Wednesday marks the start of the Big East Tournament (coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET on FS1). St. John’s faces Georgetown and DePaul takes on Xavier to kick things off this evening before a full slate of quarterfinal action tips off Thursday.

But while the Big East always puts on one of the best tournaments of ‘Championship Week,’ this year it has extra appeal. The conference is home to the defending national champion (Villanova), another true Final Four contender (Butler) and upwards of seven teams – out of 10 total – who could make the Big Dance.

So what do you need to know as play gets set to tip off? Here are 5 things.