By Colton Watson
Creighton—The Blue Jays are probably the Big East’s best ball club and likely the best midmajor team you’re not talking about yet. Built off a series win at Stanford with a sweep on the road at Charleston Southern to bring their record to a sparkling 20-4. Creighton looks like an NCAA at-large team the way it sits today, looking to do what UConn did a season ago. They have an important and winnable week with five home games on the slate, including fringe-ranked Nebraska and their first conference series of the year. Looking ahead: vs Nebraska 4/2, vs NDSU 4/3, vs Butler (BEC) 4/5-7.
Butler—You can’t fault the Bulldogs too much this week. They split the four-game set at Indiana, taking the first and last games. Butler is an improved team at 12-14, but they have their work cut out for them this weekend after a winnable midweek game. Looking ahead: vs Eastern Illinois 4/2, at Creighton (BEC) 4/5-7.
UConn—The Huskies did not play last weekend, which could be considered a win when you look at the way this season has gone for them. At 9-15, the pre-season favorites are undoubtedly the biggest disappointment so far. They have Monday and Tuesday home games this week, and they’ll look to avoid the losing both the way they lose their only two games last week on Tuesday and Wednesday. This weekend is a brand-new season for the Huskies though, and we’ll see if they can regain their footing in conference play. Looking ahead: vs Central Connecticut 4/1, vs Columbia 4/2, vs Xavier (BEC) 4/5-7.
Xavier—A 3-1 week got Xavier back to .500, but their performance in the nonconference play thus far means the Musketeers will likely need to repeat their Big East tournament championship run in order to make it back to NCAA regional play. They took down local foes Wright State and went 2-1 vs Bowling Green on the weekend, but they open conference play on the road Friday. Looking ahead: at UConn (BEC) 4/5-7.
Seton Hall—Seton Hall is playing decent baseball right now at 16-12, but they’ll also need to position themselves well to make and win the all-important four-team Big East tournament if they want any chance of playing in the postseason. The Pirates went 2-2 last week with a narrow loss to Hofstra and a series over Mercer where big loss was bookended by close wins. Each team scored at least seven runs in all three games of the weekend-long slugfest. Looking ahead: vs Princeton 4/3, at Georgetown (BEC) 4/5-7.
Georgetown—Georgetown built off of its statement sweep of Ohio State last weekend with a 3-1 week. They dropped a big opportunity at home vs Maryland but swept Villanova as the one of the two Big East teams to start conference play a week early. The 19-8 Hoyas are jockeying with St. John’s for the honor of being the next-best squad after Creighton in the Big East pecking order. Looking ahead: vs Coppin State 4/2, vs Seton Hall (BEC) 4/5-7.
Villanova—the only Big East team with a worse record than surprise flop UConn is last year’s last-place squad Villanova. The Wildcats went 0-4 to Rider and conference foe Georgetown, as they and the Hoyas kicked off their conference slate a week early with a three-game set last week. None of the games were particularly close aside from the 9-7 midweek loss, but they weren’t blowouts either. Still, it looks like same-old, same-old for Nova in 2024 so far. Looking ahead: vs Delaware State 4/2, vs St. John’s (BEC) 4/5-7.
St. John’s—It was a weird week for the Red Storm, albeit a successful one, with a record that you don’t see every day in the sport of baseball: 3-1-1. St. John’s split the two-game set with crosstown rival Fordham before welcoming Winthrop to town, thumping the Eagles 24-4 in the first two games before circumstances forced a 6-6 draw to be declared in the second game of a Saturday double-header. They have a good chance to open conference play strongly and build on their 19-5-1 record as they face bottom feeders ‘Nova this weekend. Looking ahead: vs Fairfield 4/2, at Villanova (BEC) 4/5-7.
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