BIG EAST Non-Conference Viewing Guide
Better late than never—hell, we only missed 1 big game—your 2025-26 Big East Non-Conference Viewing Guide
One of the things I love about the Big East is the certain level of camaraderie we have as fans during the non-conference portion of the schedule, as well as March & April. I believe the genesis of this has been well discussed, and perhaps I’ll do a piece on it some other time. For now, if you’re like me, you want to know all the biggest games that will help determine the perception and metrics that will factor into committee selections come March. So without further ado, here’s your most important OOC games:
Monday, November 3, 2025
Villanova 66 v. BYU 71 (N) - Villanova looked better than expected, hung tough, and covered the spread against a top-10 team. While you would love to see a win, and moral victories are meaningless, you have to be somewhat encouraged if you’re a ‘nova fan.
Friday, November 7, 2025
Georgetown @ Maryland, 6:00pm, FS1 - The Hoyas come in after having struggled a bit with opening cupcake Morgan St. (356 in KenPom). The Hoyas still won easily, 87-70. They travel to College Park to face a new-look Maryland squad. Gone is former and current Big East coach Kevin Willard, and in is…former Big East coach Buzz Williams. KenPom is high on the Terrapins, ranking them 38, which is only 10th in the might B1G. The Terps may be a bit over-ranked by KenPom, and the Hoyas are almost certainly under-ranked, currently sitting 90 in KenPom. This should be a much tighter affair than the 11-point Maryland victory predicted by KenPom. It’s a stout, early, and eminently winnable test for the Hoyas, and will be a good early barometer of where this team is headed.
Saturday, November 8, 2025
St. John’s v. Alabama, 12noon, FS1 - The Johnnies host the No. 15 in the AP poll Crimson tide in their first MSG game of the regular season. A fascinating battle of perceived strength versus perceived weakness. Alabama has one of the best backcourts in the country, while the Johnnies enter with backcourt questions that couldn’t be put to bed by a quality performance against Quinnipiac on opening night. The Johnnies have one of the best frontcourts in the country, while ‘bama’s frontcourt is lacking. ‘Bama is also banged up. In their first game they were without guards Aden Holloway and Latrell Wrightsell, Jr., 2 experienced players for Oats, and key parts of the Tide’s elite backcourt. ‘bama is also without transfer guard Jalil Bethea, who is expected to be a key backcourt piece as well. Finally, the Tide were without rotation forward Keitenn Bristow, who averaged 11 & 4 for Tarleton St. last season. It’s unclear at this time who will play tomorrow. Last game the Tide plugged the holes with a trio of freshmen, who performed admirably. Needless to say, a top-15 road match-up at the world’s most famous arena is a bit more pressure than hosting North Dakota. The Tide’s health will clearly be a big factor in this game.
Providence v. Va. Tech (N-technically) - 4pm, Peacock - The Friars make a short trip down I-95 to take on the Hokies from Mohegan Sun Arena. While this is a neutral site game, it will undoubtedly be 90% Friars, making this an effective home game. I hesitated to put this game on here, out of respect for the Friars. The Mike Young era started hot in Blacksburg, with 2 tournament berths in years 2 and 3, but fizzled into mediocrity, before reaching outright disaster levels last season, finishing 164 in KenPom, which was somehow only the 3rd worst KenPom finish in in the AssCC. The Hokies returned 3 starters, added highly-touted euro Neoklis Avdalas to the mix. Key transfer additions include big man Amani Hansberry and former Rick Pitino commit and Delaware guard Izaiah Pasha. The only players over 6’8” on this roster are freshmen. I expect Oswin to eat, and PC to win in a romp.
Sunday, November 9, 2025
Marquette v. Indiana (N) - 1pm, ESPN - Marquette hops down to Chicago to face-off against Indiana under first year head coach Darian DeVries. With two fan bases who travel well, this should be a true neutral-site game. DeVries is coaching is 3rd team in as many years, from Drake to WVU to IU. DeVries did an outstanding job at WVU last year, was an NCAAT snub, and probably would’ve been easily in the tournament but for an injury to his star player (and son) Tucker DeVries. This IU roster features a health Tucker DeVries, erstwhile DePaul PG Conor Enright, and some other high-quality pieces. Worth noting that Marquette has played 2 cupcakes this week. The rest of the schedule is very elite, so that’s not a problem, but is 3 games in 7 days to start the season too much? I would doubt it, but it could be a factor. Marquette is a 2-point dog per KenPom at the time of publication.
Monday, November 10, 2025
Xavier v. Santa Clara - 8:30pm, FS1 - Xavier has looked abysmal in narrowly avoiding 2 upsets. I still believe this is the type of team that will get better as the year goes on, but I’d be lying if I said my confidence in that prediction hasn’t been shaken. Santa Clara comes in with NCAAT aspirations out of the WCC. They play their first D1 opponent tonight (11/7), with a equal opponent in McNeese St. Despite starting with a D2 opponent, Santa Clara has certainly scheduled like a team trying to make the NCAAT, with 8 non-conference games scheduled vs. current KP top-140 teams, 7 of those against the top-101. They’ll also have 6-WCC games vs. top-100 KP opponents (Gonzaga, San Fran & SMC). A W tonight v. McNeese could give Santa Clara a big boost of confidence heading into Monday’s clash in Cintas. The Musketeers will look to learn from their shaky performances and win as a 5-point home favorite, per KenPom.
Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Creighton @ Gonzaga - 10pm, ESPN - Kudos to Greg McDermott for scheduling an absolutely brutal road game to give his team their first real test of the season. The Jays had a slightly to-close for comfort win v. South Dakota to open the season, while the Zags mollywhopped Texas Southern by 55. The Jays were buoyed in their opener by an outstanding performance from Iowa transfer center Owen Freeman, who posted an efficient 19 points, in 19 minutes, on 9-11 shooting off-the-bench. Freeman is coming back from an injury, and the hope is he can play closer to a full shift in this one. Creighton will need his offense, with Gonzaga sporting a top-20 defense. This game is a no-lose for Creighton. Win and you have a huge notch on your belt come March, lose and no one would blame you, Gonzaga is elite and the Kennel is a brutal place to play.
Friday November 14, 2025
Next weekend is when the fun really starts, with 7 quality games between Friday and Saturday.
Xavier @ Iowa - 8pm, FS1 - The B1G may have bitched out on the Gavitt Games, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still play them. This will mark the third (and below the fourth) Big East vs. B1G games of the young season. This will be the first high major game for Richard Pitino’s Musketeers, and boy they better hope they “got right” vs. Santa Clara or it’ll be a long night in Carver-Hawkeye arena against KenPom 40 Iowa. Frankly, I LOVE Ben McCollum. The dude is a basketball genius. Been following him since year 3 of the MA era, when I was starting to scout next coaches for SJU. Of course his star PG Bennett Stirtz leads the way. Stirtz’ story is inspiring, and a testament to the old school way of sticking with a coach and developing within a system. Stirtz joined McCollum at D2 Northwest Missouri State, moved with him up to Drake last season, and again to Iowa this season. Stirtz is a full-on extension of his coach, with a high basketball IQ and the athleticism to turn that IQ lethal. This game will be an interesting clash of styles. Iowa figures to be one of the slowest teams in America this year, as Drake was dead last in pace last year. Drake wants to drain every second of the clock, and they’d much rather give you a shot clock violation dead ball TO than take a bad shot and let you get out on the break. Richard Pitino likes to play fast. I think there’s an open question as to whether he has the horses for it this year. Through 2 games against cupcakes Xavier ranks just 88th in adjusted tempo per KenPom. Richard’s UNM teams never ranked lower than 22 his first year. A real litmus test of whether X can play the way Richard wants, and impose that will on another team. It’s certainly difficult to speed a team up, but can they break down McCollum’s defense quickly enough to make the pace a bit uncomfortable for Iowa? If you love ball, this should be a fascinating matchup…unless X is as bad as they’ve looked through 2 games, in which case Iowa will dictate the pace and everything else about this game.
DePaul v. Northwestern - 8:30pm, truTV - The ‘mons host crosstown rival Northwestern in another B1G v. Big East matchup. DePaul is looking to prove they’re taking the next step under Chris Holtmann after finally looking like a competent Big East program last year for the first time since Max Strus and Paul Reed were in the starting lineup. The problem for the ‘mons? There simply isn’t any room for error in this non-conference schedule. The ‘mons already boatraced KenPom 361 Chicago St. by 30, and will play 6 other schools with sub-300 KenPom rankings at the time of publishing. Their only other guaranteed non-conference game versus high major competition is lowly Georgia Tech in the Emerald Coast Classic. There’s a chance they could face LSU in the 2nd game of that tournament, the other option is Drake. The fact that Drake might be the best of the other 3 teams in that tournament tells you all you need to know. So while I hate to deem a game on November 14 a “must win,” this is pretty damn close if DePaul wants to get back to the tournament. Hell, a perfect non-conference schedule is probably needed for the ‘mons. Clearing their toughest non-conference hurdle in game 4 of the season will be a great sign in Chicago.
Providence @ Colorado - 9pm, ESPN+ - Road games are always tough. Road games at elevation, even tougher. That’ll be the challenge facing the Friars in this game. This Colorado team is not much to look at, currently clocking 94 in KenPom, but they’re ranked 12th in KenPom’s home court advantage rankings (based on last 60 home and road conference games, so roughly 3 seasons). KenPom has this as a 1-point Colorado victory. That’s bullshit. FrankPom has this a game that Providence really should win if they’re going to be a tournament team once again.
Saturday, November 15, 2024
Georgetown v. Clemson - 12noon, Peacock - Clemson is not nearly as good as years past under Brad Brownell, but they’re certainly still dangerous. This will be Clemson’s first test of the season, after three straight sub-290 cupcakes to start the year. They will come in with something to prove. It’ll be Georgetown’s second opportunity to make a big impression. And while I don’t expect Clemson to be as good this year, KenPom begs to differ, currently ranking them 27. Could potentially be a big statement. KenPom has the Hoyas a 6 point loser, but I think that is massively undervaluing the Hoyas. KenPom currently has them 90, and I wouldn’t expect them to finish anywhere near that low. This game really underscores the problem with KenPom’s early season metrics: a chunk of what is used for projections is prior 3 or 5 seasons (I can’t remember exactly) performance. Clemson has been very good in recent history, and before last year, Georgetown had been hot steaming ass in recent history. This creates a perfect storm where one team is overvalued and one team is undervalued. We’re seeing this with Georgetown’s first big game vs. Maryland to a lesser extent, and the betting markets quickly bet the spread down from 9.5 to 4.5. This could be another one to watch and pounce on a wonky open line based on flawed efficiency metrics.
Marquette v. Maryland - 2pm, Peacock - Following the Hoyas Marquette gets their shot at Maryland and their former head coach Buzz Williams. This begins a real gauntlet for the Golden Eagles, where they’ll be facing Maryland, Dayton, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Purdue to close out non-conference, with cupcakes Central Michigan and Valpo interspersed. The beauty of this setup is there is plenty of room for error. Marquette could drop a couple of these games without doing much damage to their at-large resume. Of course, the home against potentially the worst high-major team on their non-conference schedule isn’t really the one you want to drop, but the point remains.
Butler at SMU - 2pm, CW (lolACC) - I’m not high on Butler. Others are higher. YMMV. They hit the road for their first test of the season versus one of the more fascinating teams in the ACC this season, SMU. This will be the first high major game for SMU as well, but they will have a high quality mid-major come to town before Butler, with Murray St. rolling into Dallas 4 days earlier. I say SMU is fascinating not because of anything that they will or won’t do on the floor, but more so because they were 23-10 last year on selection Sunday and missed the NCAAT. They finished 50 in KenPom. Perfectly mediocre. They were almost certainly left out because they did not beat a single top-60 team in KenPom, their best win was 64 Pittsburgh and after that it’s 81 Stanford, both at home. SMU will also be out for revenge, as Butler beat them by 11 last season in Hinkle, a loss that, in hindsight, may have cost SMU a bid. At 24-9, with a Q1 road win, it would’ve been much harder to deny the Mustangs. The other fascinating aspect is that SMU is a well-heeled program, so while it’s only year 2, Andy Enfield will be expected to produce at some point. This season figures to be another one where they’re walking the tightrope on the bubble all year. For Butler, this could be the best non-conference game on their schedule (NWern and UVa are similarly ranked). So if they are to get back to the NCAAT a win here would go a long way.
UConn v. BYU (N) - 7pm, Fox - Primetime versus the soakers from the famous Boston Garden. A “neutral” site game that will almost certainly be 90% UConn fans. The Huskies look to avenge Villanova’s loss, in what is likely to be a top-10 AP poll matchup. This will be the first real test for the Huskies after opening with 3 straight cupcakes. They’ll have to continue to do it without star freshman Braylon Mullins, who likely won’t be back until early December. Tarris Reed should be back from a hamstring issue by this point, and honestly, if UConn is smart they would hold him out of their 2nd cupcake game, and give him 20 minutes or so in the 3rd game just to get his wits about him (but I’m sure Dan will make the right choice, he kinda knows what he’s doing). This game starts a gauntlet for UConn, and is honestly probably the 2nd most-winnable game of the gauntlet that will seem the close out non-conference play with BYU, Arizona, Illinois (N), at Kansas, Florida (N), and Texas, with 2 cupcakes interspersed.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025
UConn v. Arizona - 7pm, FS1 - Continuing with that UConn gauntlet of a schedule, the Huskies host Arizona at Gampel. Arizona boasts one of the best front courts in the country with Koa Peat, Montiejus Krivas and Tobe Awaka. The Huskies will need Tarris Reed to be at full strength for this one. In the backcourt, the Jaden Bradley-Silas DeMary matchup is really fascinating. Two ball hawks on defense, and 2 guys capable of both distributing and scoring in bunches. That alone is a reason to tune into this one. But watching Karaban try to guard Koa Peat will be a close second…
Marquette v. Dayton - 7pm, CBSSN - Marquette got got by Dayton in Dayton last season, 71-63. Marquette looks to avenge that L at FiServe. This Dayton looks significantly less talented than year’s past, but they still have Anthony Grant, one of the more underappreciated coaches in the country. Oddly enough, Dayton has alternated between up and down years, and last year was a “down” year, 77 in KenPom. So despite my subjective evaluation of the roster, maybe they’re destined for an at-large once again? KenPom has them on the cusp, sporting a KenPom rank of 47 at the moment.
Friday, November 21, 2025
Butler v. S. Carolina (N) - Butler kicks off the Greenbrier classic against S. Carolina. It’s the 4th year for Lamont Paris in Columbia, with a single 6-seed 2 seasons ago. They went into the transfer portal and brought back Meechie Johnson from Ohio St. For those keeping track at home, Meechie played 2 seasons at OSU beginning in 2020-21, came to SC in 2022-23, went back to Ohio St. in 2024-25, and somehow still has eligibility left for a 6th season (I think maybe he took a medical redshirt last year?). Meechie was all SEC for Paris in 2023-24, scoring 14.1 ppg. There’s not much to speak of on the rest of the roster—e.g. erstwhile PC big man Christ Essandoko is a guy that is on this roster—and this is a game Butler should win in my book.
Xavier v. Georgia (N) - 9pm, ESPN2 - Xavier kicks off the Charleston Classic with Georgia. Georgia is practically an “all-name” team all by itself with Smurf Millender, Blue Cain, and Kareem Stagg. The headline for the Dawgs is returners Blue Cain and Somto Cyril. Cyril is a big physical center who could give the Xavier front line big problems. Blue Cain is sniper already averaging 38.5% on 6.5 3-pt attempts per game through 2 games. This one could be a very tall ask for the Musketeers. On the plus side, Charleston rocks. I loved that trip 2 seasons ago with the Johnnies.
Sunday, November 23, 2025
Butler v. Virginia - 2pm, CBSSN - Virginia has a new coach and a star Euro in freshman Thijs de Ridder. Dallin Hall and Ugonna Onyenso are a couple of guys who are apparently still playing ball, and are on UVa this season.
Xavier v. TBD (N) - TBD, TBD - Xavier will face either Clemson or WVU in the second Charleston Classic game.
To be continued…