The strongest conference in college soccer will begin the path toward crowning its champion today as the Big East Tournament kicks off and a half dozen nationally-ranked teams do battle for the crown currently held by Louisville.
South Florida enters as the favorite, with pre-season favorites Louisville and UConn being forced to take longer roads to the semifinals after enduring some disappointing results.
DePaul and Connecticut will get the tournament underway with the first of four first-round games played tonight. The other matches are Georgetown-St. John's, Providence-Louisville and Villanova-Notre Dame.
The winners of tonight's games will advance to the tournament quarterfinals, which will be played on Sunday. The top four teams that received byes and are awaiting to know who they will face are Rutgers, West Virginia, Marquette and USF.
The tournament semifinals and final will be played at Red Bull Arena on Nov. 11 and 13, with the champion earning an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.
Here is today's full slate of matches as well as Sunday's quarterfinals schedule:
TONIGHT
6PM- DePaul (No. 6 Red) at Connecticut (No. 3 Blue)
7PM- Georgetown (No. 6 Blue) at at St. John's (No. 3 Red)
7PM- Providence (No. 5 Blue) at Louisville (No. 4 Red)
7:30PM- Villanova (No. 5 Red) at Notre Dame (No. 4 Blue)
SUNDAY
Providence/Louisville at Marquette (No. 1 Blue)
DePaul/Connecticut at Rutgers (No. 2 Red)
Villanova/Notre Dame at USF (No. 1 Red)
Georgetown/St. John's at West Virginia (No. 2 Blue)
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Who do you see winning the Big East tournament? Which match are you most looking forward to? Which players do you think will shine?
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