The Big East Conference released the 2014-15 basketball schedule on Tuesday. Here’s some quick-hit thoughts, followed by a breakdown of the slate:
The first thing that jumps out — at least on Creighton’s slate — is that it’s a lot more regular than the haphazard slate of a year ago. From Game One on December 31 through Game 12 on February 7, CU’s slate follows a Wednesday-Saturday format with only one exception, a Sunday evening game at Villanova. They play just four conference games that aren’t on a Wednesday or a Saturday, and more importantly, they only have one game with less than two days in between. That was a major point of contention with last year’s schedule, with Georgetown’s John Thompson III being the most vocal critic as his team had five instances where they played on just one day’s preparation. Creighton had three such instances, so cutting it down to one is a major improvement.
Unfortunately, there’s still a long layoff or two, creating a strange “bye week” scenario in the middle of the stretch run. Last year, the Jays had a nine-day break at the beginning of February; this year, they have a seven-day break in the middle of that month. After a home game on February 16 against Butler, they won’t take the court again until February 24 when they go on the road to DePaul. There’s other long stretches with no games, too — they have a ten-day gap around Christmas, as they wrap up the non-conference schedule on December 21 at North Texas and don’t take the court again until the 31st at Providence. And there’s a full week off from February 7-14, as they skip a mid-week game in between Saturday clashes with St. John’s and Marquette.
7pm tip times are a thing of the past. In conference play, Creighton plays zero — yes, zero — games that tip off at 7:00pm, which used to be the norm in the MVC (and in most leagues before TV took such a large role in scheduling, honestly). Counting non-conference games, CU will play just two total home games that start at 7:00.
The four mid-week home games during conference play will all tip at 8pm, which is great news for fans that like to grab dinner and a drink beforehand, and not so great for fans that bring their kids to the games (or for fans that watch with their kids at home). However, for those folks there’s also great news — of the five weekend home games during conference play, three are slated for noon or 1pm starts, with a fourth (Georgetown on January 31) likely to be an afternoon tip as well. In other words, there’s something for everybody, so keep your griping to a minimum!
Well, unless you’re someone who enjoys weekend night games. Then you’re mostly out of luck, as there’s just one Saturday night home game, and two Friday night home games.
The schedule is road-heavy in the first half, and home-heavy down the stretch. Five of the Jays first eight conference games come on the road, which amounts to baptism by fire for a young squad. Thankfully, four of the final six come at home, which could allow the team to build some momentum before the Big East Tournament.
For die-hard fans who like to follow the team on the road, it’s disappointing that all of the manageable road trips by car are mid-week games — DePaul, Marquette, and Butler are all on Wednesday nights. Fortunately, the DePaul game is sandwiched in between two Chicago Bulls home games, meaning Jays fans that do make the trip have an opportunity to double-dip (or triple-dip!) and see Doug McDermott while they’re there. The Bulls play Milwaukee the night before, and Charlotte the night after, making this a dream scenario for Jays fans hoping to see both the current squad and McBuckets in the same trip.
Television-wise, 26 of Creighton’s games will be broadcasted nationally, as Fox Sports 1 will show 20, while Fox Sports Net, Fox Sports 2, and CBS Sports Network have two games apiece. While the Jays aren’t featured in any of them, the conference has a minimum of ten games on broadcast networks CBS or FOX, with the potential for more to be flexed in down the line; that’s more than the ACC, SEC, American or Big 12 will get on network television this year, which is pretty impressive. And there will be Tuesday double-headers during conference play on FS1 all but two weeks during the season, as the channel continues to try and make that into Big East Night (fans of the old Big East will lament that just four conference games are scheduled for Mondays, which used to be the stomping grounds for the league’s biggest games.)
Interestingly, CBS and CBS Sports Network had the contractual ability to pick up to 30 games for their outlets, but opted to show just 19. The rest returned to Fox, and are probably the reason that more FSN regional games are on the TV schedule this year.
Once again, the league begins with a New Years Eve marathon. The Jays’ second trip through the Big East will begin on the road against the team that was their nemesis during their first go-around — the Providence Friars, who beat them two out of three meetings in 2013-14, including the Big East Tournament title game. Part of the second annual New Years Eve tipoff marathon on Fox Sports 1, the Jays and Friars get a primetime slot, with the tip scheduled for 6:30pm central.
The all-day event features four other games:
- 11:00 – St. John’s at Seton Hall
- 1:30 – Butler @ Villanova
- 4:00 – Marquette @ Depaul
- 9:00 – Georgetown @ Xavier
Here’s a quick look at the rest of the schedule:
Three days after that New Years Eve clash, the Jays head to Washington, DC to take on the Georgetown Hoyas, another team they lost to on the road a year ago. It’s a brutally tough opening stretch — while the Friars no longer have Bryce Cotton, the Dunkin’ Donuts Center is one of the most hostile venues in the league, and the Hoyas are expected to be among the top teams. The young Jays will learn immediately what life is like in the Big East, instead of getting a home game or two to ease their butterflies before hitting the road. It’s also the first time since 1994-95 that Creighton will open league play with two straight road games.
When they do get home (hopefully not staring an 0-2 start in the face), the first homestand gives them a chance to come up for air, at least a little bit, as they welcome DePaul and Seton Hall to the CLink. These are two winnable games, as the Blue Demons are once again picked at the bottom of the league, while Seton Hall — though improved — is predicted to be a second-division squad.
Then it’s back on the road to take on Marquette and new coach Steve Wojciechowski, followed by a rematch with the Friars at home before going right back on the road to play Butler and Villanova. If you’re counting, that makes five of the Jays first eight games on the road — including trips to most of the top contenders and toughest venues — a challenging lineup of games that does the Jays no favors. On the positive side, it also means the backstretch is loaded with home games.
That stretch starts January 28 with a two-game homestand featuring St. John’s and Georgetown. A two-game road trip to Xavier and St. John’s is next, and then the team takes a week off before hosting Marquette on Valentine’s Day (though don’t worry — the game is at noon, leaving plenty of time for a romantic dinner that night if you or your significant other is into that sort of thing). The season’s only one-day turnaround is next, as the Saturday afternoon game with the Golden Eagles is followed by a Monday night game against Butler. After that, though, they don’t play again until the following Tuesday, when they go to Chicago to take on DePaul.
The final road game of the season comes against Seton Hall on February 28, followed by a two-game homestand with Villanova and Xavier to end the regular season. Remarkably, it’s the first time since the days of Rodney Buford that the Jays will end with two straight home games — the last time was in 1998-99.
If the Jays can survive the early onslaught of road games, they’ll have four of their final six games at home, where their home crowd makes them very tough to beat. If you believe the national pundits who predict the Jays to be a second-division team in rebuilding mode, that final stretch gives them a chance to climb into the top six and avoid the play-in round at the Big East Tournament. If, on the other hand, you believe the Jays will surprise those pundits and be better than they expect, that final stretch gives them an opportunity to make some noise.
Either way, basketball is right around the corner, which is cause for celebration — the Jays’ lone exhibition game is just 58 days away.