As the calendar turns from November to December, many teams have just wrapped up their holiday exempt tournaments and are beginning their second month of non-conference match-ups. Here is a look at how the Big East and Big 12 have fared over the first month of the 2016-17 college basketball season.  

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Big East: Recap
The Big East Conference, like in recent years, has gotten off to a red-hot start in non-conference play. The top four teams, Villanova (#2), Xavier (#7), Creighton (#10) and Butler (#18) all won their holiday exempt tournaments and have yet to lose a game at the time of this publication. These top four can compete with any top four across the nation, as they all are in the Top 25 in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings. Aside from each of their two-or-three-game tournament championships, Villanova boasts the country’s best road-win to date at then-#15 Purdue, Creighton knocked off then-#9 Wisconsin at home and Butler just notched a quality road win at Utah. While Villanova, Xavier and Creighton were all expected to perform at or near this level, Butler is the pleasant surprise for the conference; it is the third straight season that the Bulldogs have defeated a top-10 opponent (this year upsetting #8 Arizona).

Big East: Quick Hits
The Big East as a whole currently ranks #1 in RPI according to Live RPI, despite that statistic not meaning much this early into the season… In terms of the other six teams in the conference, some have met expectations while others have been disappointing. Seton Hall had a disappointing Thanksgiving tournament losing to Florida and Stanford, but I still they will be fine. The Pirates have a chance later this month at a non-conference win versus #20 South Carolina… Providence is better than expected, having defeated Memphis in the Emerald Coast Classic before falling to #7 Virginia in a tight 63-52 finish… DePaul and Marquette s are about where many pundits expected them to be… many expected St. John’s to improve with some talent in Chris Mullin’s second year, but the Red Storm lost to Delaware State last night. The Hornets’ lone win prior to last night was against Clarks Summit, which sounds more like a Civil War battleground site than a college… The clear disappointment of the conference thus far has been Georgetown, who has started 3-4 with a huge black mark of losing to Arkansas State at home.

Big 12: Recap
The Big 12 currently has four league members situated in the Top 25, as follows: Kansas (#4), Baylor (#9), Iowa State (#19) and West Virginia (#25). The league also boasts the 4th best conference RPI. The clear and obvious storyline so far has been the play of the Baylor Bears, who have already notched three Top-25 wins in their first six games. Baylor easily took down Oregon 66-49 at home, and followed that up with wins against VCU (71-63), #24 Michigan State (73-58) and #10 Louisville (66-63) at the Battle 4 Atlantis. The victory over the Cardinals came after being down 22 points. Johnathan Motley (17.8 PPG) and Company clearly have the best resume in the nation thus far.

Big 12: Quick Hits
After their opening-game thrilling loss to Indiana in Hawaii, Kansas came back to the mainland for another thriller against Duke, this time winning 77-75… Iowa State nearly came back from an 18-point deficit but had to settle for second place at the AdvoCare Invitational against #11 Gonzaga… Oklahoma State had some good “name” wins in Maui, defeating Georgetown and Connecticut, but it is too early to tell how important those victories will be later in the season… West Virginia had a surprising 81-77 loss to Temple (who isn’t even supposed to compete in the AAC) so Bob Huggins should hope that the Owls continue their early-season success because the AAC looks absolutely awful… Texas is reeling, having lost back-to-back games against Northwestern and Colorado followed up by a home loss to UT-Arlington last night. Both Northwestern and Colorado could be tournament teams but they are disappointing losses for Shaka Smart and his team who won’t have many more out-of-conference signature-win opportunities outside of Michigan… TCU is off to a surprising 6-0 start with their best win being a 93-80 victory over Washington in Las Vegas. They will actually face Washington again on Nov. 30 at home in an odd scheduling quirk.

Big East: Looking Ahead
#2 Villanova will begin its stretch of Big Five games, where they will face off against fellow-Philadelphia universities. The Wildcats have won 14 straight Big Five games in a row, which ties a record that they set from 2004-2007… #7 Xavier will get its first true test against #9 Baylor as they travel to Waco, TX on Saturday in what should be a feisty environment. Xavier will need forwards Trevon Blueitt, Malcolm Bernard and back-from-injury Kaiser Gates to slow down Johnathan Motley. Xavier also heads to Boulder, CO on Wednesday, Dec. 7 to take on Colorado before hosting fellow Pac-12 school Utah the following Saturday… Two geographic rivalry games will also be played on Saturday with DePaul facing off against Northwestern and Providence hosting a very tough Rhode Island team… Butler will have a tough week starting on Dec. 10 when the Bulldogs host Cincinnati at Hinkle Fieldhouse then will take on the Indiana Hoosiers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse one week later… Looking ahead, Creighton should cruise through their December non-conference schedule, which could set up an absolutely incredible environment in Omaha on New Year’s Eve, when they would face Villanova in a national Top-Ten Big East matchup.

Big 12: Looking Ahead
The majority of the Big 12 will be playing low-major or mid-major competition in December in order to fine-tune game plans and starting lineups in time for conference play. However, there are several marquee matchups over the next few weeks. #9 Baylor will play host to #7 Xavier on Saturday, Dec. 3 that will be a Top-Ten matchup, one that I expect Baylor to win given the home-field advantage… #25 West Virginia will travel to #6 Virginia for a pivotal matchup on Dec. 3 as well, in a game that will feature Bob Huggins’ unique style and the Cavaliers’ elite packline defense… Also this Saturday, Oklahoma State travels to College Park to face-off against a Maryland team that has played with wildfire over its first several games. I expect the Terrapins to win but it would be a very solid road win for a Cowboys team that could surprise people in the Big 12 this season… Over the next week, Iowa State has a chance at two good victories as they host AAC-favorite Cincinnati on Dec. 1 and then travel for an in-state rival match-up at Iowa on Dec. 8. I’d expect the Cyclones to take both games. 

Chris Bacon
Chris Bacon

A graduate of Xavier University, Chris began his writing career as a Xavier Musketeers Athletic Communications Intern where he wrote previews and post-game recaps for men’s basketball, women’s basketball and other Olympic sports. He has worked in the sports industry in various capacities for over 5 years. Chris is a fan of the Xavier Musketeers, the Baltimore Ravens and the Baltimore Orioles. Other hobbies and passions includes Game of Thrones and, as an Eagle Scout, volunteering as a Boy Scout Troop Assistant Scoutmaster. Chris was born in Baltimore, raised in Baltimore County and currently resides in Canton.

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