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'3-pointers were falling faster than snowflakes in a Buffalo blizzard.' David Woods discusses Butler's 107-46 win over Western Illinois. David Woods/IndyStar

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INDIANAPOLIS – For the Butler optimist, it is time for the Bulldogs to seize control of the Big East and climb into college basketball’s Top 25.

For the Butler pessimist, it is time for the Bulldogs to begin a descent to the bottom of the Big East.

Why such a mood swing?

Because Butler is in arguably the most difficult scheduling sequence of its five Big East seasons.

The Bulldogs (10-3) open conference play Wednesday night at Georgetown (10-1).

That would be bad enough, given Butler’s 2-3 record away from Hinkle Fieldhouse. Yes, the Bulldogs won in their past two trips to Washington, D.C., but both games went to overtime.

The harsher reality is this: This is the only one of the first five Big East games in which Butler is favored (59 percent win probability, according to kenpom.com). The subsequent four opponents are all in the Top 25 of the USA Today/coaches’ poll:

>> Saturday, No. 1 Villanova.

>> Jan. 2, at No. 5 Xavier.

>> Jan. 6, No. 24 Seton Hall.

>> Jan. 9, at No. 23 Creighton.

Butler started poorly in its first three Big East seasons -- 0-5, 3-3, 2-5 -- and opened 3-2 a year ago.

Butler players dispersed for three days before reconvening Christmas night. Coach LaVall Jordan said it was the right amount of time for a break – neither too long nor too short – and that the Bulldogs are excited to start what will be his first Big East season.

“Outside of that, it’s one at a time,” Jordan said. “I think our guys have that mindset.”

That will be requisite in a league that ranks among the nation’s top three for a fourth consecutive season. Seven teams are in the kenpom Top 50, and all but DePaul in the Top 100. There will big wins and long losing streaks. For instance, Xavier last season lost six in a row but made the NCAA Tournament and reached the Elite Eight.

Expect more of the same. In ESPN's latest NCAA mock bracket, there are five Big East entries, and Butler is among the first four out. Seven made the 2017 field.

“Since I’ve been in the league, this is the best the league has been. And that’s saying something,” Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski said Tuesday during the Big East’s first teleconference.

Creighton coach Greg McDermott added: “I think the depth of our league is going to be the strength of our league. I think the teams in the middle and the teams at the bottom have certainly improved.”

Butler (eighth) and Georgetown (ninth) were picked for the bottom. The Hoyas have been impossible to evaluate, having played the absolute worst schedule in the nation – 351st, according to kenpom. In their lone loss, they blew a 13-point lead and were beaten by visiting Syracuse in overtime, 86-79.

Georgetown has a new coach in NBA great Patrick Ewing, 55, who will try to remake the Hoyas into the power they were when he played there during the 1980s. He said the Big East is dominated more by guards and forwards than it was when he played. Otherwise, he said: “To me, there really isn’t any difference.”

The Hoyas have seven players scoring seven or more points a game, led by 6-10 Jessie Govan, whose averages are 19.0 points and 12.1 rebounds. Georgetown’s starting lineup averages 6-7, featuring length that Jordan said the Bulldogs cannot simulate in practice.

Butler center Tyler Wideman, who missed Thursday’s 107-46 win over Western Illinois after oral surgery, will be back for Georgetown. Jordan said Western Illinois was the first game in which “it kind of all clicked.”

If so, it came at a good time. A big win – or a long slump – is just around the corner.

Call IndyStar reporter David Woods at (317) 444-6195 or email david.woods@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

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BUTLER VS. GEORGETOWN

Tipoff: 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Capital One Arena, Washington D.C.

TV/Radio: FS1/93.1 FM

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