It’s that time of year again, the calendar has turned over and we can finally get our first taste of March college basketball. Soon it will be time for Conference tournaments, where teams get their last chance to punch their ticket to the NCAA tournament. A perennial highlight of these tournaments is the Big East tournament. It is played in Madison Square Garden (the “Mecca of basketball”) and every year promises to include upsets everywhere. The Conference has undergone drastic changes over the past three years, with Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Notre Dame moving to the ACC. But this year’s field includes two AP top 25 teams: Villanova and Xavier. The Big East Tournament might have been weakened, but this year it is coming back with a vengeance.

When looking for a favorite for this tournament, one has to start with the top-seeded Villanova Wildcats. They have only lost four games all season, two of which were in conference play and all of their losses have been against ranked teams. Despite winning the Big East tournament last year, the Wildcats have had recent struggles in March with early exits in the past several NCAA tournaments. This year’s team is much more defensively minded than others in years past and they will look to use this tournament as a momentum boost. The other team that is sitting at the top of the Big East standings is Xavier. They are coming off a big win against Villanova that allowed them to split the season series and this is their chance to become top dog in the conference. The likely finals matchup between Villanova and Xavier would be a huge game for both teams because the winner would guarantee themselves a number one seed in the NCAA tournament.

One Big East team that could be a potential spoiler is the Butler Bulldogs, who own a respectable 22-9 record. They did lose all four games to Villanova and Xavier, but their average margin of defeat against the Wildcats was only 7.5 points. Butler is led by seniors Roosevelt Jones and Kellam Dunham, both of whom can perform in the clutch. They have competed with Villanova in the past, so a potential matchup could come down to the final minutes. If the Bulldogs can avoid playing Xavier, they could have a real shot of winning the tournament.