Villanova winning 69-52.
Seton Hall is the No. 3 seed, the Pirates’ highest tournament position since 2003. The Hall finished in third place with an 11-6 mark and 21-8 overall. The Pirates will play No. 6 seed Creighton.
Providence earned the No. 4 seed with a 10-8 Big East mark. The Friars will meet fifth-seeded Butler.
In the First Round on Wednesday, the tournament begins with No. 8 seed Georgetown meeting No. 9 seed DePaul followed by No. 7 seed Marquette playing No. 10 seed St. John’s.
FOX will televise the Championship Game on Saturday, March 12 at 5:30 p.m. ET. All other games will be carried on FS1.
The schedule:
First Round, Wednesday, March 9 – FS1
No. 8 Georgetown vs. No. 9 DePaul, 7 p.m.
No. 7 Marquette vs. No. 10 St. John’s, 9:30 p.m.
Quarterfinals, Thursday, March 10 – FS1
No. 1 Villanova vs. Georgetown/DePaul winner, Noon
No. 4 Providence vs. No. 5 Butler, 2:30 p.m.
No. 2 Xavier vs. Marquette/St. John’s winner, 7 p.m.
No. 3 Seton Hall vs. No. 6 Creighton, 9:30 p.m.
Semifinals, Friday, March 11 – FS1
Thursday afternoon winners, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday evening winners, 9 p.m.
Championship Game, Saturday, March 12 — FOX
Semifinal winners, 5:30 p.m.
