The Big East is arguably the most all-around talented conference in college basketball, and two of the biggest reasons why this conference is so deep are the Seton Hall Pirates and Butler Bulldogs. Both of these teams look destined for the 2015 NCAA Tournament bubble and will face off at Prudential Center (Seton Hall) on Tuesday, Jan. 13, at 7 PM ET on Fox Sports 1.
Seton Hall has won three out of its four Big East games, including back-to-back wins over a ranked St. John’s Red Storm and then undefeated Villanova Wildcats. It suffered a setback away from home against Xavier, but rebounded at home with a win over the Creighton Bluejays. Unfortunately for the Pirates, their best non-conference win was against the George Washington Colonials, meaning that they have to continue to perform well in conference play in order to stay in the tournament discussion.
The Bulldogs have no truly bad losses on the season, but their few good wins were early in the season. Butler needs to get a few big conference wins and get to around 20 wins if it wants to make the tournament. A win over the Pirates could put it solidly back onto the bubble.
Seton Hall is the better team, but Butler poses an extremely dangerous threat from beyond the arc. On top of that, the Bulldogs’ defense is extremely underrated and is holding opponents to around 61 points per game. I’m calling an upset, as Butler travels away from home and gets a potential season-saving win against Seton Hall.
Prediction: Butler 68, Seton Hall 64
Taylor Sturm is a Featured Basketball Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TSturmRS, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.