A few weeks back I wrote about how Providence came into the year with high expectations, but faced a number of injuries and setbacks which led to an inevitably underwhelming number of performances in non-conference play. I also pointed out that they were more than capable of turning their young season around, which is exactly what they have been doing lately. After a tough OT loss to Marquette, led by an unreal performance by Markus Howard at the Dunk, the Friars pulled off 4 straight victories, the first of which coming against #5 Xavier followed by DePaul, Butler and Creighton. Everything seemed to be clicking for the Friars at the right time. During that 4 game stretch they were averaging 77 points per game while managing to hold opponents to 66ppg. Since then however, Providence has dropped their last two, both on the road to quality teams, the top ranked team in the country, Villanova, beat the Friars by 20 and then a slow start last night led to a 16 point defeat at the hands of Seton Hall. This upcoming stretch has now become extremely important for PC and their hopes of advancing to the tournament in March.

I believe that there are a number of remaining games that are must wins for Providence, including a tough road match up at Marquette this Saturday afternoon, their third straight game away from the Dunk. This game by no means is going to make or break the season, the Golden Eagles are a high tempo team who I feel has the talent to go dancing as well, but it would be a big win for PC. The Friars after last night are now at 14-8 on the year (5-4 Big East) which has them as the 6th seed in the conference currently, and the remaining schedule is no cakewalk either. As I mentioned earlier, they have a challenging road game Saturday at Marquette and still have to play Villanova and Seton Hall at home as well as games at Xavier and Butler, all of whom are top 50 RPI and listed in the latest edition of Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology. Sidebar, that man is a machine, puts out two brackets a week and I’ll guarantee 95% accuracy come Selection Sunday, impressive is an absolute understatement. I believe the Friars can’t have more than 10 losses going into the Conference Tournament, which means they can only afford to have two more losses for the year, and according to my math means they need to finish the season 7-2. A simple eye test would tell you the toughest remaining games on the schedule are against Nova at home come Valentine’s Day, and then against top 5 Xavier at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati on the 28th, leaving the rest to be necessities for Providence’s resume. A task that I know is achievable, while at the same time being very difficult and stressful for the Friar faithful. As always, go Friars!

PS- If you were to tell me 6 years ago I would be plotting out a way for PC to make their 5th consecutive NCAA Tournament, I probably would’ve agreed with you to your face, while simultaneously thinking to myself the GIF of Nick Young with the question marks. Further proof that Ed Cooley is a top coach not only in the Big East, but the entire country, as well as the savior to this program.