St. John’s basketball: Big East getting some clarity on conference schedule
The Big East Conference is providing some more clarity on the St. John’s basketball schedule.
St. John’s is gaining some more clarity on a possible conference schedule as the Big East Conference is in the final stages of completing its slate of games.
Jeff Goodman of Watch Stadium first reported that the league will still play a 20-game schedule but a handful of those games will be played in December.
Playing conference games in December is nothing new for the Big East as its conference schedule typically begins at the end of the calendar year, but these games would be played in early-to-mid December, something that has already been experimented in other conference such as the ACC and Big Ten.
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Adam Zagoria of Zags Blog then reported that the Big East will have its team travel to its playing venue until Christmas but a bubble format will then potentially be employed going forward.
Big East expected to go with a 20-game conference schedule and 4-5 league games for each team being played in December, source told @stadium.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) September 30, 2020
Some news on the @BIGEASTMBB :
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) October 5, 2020
--The league will begin the season with a travel model until Christmas. A bubble is possible afterward.
-Games begin Dec. 11 but there could be a few select games prior depending on pre-existing contracted non-conference games. pic.twitter.com/GyG5uWLSNx
Also, Zagoria gave a specific timeline for the start of the Big East games, beginning on December 11 but he also mentioned that some matchups could begin sooner because of various non-conference contracts between programs that could be playing in other bubble formats.
St. John’s has opted out of the Orlando, Florida bubble in which the Red Storm were slated to play in the Preseason NIT alongside the Texas Tech Red Raiders, Cincinnati Bearcats, and Arizona Wildcats, as Arizona has also opted out of the event.
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The Red Storm are still scheduled to travel to Lubbock, Texas to face the Red Raiders on December 3 in the Big East vs. Big 12 Challenge.
Due to the opting out of the Preseason NIT over COVID-19 rules and regulations, Mike Anderson and the Johnnies will host its own MTE at Carnesecca Arena on November 25, which will open the season.
The field includes St. John’s, La Salle, Manhattan, and Bryant.