By of the

Heading into the final Saturday of Big East play, Marquette could finish anywhere between fourth and eighth in the conference depending on how things shake out. The top three spots (Villanova, Xavier, Seton Hall) and the bottom two (DePaul, St. John's) are the only slots spoken for heading into next week's Big East tournament.

Butler, Creighton and Providence are all tied for fourth with 9-8 conference records while Marquette currently sits in seventh at 8-9 and Georgetown is alone in eighth at 7-10.

The conference's tie-breaking system is fairly straightforward. If two teams are tied, the first tiebreaker is head to head record. In the case of a split, then the team with the best conference win gets the advantage. If three or more teams are tied, they are considered as a mini-conference and the team with the best record against the other teams in the mini-conference gets the advantage.

Before laying out the scenarios, here are the relevant games on Saturday:

Georgetown at Villanova, 11 a.m.

Providence at St. John's, 11:30 a.m.

Creighton at Xavier, 1:30 p.m.

Marquette at Butler, 1:30 p.m.

How Marquette finishes fourth

Marquette win over Butler, Providence loss to St. John's, Creighton loss to Xavier

This would create a four-way tie between Marquette, Providence, Butler and Creighton and the Golden Eagles would own a 5-1 record in that mini-conference.

How Marquette finishes fifth

Marquette win over Butler, Creighton win over Xavier, Providence loss to St. John's

At 10-8, Creighton would get the No. 4 seed. Marquette, which would be 4-0 vs. Butler and Providence, would get No. 5 among those three teams tied at 9-9.

OR

Marquette win over Butler, Providence win over St. John's, Creighton loss to Xavier

At 10-8, Providence would get the No. 4 seed. Marquette, Creighton and Butler would all be 9-9 and the Golden Eagles would win that mini-conference with a 3-1 record to place fifth.

How Marquette finishes sixth

Marquette win over Butler, Providence win over St. John's, Creighton win over Xavier

Providence would be the No. 4 and Creighton the No. 5 by virtue of a Friars sweep of the Bluejays since they'd both be 10-8. Marquette and Butler would both be 9-9, with the Golden Eagles getting the No. 6 seed because of their sweep of the Bulldogs.

How Marquette finishes seventh

Marquette loss to Butler, Georgetown loss to Villanova

The Golden Eagles would be alone at 8-10 in the No. 7 position.

How Marquette finishes eighth

Marquette loss to Butler, Georgetown win over Villanova

Marquette and Georgetown would be tied at 8-10. Since the Golden Eagles and Hoyas split the season series, Georgetown would get the advantage by virtue of having the best conference win (against No. 1 Villanova)

Long story short, if Marquette wins on Saturday it will get a bye to the quarterfinals. With a loss, it will play on Wednesday in the opening round of the Big East tournament.