All sorts of hot Big East news is being released Wednesday in advance of the conference’s Media Day .

Providence College’s non-league schedule and opening four Big East games have been announced.

The Friars will open at Alumni Hall on Nov. 25 against Fairfield. The team then will travel to Asheville, N.C. for the Maui Invitational and face Indiana in the first of three games.

The other two non-league games are a home date vs. Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 5 and a visit to TCU on Dec. 9.

** First potential Final Four team Villanova is the consensus pick among the Big East’s 11 coaches to win the conference in the 2020-21 season. Providence College was picked third. The Wildcats received nine of 11 first place votes with Creighton getting the other two.

Coaches cannot pick their own teams so we can assume Jay Wright went with the Bluejays but who would be the other coach to look to Nebraska?

Here is the complete poll:

1. Villanova (9 first place votes) 2. Creighton (2) 3. Providence 4. UConn 5. Seton Hall 6. Marquette 7. Xavier 8. Butler 9. St. John’s 10. DePaul 11. Georgetown

The league’s coaches also selected pre-season honors – which mean next to nothing but are great for the fans to mull over. PC’s David Duke is a first team all-league pick, Nate Watson a second teamer.

BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year
Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton, G, Jr., 6-2, 180, Hamilton, Mass.
 
BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the Year
Dawson Garcia, Marquette, F, Fr., 6-11, 230, Prior Lake, Minn.
 
Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team
Charlie Moore, DePaul, G, Sr., 5-11, 180, Chicago, Ill.
David Duke, Providence, G, Jr., 6-5, 205, Providence, R.I.
Sandro Mamukelashvili, Seton Hall, F, Sr., 6-11, 240, Tbilisi, Georgia*
Collin Gillespie, Villanova, G, Sr., 6-3, 191, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.*
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova, F, So., 6-9, 232, Overland Park, Kan.
 
Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team^
Bryce Nze, Butler, F, Sr., 6-7, 235, Hartland, Wis.
James Bouknight, Connecticut, G, So., 6-5, 190, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mitch Ballock, Creighton, G, Sr., 6-5, 205, Eudora, Kan.
Nate Watson, Providence, C, Sr., 6-10, 260, Portsmouth, Va.
Justin Moore, Villanova, G, So., 6-4, 210, Fort Washington, Md.
Paul Scruggs, Xavier, G, Sr., 6-4, 196, Indianapolis, Ind.
 
Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention
D.J. Carton, Marquette, G, So., 6-2, 195, Bettendorf, Iowa
Bryce Aiken, Seton Hall, G, Sr., 6-0, 180, Randolph, N.J.

Finally, the schedule for the league’s first four conference games was released. Providence will host its first two before going on the road.

Dec. 12 home vs. Xavier.

Dec. 17 home vs. UConn

Dec. 20 at Seton Hall

Dec. 23 at Butler.