We looked at the Big East non-conference schedule last week, with WBR’s Patrick Marshall ranking the Jays’ slate as third-toughest in the league, giving them a good opportunity to build a resume for March. Our in-depth analysis of that portion of the schedule in July outlined the most intriguing storylines, including games at Oklahoma and Indiana, home games against Arizona State and Nebraska, and the first matchup with a Valley school since leaving the league. Now the rest of the schedule has been released, giving us an idea of the gauntlet the Jays will be up against to make those March dreams a reality.
Creighton’s third season in the Big East will tip off in New York on December 31, with a game at St. John’s and played at their on-campus Carnesecca Arena, according to the official schedule released earlier today. It won’t be part of the traditional Big East Marathon, however, as the league and it’s television partner, Fox, have decided (wisely, we might add) to move that event to January 2 so it doesn’t compete with the College Football Playoff on the 31st. The all-day marathon will once again consist of five games and all ten teams, with the nightcap coming in Omaha when the Jays face off against two-time defending Big East Champ Villanova at 9:00pm.
Yes, you read that correctly. A 9:00pm Saturday night game, in the midst of a long holiday weekend, against what will likely be a Top-10 opponent. That’ll be fun, no?
Following that game, the Jays will welcome Georgetown to Omaha for a Tuesday night battle (and the only 8:00pm tip time on the conference home slate, shockingly). The schedule is front-loaded with home games, as three of their first five will take place in Omaha, while four of the final six will be on the road. Included in that final stretch is a brutal final two games — at Bluejay nemesis Providence, and at Xavier.
Other games of note:
- Providence, January 12: The Friars have been a thorn in the side of the Jays, with CU coming out victorious once in five meetings since joining the league, and the first game with PC this year is a mid-week affair at a strange time — 7:30pm. It marks the end of a pretty rough five-game stretch to open league play — at St. John’s, games versus the two likely favorites to win the league in Villanova and Georgetown at home, and at Seton Hall. That’s a tough opening slate.
- at DePaul, January 17: The Bluejays’ closest road game in-conference is on a weekend this year, taking place Sunday afternoon, January 17 at 12 noon. For fans making the trip and hoping to catch Doug McDermott and the Bulls while they’re in Chicago, the Bulls play once that weekend — Friday night at 7:00pm against Dallas. Plan accordingly!
- at Georgetown, January 26: Fox appears to have pushed up the tip times of mid-week games by a half-hour this year on several occasions, including this early 5:30pm tip on Tuesday the 26th. Perfectly timed for happy hour viewing at your local happiness establishment, however!
- at Villanova, February 3: The Jays’ game at preseason favorite Villanova will once again be held at the Pavilion, and is the first of four Bluejay conference games to air on CBS Sports Network. Here’s hoping they can at least split the difference between the offense they unleashed at Wells Fargo Center in Philly in 2014 (96 points in a 96-68 win), and the “offense” they had at the Pavilion in 2015 (50 points in a 71-50 loss).
- DePaul, February 6; Xavier, February 9: A two-game homestand in early February offers a needed respite from road games at the league’s top-two teams, preseason ranking wise, over the course of a week.
- at Marquette, February 13: The Bluejays’ next-closest road trip also comes on a weekend this year, with the game versus Marquette falling on Saturday the 13th at 7:00pm. Prediction: there will be a lot of blue in Milwaukee that night. The two teams meet again the following week, with both teams having one game in between. Playing each other twice in three games will be an interesting scenario for both squads — there will no secrets and little time to adjust from film of the previous meeting.
- St. John’s, February 28: Senior Night comes with two games to go in the season, as the Jays host St. John’s on the final day of February.
- at Providence, March 2; at Xavier, March 5: The regular season concludes with back-to-back road games for the first time since 1997-98. The game at Xavier is penciled in for FS1, but could be shifted to network FOX depending on how the two standings look. Worth noting: both games are “Senior Nights”, with all the emotion for the home team that goes into that. So that’s awesome.
The television schedule for non-conference games was also released today, or at least, the games controlled by the Big East. CU will have at least 27 games broadcast by Big East television partners. Here’s the breakdown: FS1 (15 games), FSN (3), FS2 (3), and CBS Sports Network (6). As for games not under Big East control, the road game at Oklahoma will air on ESPNU, it seems inevitable that the game at Indiana will wind up on either ESPN/2/U or BTN, and the game at Loyola-Chicago would seem to be a good bet for “The Valley on ESPN3”, so that leaves the first game in Las Vegas as the only one without a television announcement.
We’ll have more on the Jays’ schedule in the days ahead!
