The path the St. John’s basketball team will be needing to complete during the Big East Tournament Is becoming much clearer.
Seeds have not been finalized with still one weekend of games remaining for the league, but it would take a few massive upsets for there to be any change among the Top-5 seeds.
The Red Storm (26-4, 17-2 Big East) locked up the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament by winning the outright regular season title the last time it was on the floor against Seton Hall on Saturday. The Johnnies have had a week to rest and recover while getting set for its date with No. 20 Marquette (22-8, 13-6 Big East) in Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon.
At tipoff, the Golden Eagles could still improve its No. 4 seeding following its loss to UConn on Wednesday night but would need the Huskies (21-9, 13-6 Big East) to fall at home against Seton Hall, a team they already lost to this season, to slide back into the No. 3 seed.
A win for Dan Hurley’s team would clinch the No. 3 seed and prevent a meeting with Rick Pitino until the championship game.
Creighton (21-9, 14-5 Big East) has a very similar path to securing their seeding as the Huskies. A win in Omaha against Butler would have the Bluejays as the No. 2 seed next week at Madison Square Garden.
UConn could still be the No. 2 seed with a win and victories by Marquette and Butler.
Xavier (20-10, 12-7 Big East) has clinched a bye into the quarterfinals but could still be the No. 4 or No. 5 seed depending on the outcome of its game at home against Providence and St. John’s matchup with Marquette.
A win for the Johnnies and Musketeers means Xavier is the No. 4 seed but a win by the Golden Eagles locks them into the No. 4 slot.
Villanova (18-13, 11-9 Big East) has been nailed into the No. 6 seed as well as Georgetown (17-13, 8-11 Big East) at No. 7.
Butler (13-17, 6-13 Big East) and Providence (12-18, 6-13 Big East) will be in the No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup, in some order, but neither team could be any better or any worse.
The same can be said for DePaul (12-18, 3-16 Big East) and Seton Hall (7-23, 2-17 Big East), who will finish at No. 10 and No. 11. If the outcomes for both teams are the same this weekend, DePaul will be the No. 10 seed and Seton Hall No. 11. The seeding would flip for an outcome favoring whichever team at the more productive Saturday.
The Big East Tournament begins with Providence and Butler on Wednesday, March 12 at 4:00 p.m. ET (Peacock).