A crazy, unpredictable Big East season regularly disrupted by COVID-19-related pauses ends this weekend.

Next up is what’s expected to be a crazy, unpredictable Big East tournament, which starts on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden in New York — hopefully without the issues that plagued the regular season.

As backed up by regular season results, just about any team can pull off at least one upset win in New York. 

The top three finishers all stumbled against teams that own league records at either .500 or below. 

Villanova, the regular-season champion, was upset by Butler and St. John’s. 

Runner-up Creighton lost to Marquette and Butler, two of three teams at the bottom of the league, as well as Providence. 

UConn dropped games to St. John’s and Providence. 

Recent developments have created an even more wide open Big East tournament. 

While clinching the program’s seventh regular-season title in eight years on Wednesday, Villanova saw Big East player of the year candidate Collin Gillespie suffer a knee injury in a win over Creighton. He’s expected to be out for the remainder of the year. 

It’s a devastating blow for Gillespie and the Wildcats, who have national championship aspirations. 

It’s difficult to overstate Gillespie’s importance to Villanova, which has gone 94-24 and won a national championship during the senior point guard’s career. 

“He is the heart and soul of our program,” said coach Jay Wright in a release. “We know we can’t replace him. We all just want to step up and play so that we honor him. Collin is as mentally tough and resilient as any player we have had here. I know he will get through this and make it a positive for his career.” 

Creighton could be without head coach Greg McDermott, who was suspended by the school after he made inappropriate and insensitive comments to his players in the locker room following a loss at Xavier on Feb. 27. 

McDermott admitted saying, “Guys, we got to stick together. We need both feet in. I need everybody to stay on the plantation. I can’t have anybody leave the plantation.” 

The school released a statement, stating McDermott’s remarks “were not in alignment with Creighton’s commitment to racial equity, diversity and respect.” 

McDermott is suspended for the regular season-finale against Butler on Saturday. No word whether he’ll be back on the bench for the Big East tournament. Assistant coach Alan Huss will be in charge. 

In a post on his Twitter account, McDermott said: “I made a mistake and I own it. Mistakes come with consequences, and I accept and agree with the suspension.” 

Tournament format

The Big East tournament will start on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden in New York with a first round tripleheader featuring the bottom six teams in the standings. 

The top five teams each receive a bye and begin play in the quarterfinals on Thursday. So far, Villanova, Creighton and UConn have earned those spots. 

Semifinals will be Friday night and the championship game on Saturday, March 13, at 6:30 p.m. All games will be televised on FS1 with the exception of the final, which will be on Ch. 61. 

All-Big East choices 

Here’s one observer’s All-Big East selections:

• All-Big East first team: Villanova’s Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Gillespie, UConn’s James Bouknight, St. John’s Julian Champagnie, Seton Hall’s Sandro Mamukelashvili and Providence’s David Duke, Creighton’s Marcus Zegarowski.

• Player of the Year: Gillespie. Few, if any players, made a bigger impact on their team than Gillespie. Plus, the Wildcats added another Big East regular-season title to their resume. So the best player on the best team deserves the honor. 

Ruled out Bouknight because he’ll play in only nine of UConn’s 17 Big East games. 

• Freshman of the Year: Marquette’s Dawson Garcia. Garcia, the preseason pick, is the top freshman scorer and rebounder in the Big East at 13.3 points and 6.7 rebounds. He’s also first on his team in both categories. 

He just barely nipped St. John’s guard Posh Alexander, who built a strong case before missing time after suffering a thumb injury.

• Coach of the Year: St. John’s Mike Anderson. This choice is partially based on Anderson’s team exceeding expectations. St. John’s is in the running for one of five first round byes in the Big East tournament after being picked to finish nine. 

With a win over Seton Hall on Saturday, St. John’s would post a winning league record for the first time since 2015. The Red Storm started out 1-5 in league play before winning eight of their next 12. They went 5-13 in league play last season. 

Other strong candidates include Georgetown’s Patrick Ewing and UConn’s Dan Hurley. Picked to finish last, the Hoyas are in seventh place with a game to go. The Huskies secured third place despite Bouknight missing eight games with an elbow injury. 

• Defensive Player of the Year: UConn’s Isaiah Whaley. This award usually goes to the league’s leader in either blocks or steals, so that narrows it down to Whaley and Alexander. 

Whaley ranks ninth in the country in blocks at 2.79 while Alexander is eighth in steals at 2.58. Whaley is just slightly more deserving as he protected the rim and helped discourage players from attacking the basket. 

Wacky turn of events

Hard to figure out Xavier. In the span of three games, the Musketeers sandwiched a pair of damaging losses to Providence and Georgetown around an upset of Creighton. 

They’ve lost four of their last six, going from being on the NCAA tournament bubble to their NCAA tournament hopes being in trouble. 

The Musketeers (13-6, 6-6) basically face a must-win situation on Saturday when they finish the regular season by visiting Marquette. They’re No. 53 in the NCAA NET Rankings and No. 56 in the Pomeroy Ratings. 

Yet they’re still fighting for a top five Big East spot and a first round bye in the league tournament that comes with it. Even if they beat Marquette, they will likely need at least one win in the Big East tournament to feel safe on Selection Sunday. 

“There’s a lot of season to be played still,” Xavier coach Travis Steele said. “Our guys will be ready to freakin’ roll at Marquette. I’m going to find five guys out there who are going to play hard for 40 minutes.” 

QUOTE of the WEEK

This is what Seton Hall guard Bryce Aiken was heard saying during the FS1 broadcast before he took two free throws in Wednesday’s loss to UConn: “I ain’t never missing this.” 

Then Aiken missed his first free throw to end his season streak of sinking 23 straight and also misfired on his second attempt. 

News and notes

As of Friday, the Big East had nine teams in the top 100 of the NCAA NET Rankings. Villanova stood at No. 10, followed by No. 26 Creighton, No. 32 UConn, No. 53 Xavier, No. 57 Seton Hall, No. 69 St. John’s, No. 83 Providence, No. 90 Marquette and No. 91 Georgetown. … Seton Hall senior Sandro Mamukelashvili and Villanova sophomore Jeremiah Robinson-Earl are two of five finalists for the 2021 Karl Malone Award, which honors the best power forward in college basketball. Other finalists include Pittsburgh’s Justin Champagnie, Gonzaga’s Drew Timme and Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis. … Xavier’s Zach Freemantle rang up his sixth straight double-double in Monday’s loss at Georgetown, finishing with 12 points and 12 rebounds. … Individual leaders in overall games: Scoring, Champagnie, 19.8; Rebounding, Fremantle, 9.2; Assists, Xavier’s Paul Scruggs, 5.95; Steals, Alexander, 2.58; Blocks, Whaley, 2.79. … Game to watch this weekend: Seton Hall at St. John’s. Both teams are competing for a first round bye in the Big East tournament.

g.keefe@theday.com