The bracket has been released, and the 2026 Big East Tournament — one of the most exciting events in all of sports — tips off on Wednesday in New York. St. John’s will be the No. 1 seed in this week’s tournament after clinching the outright league title during the final weekend of the regular season. After the Red Storm took care of business against Seton Hall in their final game and UConn was upset by Marquette, it opened the door for the reigning Big East Tournament champions to earn the top seed.
UConn finished second in the Big East standings and will be the No. 2 seed. Villanova, led by first-year coach Kevin Willard, will be the No. 3 seed. Seton Hall is the No. 4 seed and will face No. 5 seed Creighton in the quarterfinals. The top five teams in the Big East standings all received a first-round bye.
Entering the weekend, only three teams (St. John’s, UConn and Villanova) were in CBS Sports’ latest Bracketology projections. Seton Hall is one of the teams on the outside looking in heading into the final week of the season and will need a strong showing to potentially get back into the conversation to receive an at-large berth.
The first round of the Big East Tournament begins Wednesday with three games on the slate. No. 9 seed Providence will face No. 8 seed Butler in the opening game of the tournament. After that game ends, No. 7 seed Marquette will face No. 10 seed Xavier.
No. 11 seed Georgetown vs. No. 6 seed DePaul is the final game of the first round.
More conference tournament scores, brackets: ACC | Big 12 | Big Ten | SEC
2026 Big East Tournament bracket, scores
Location: Madison Square Garden — New YorkLive stream: fuboTV (Try for free) | Follow live: CBS Sports App
All times Eastern; some start times approximated
First round — Wednesday, March 11Game 1: No. 9 Providence 91, No. 8 Butler 81 | RecapGame 2: No. 10 Xavier 89, No. 7 Marquette 87 | RecapGame 3: No. 6 DePaul vs. No. 11 Georgetown | 9 p.m. on Peacock
Quarterfinals — Thursday, March 12Game 4: No. 1 St. John’s vs. No. 9 Providence | Noon on PeacockGame 5: No. 4 Seton Hall vs. No. 5 Creighton | 2:30 p.m. on PeacockGame 6: No. 2 UConn vs. No. 10 Xavier | 7 p.m. on FS1Game 7: No. 3 Villanova vs. Game 3 winner | 9:30 p.m. on FS1
Semifinals — Friday, March 13Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner | 5:30 p.m. on FoxGame 9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner | 8 p.m. on FS1
Big East Tournament Championship Game — Saturday, March 14Game 10: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner | 6:30 p.m. on Fox
