The Georgetown Hoyas will play host to the Xavier Musketeers on Sunday afternoon. the Hoyas and Musketeers are set for a late afternoon collision on national television, which should provide some intriguing prospects as both teams look to finish out strong.

The month of March will begin with this showdown between the teams seated 7th and 8th in the current Big East standings. The 7-8 Musketeers have a two-game cushion over the 5-10 Hoyas, but with three games to play, it’s still a precarious spot. Georgetown is likely to play on Wednesday in the Big East Tournament unless they make some kind of magic happen and have that voodoo coupled with some help along the way. Xavier can thrust themselves away from the Wednesday spot if they get things right. And the possibility very much exists for that going down the stretch here.

It will be very intriguing to see how this one plays out. Georgetown’s weakness is 3-point defense, but the Musketeers don’t exactly have the goods from outside either. THey rank 273rd in the country in 3-point percentage, and their plus offensively matches up with one of the Hoyas’ plusses on defense. It will be intriguing, however, to see how Georgetown plays on O. The Hoyas offense has been pretty solid, all things considered. But the Musketeer defense has been very sharp.

While the Hoyas have the 4th-best 3-point percentage in the conference, no Big East team has been better at shutting the perimeter down like Xavier has this season. DePaul, Villanova and St. John’s have shot 33.3 percent, 24.1 percent and 31.6 percent against Xavier from outside in the last three games. Xavier went 2-1 in those three contests, so it’s certainly been a strong formula for them.

Georgetown has been stuck in a three-game losing streak entering play. They lost to Providence, DePaul and Marquette over the last three games, snapping what was a solid run with wins over St. John’s, DePaul and Butler over a four-game stretch. They were blown out by Marquette earlier in the week on Wednesday, so their confidence may be diminishing a bit. But a return home may be what the doctor ordered for them. Time shall tell.

HOW TO WATCH

Time: 2 p.m. ET

TV: CBS (Check your local listings)

ODDS

(via Action Network)

Spread: Xavier -1
Total: 142.5

If you’re looking for a gambling edge here, this one may not look good for the Hoyas. They are 2-4-1 ATS at home against Big East opponents, per VegasInsider. Their only two covers have come against St. John’s (January 8) and DePaul (February 8). In general, it’s been a tough go for the Hoyas in Big East play. They are 4-10-1 ATS against Big East opponents this year, with three losses against the spread in a row entering play.

The Musketeers, meanwhile, have been red hot of late. They won their last game against DePaul outright and ATS. Entering play they are 6-1 ATS in their last seven games. And after a dreadful start, Xavier has managed to pull off a 7-7-1 mark ATS against the Big East this year.

The game’s a proverbial pick’em right now, with Xavier being a 1-point fave. Xavier’s been a road favorite just once in conference play, and they covered the 1.5-point spread against St. John’s back on February 17. Georgetown has been a home underdog just once this season, when Seton Hall came to town. And they lost that game outright and by the spread, as they failed to cover the 4.5-point spread, losing 78-71 to the Pirates.