[dropcap]N[/dropcap]ew Year’s Eve basketball is coming to DePaul and Allstate arena.

DePaul men’s basketball will open with Marquette at 4 p.m. Dec. 31 as the Big East will again kick off its conference schedule with a slate of five games. DePaul-Marquette is the third game of the day.

The Big East announced its conference schedule Tuesday, completing DePaul’s schedule for the 2014-2015 season. The Blue Demons will again play a slate of 18 conference games, facing each time twice in a home-away series.

Four of DePaul’s first six conference games are at home. They open with Marquette and Xavier before traveling to Creighton and Villanova.  DePaul then plays Georgetown and St. John’s at home.

Fox Sports 1 will televise 13 of DePaul’s 18 conference games. Three of the remaining games can be found on the CBS Sports Network while Butler-DePaul on Feb. 28 will be televised on Fox Sports 2.

Of DePaul’s nine-conference home games, five will begin a late start at 8 p.m. This is actually an increase from a year ago when DePaul played four games with an 8 p.m. start. DePaul’s average attendance was 6,557 last year, the school’s lowest since 2003.  In May, DePaul athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto pointed to bad weather, losing and inconsistent start times as to a reason why attendance fell. She added that 6 p.m. starts and 8 p.m. starts made it difficult for season ticket holders and families to attend games. There are no 6 p.m. starts this year.

DePaul went 3-15 in its conference play last season, including losing 12 of their last 13 conference games. They did, however, upset Georgetown in the Big East tournament, DePaul’s first conference tournament win since 2009. The Blue Demons ended their season with an 84-62 loss to Creighton.

The Big East tournament will take place March 11-14 at Madison Square Garden, an iconic venue to Big East basketball.

Below is DePaul’s conference schedule in full:

• Dec. 31 Marquette (4 p.m.)
• Jan. 3 Xavier (1 p.m.)
• Jan. 7 at Creighton (8 p.m.)
• Jan. 10 at Villanova (3 p.m.)*
• Jan. 13 Georgetown (8 p.m.)
• Jan. 18 St. John’s (1:30 p.m.)
• Jan. 22 at Seton Hall (6 p.m.)
• Jan. 24 at Xavier (11 a.m.)
• Jan. 27 at Providence (8 p.m.)
• Feb. 3 Seton Hall (8 p.m.)
• Feb. 7 at Butler
• Feb. 11 at St. John’s (8 p.m.)*
• Feb. 18 Providence (8 p.m.)*
• Feb. 21 at Georgetown (7 p.m.)*
• Feb. 28 Butler (1 p.m.)**
• March 7 at Marquette

* = televised by CBS Sports Network

** = televised by Fox Sports 2