3 things to know about Butler men’s basketball Big East schedule

The Butler men’s basketball team has released its 2024-25 Big East Schedule.

Butler opens Big East play Wednesday, Dec. 18, on the road against Marquette. The Bulldogs first conference home game will be Saturday, Dec. 21 against defending national champions UConn at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Here’s three things that stand out to about the Bulldogs’ Big East schedule:

Daunting early-season schedule

The Big East is known as a deep, tough and talented league, and the Bulldogs will face the best the conference has to offer immediately.

The Bulldogs travel to face Marquette to begin conference play, followed by a visit from national champion UConn, and a New Year’s Day matchup against a Villanova squad that looks to improve off last season’s 18-16 record. Butler’s first five-game stretch concludes with road games against St. John’s on Jan. 4 and Providence Jan. 8.

It’ll be hard not to draw major conclusions from the results of Butler’s first five games.

Wins against Marquette and UConn would stamp Butler as a conference title contender and NCAA Tournament team. Splitting the first two games in either order would probably put Butler toward the middle of the Big East hierarchy. Losing both games still wouldn’t be cause for panic, but there will definitely be an increased sense of urgency as the new year approaches. Back-to-back road games against St. John’s and Providence is another difficult card to draw. Coming off the back-to-back will make the follow game against Creighton more difficult, hopefully the Dawgs rotation will be ironed out by early January,

Favorable February

Things should ease up for the Bulldogs come February. Their two hardest games should be their first two — on the road against Seton Hall and at home to Providence.

Kim English led Providence to 21 wins in his first year as head coach, but the Friars must replace the No. 13 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Devin Carter. The Dawgs have to avoid a letdown at home against Georgetown with a road game to rival Xavier looming three days later. On the road at DePaul (a must win) and at home to St. John’s round out the month.

The Dawgs avoid what should be the upper echelon of the conference during the month of February. One could assume that Butler (if healthy) should be favored in four of six February games, with Seton Hall and Xavier being the two exceptions.

Senior Night will be electric

If the Dawgs play to their potential, they’ll avoid the bubble and head into March looking to improve their conference standing and NCAA Tournament seed. Senior Night, Wednesday, March 5 against Xavier is setting up to be an electric matchup.

Last season, Butler pulled out a 72-66 over Xavier during Senior Night. I’d expect another close game against their heated rival. The game will serve as a sendoff for redshirt senior Patrick McCaffery, and fifth-year seniors Jahmyl Telfort and Andre Screen. Expect emotions to be high and the crowd to be intense, assuming Butler still has something to play for heading into the Big East Tournament.

Butler men’s basketball 2024-25 schedule

Nov. 4: vs. Missouri State

Nov. 8: vs. Austin Peay

Nov. 11: vs. Western Michigan

Nov. 15: vs. SMU

Nov. 22: vs. Merrimack

Nov. 28: vs. Northwestern at Tempe, Arizona, 7 p.m.

Nov. 29: vs. Mississippi State or UNLV at Tempe, Arizona

Dec. 3: vs. Eastern Illinois

Dec. 7: at Houston

Dec. 10: vs. North Dakota State

Dec. 14: vs. Wisconsin at Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Dec. 18: at Marquette

Dec. 21: vs. UConn

Jan. 1: vs. Villanova

Jan. 4: at St. John’s

Jan. 8: at Providence

Jan. 11: vs Creighton

Jan. 15: vs. Seton Hall

Jan. 21: at UConn

Jan. 25: vs. DePaul

Jan. 28: vs. Maquette

Jan. 31: at Georgetown

Feb. 5: at Seton Hall

Feb. 8: vs. Providence

Feb. 15: vs. Georgetown

Feb. 18: at Xavier

Feb. 22: at DePaul

Feb. 26: vs. St. John’s

Mar. 1: at Villanova

Mar. 5: vs. Xavier

Mar. 8: at Creighton

Mar. 12-15: Big East Tournament at New York

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Butler men’s basketball schedule 2024-25: 3 things to know