The Post breaks down St. John’s Big East slate after schedule release

The Big East released its conference schedule for the coming season on Thursday afternoon. noti.group’s Zach Braziller breaks down St. John’s slate below:

Soft start

For the fifth straight year, St. John’s will open the conference schedule at home, welcoming DePaul to Carnesecca Arena on Dec. 16. Just over two weeks later, it visits the nation’s capital, for a New Year’s Eve battle with Georgetown. On the first Saturday of the new year, Providence comes to the Garden, then the Red Storm go to Butler Jan. 6. Of those four opponents, only Providence is viewed as a potential NCAA Tournament team. St. John’s should be significant favorites in all four games.

Challenging February

From Feb. 6-25, St. John’s will meet Connecticut twice, face two of the better teams in the league on the road – Providence and Marquette – and host annual contender, Creighton. The two contests against the Huskies bookend that stretch – two showdowns that will be the most anticipated in Big East play this season, pitting two projected top-10 teams against one another. The first one will be on a Friday night at the Garden in prime time. That’s followed by Rick Pitino’s son, Richard, and Xavier coming to town on Feb. 9. The ensuing Saturday, St. John’s makes the trip to Providence on Valentine’s Day, for what is certain to be a charged-up atmosphere for Bryce Hopkins’ return to face his former school. In the span of a week, St. John’s will play three potential NCAA Tournament teams in Providence, Marquette and Creighton in three different cities.

Friendly closing stretch

St. John’s last true trip comes Feb. 18, when it goes to Marquette. Three of the Johnnies’ last five games are at home, and the other two are at Connecticut and Seton Hall, both fairly close to Queens. It will also get an extra day of rest prior to the Big East Tournament, as the regular season finale is on a Friday against Seton Hall. The final three contests are against teams expected to finish in the bottom half of the conference: Villanova on Feb. 28 and Georgetown on Mar. 3 at MSG, and the road tilt with the aforementioned Pirates.