Big East Tournament 2025: Men's Bracket, TV Schedule, Dates, Bracketology Predictions

The St. John's Red Storm's resurgence under Rick Pitino will be bright under the Madison Square Garden spotlight during the 2025 Big East tournament.

The Johnnies were four games clear of their closest opposition in the Big East regular-season standings.

Winning in their hometown is the expectation for Pitino's squad with a No. 1 seed in the NCAA men's basketball tournament in its sight.

St. John's has not won the Big East tournament since 2000. If chalk holds in New York, the Red Storm would be the fifth different team to win the Big East tournament since 2021.

The only two teams to beat St. John's in the Big East regular season, the Creighton Bluejays and Villanova Wildcats reside on the opposite side of the bracket.

St. John's might face a desperate team in the semifinals, though, if the Xavier Musketeers advance. Xavier is the only Big East team on the NCAA tournament bubble at the moment.

Wednesday, March 12

No. 8 Providence vs. No. 9 Butler (4 p.m. ET, Peacock)

No. 7 Georgetown vs. No. 10 DePaul (6:30 p.m. ET, Peacock)

No. 6 Villanova vs. No. 11 Seton Hall (9 p.m. ET, Peacock)

Thursday, March 13

No. 1 St. John's vs. Providence/Butler winner (Noon ET, Peacock)

No. 4 Xavier vs. No. 5 Marquette (2:30 p.m. ET, Peacock)

No. 2 Creighton vs. Georgetown/DePaul winner (7 p.m. ET, FS1)

No. 3 UConn vs. Villanova/Seton Hall winner (9:30 p.m. ET, FS1)

Friday, March 14

Semifinal No. 1 (6:30 p.m. ET, Fox)

Semifinal No. 2 (9 p.m. ET, Fox)

Saturday, March 15

Championship Game (6:30 p.m. ET, Fox)

St. John's is going into the Big East tournament as the clear-cut favorite for the first time in decades.

The Red Storm only suffered two losses in Big East regular-season play and are a candidate to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

A run to the title inside MSG is probably needed for the Red Storm to feel safe about landing a No. 1 seed. Duke and Auburn seem locked into top seeds, while Houston, Florida and a few others have strong cases.

St. John's doesn't have the best nonconference resume and the Big East wasn't as strong as other power conferences, so the best way the Red Storm can compete for a top seed is to just keep winning.

The Red Storm were the best team in the Big East regular season, and it will be hard for anyone to pick against them next week.

A conference tournament championship would mean the world to the program since it hasn't been near the top of the Big East in a long time. Getting to the semifinals last year was a huge achievement given the lack of results inside MSG in March, but now the championship is the expectation within the program.

Xavier enters New York on a seven-game winning streak that has put it firmly on the NCAA tournament bubble.

The Musketeers entered Saturday as the second-to-last team in the field of 68, per ESPN's Joe Lunardi.

Xavier has plenty of opportunities to improve the resume in New York, starting with the quarterfinal matchup against Marquette.

A quarterfinal win would most likely set the Musketeers up with a semifinal showdown against St. John's.

A win over St. John's and an appearance in the Big East tournament title game would surely get Xavier into the field of 68.

A win over Marquette and an 8-1 run in the last nine games might be enough anyway for the Musketeers, but to eliminate any doubt, they need to pull off the upset of the top seed.

St. John's over UConn

Madison Square Garden will be electric from the first tip if St. John's and UConn end up in Saturday's Big East tournament final.

It's a dream matchup because of atmosphere, but it actually might happen.

St. John's' expectation is to reach the final. UConn comes into MSG on a four-game winning streak.

The Huskies won the Big East tournament in 2024 and they played St. John's close in one of their two regular-season meetings.

St. John's has been far more consistent and would have the home-court advantage in this potential matchup.

It's difficult to bet against St. John's in any capacity inside MSG with the season it is having, and it might not matter who Saturday's opponent is if the Red Storm play well in their first two games of the event.