Friars starting at The Dunk
PC opens conference play with pair of home contests
PROVIDENCE – Ed Cooley and the Providence Friars officially have their marching orders for the 2018-19 season, as the Big East schedule was released on Thursday. Here are a few takeaways:
1). PC can expect a visit from defending national champion Villanova on Jan. 5, the second of two straight Big East home games to open the conference slate. The league opener is New Year’s Eve against Creighton – the Bluejays were the opponent the last time the Friars opened Big East play at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. That was during the 2014- 15 season.
Starting off the Big East with a two-game homestand is a bummer in the sense the Friars will be down to only seven league home games after the first week of January, yet it also represents a great chance for PC to gather some momentum and/or make a statement in advance of the first Big East road game on Jan. 12 contest at Georgetown.
Providence will actually play three of their first four league games at home as Seton Hall pays a visit on Jan. 15. The Pirates were the only Big East team to sweep the Friars last season.
2). If you break it down by months, the Friars are home for one Big East contest in December, home for three games in January, home for four games in February, and home for one game in March. PC does have one three-game homestand to look forward to during Big East play – Xavier (Feb. 16), St. John’s (Feb. 20), and Marquette (Feb. 23). Providence is on the road for back-to-back Big East games on four separate occasions.
3). The Big East’s decision to schedule PC and Butler twice over the final two weeks of the regular season – Feb. 26 in Indiana, March 9 at The Dunk – is a bit curious. Why wait so long? With the exception of Creighton, the Friars will have gone through the home-and-away gauntlet with everyone else before facing the Bulldogs for the first time. On the flip side, the scouting reports shouldn’t need much adjusting in advance of the March 9 meeting.
In another scheduling quirk, the Friars will play DePaul in Providence on Jan. 27, then again in Chicago on Feb. 2. That’s a Sunday-Saturday turnaround.
4). The game times and television networks were also released on Thursday. For Friar fans, there are two 8:30 p.m. tipoffs at The Dunk to contend with – Nov. 27 against Fairleigh Dickinson and Feb. 20 against St. John’s. In other scheduling oddities, there’s a Friday 7 p.m. game against UMass on Dec. 7 and a Sunday noontime game against DePaul on Jan. 27.
The time for the annual contest against Rhode Island – this year, it’s in Providence and on Dec. 1 – will either be 2:30 p.m. or 5 p.m. You know the Providence restaurants are rooting for a later start time.
5). After a one-year absence, the Friars will face St. John’s in Madison Square Garden on Feb. 9. No doubt, this development thrilled Cooley to no end. The head coach has spoken about the importance of getting a game inside the World’s Most Famous Arena before the Big East Tournament.