Best of the Rest March Madness Report: First Place in Big East at Stake

Across the country, expect Gonzaga to be ready to go in the rematch against Loyola Marymount. The Lions snapped Gonzaga’s 75-game home winning streak earlier this season. It is just one of the games of note for teams outside of the Power- 5 conferences.

Houston remained second in both national polls and received 37 first-place votes in the national rankings.

Marquette remained 10th in the coaches’ poll and dropped one spot to 11th in the Associated Press poll. Gonzaga went from 16th to 12th in the coaches’ poll and 16th to 13th in the writers’ poll. No. 16 Xavier, No. 17 Saint Mary’s, No. 18 Creighton, No. 20 UConn, No. 21 San Diego State and No. 24 Providence remained in the top 25 in the Associated Press poll while Florida Atlantic returned to the top 25.

According to the college basketball playoff odds, Houston (+650) has the best odds to win the national title. UConn is tied for seventh at +2000 followed by Creighton (+2800), Gonzaga (+3000), Saint Mary’s (+3300), Xavier (+3300) and Marquette (+4000).

Saint Mary’s (-500) is still ahead of Gonzaga (+350) in the odds to win the West Coast Conference title. San Diego State is priced at -400 to win the Mountain West title while

Houston has -2500 odds to win the American Athletic Conference.

Houston continues to lead the NCAA NET Rankings as the Cougars look to become a No. 1 seed when the March Madness brackets are released. No. 6 Saint Mary’s, No. 8 UConn, No. 12 Gonzaga, No. 14 Creighton, No. 15 Marquette, No. 18 San Diego State, and No. 19 Florida Atlantic prove that the quality basketball isn’t limited to the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and the SEC.

Here’s a look at the upcoming games for the ranked teams for the programs outside of the Power-5 conferences.

Let’s check the latest college basketball news, stats, injury reports, and college basketball lines. We’ve got plenty of NCAA basketball picks for you to consider.

Game of the Week

Xavier vs Marquette

• Date, time (TV): Wednesday, Feb. 15, 7:00 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)

This is about as big as it gets in the regular season in the Big East.

Thanks to Providence’s double-overtime win over Creighton on Tuesday, Marquette enters this game in sole possession of first place in the conference standings. Xavier would take over the Big East lead with a win.

Xavier and Marquette are the only Big East teams to average more than 80 points per game and are first and second in field-goal percentage as well.

Xavier (29-6, 11-3 Big East) will be without leading rebounder and No. 2 scorer Zach Freemantle, whose absence was notable in a loss to Butler the last time out.

Marquette (20-6, 12-3) bounced back from its first double-digit point loss of the season by getting 31 bench points in a convincing win at last-place Georgetown.

The Golden Eagles and Musketeers have split the last six games with the home team winning the last five. That includes Xavier’s 80-76 win on Jan. 15 when the Musketeers outrebounded Marquette 45-32 and held the 17-9 edge in offensive rebounds.

Marquette leads the Big East with a 17-8-1 mark against the spread.

Marquette gets nearly a week off before another tough test against Creighton while Xavier is right back at it on Saturday when they play host to DePaul.

pic.twitter.com/Zh6zeYPHcd

— Xavier Basketball (@XavierMBB) February 15, 2023

Other Games to Watch

San Diego vs Fresno State

• Date, time (TV): Wednesday, Feb. 15, 11:00 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)

The sportsbook lists the visiting Aztecs as the eight-point favorite.

San Diego State (20-5, 11-2 Mountain West) has been playing with fire, winning the last two games by two and 11 points.

Fresno State topped New Mexico in its only other game this season against a ranked opponent.

San Diego State has won the last seven games against Fresno State. However, the last time the teams met in the regular season, the Bulldogs nearly pulled off the upset before falling 65-64 on the road

Cougars vs SMU

• Date, time (TV): Thursday, Feb. 16, 7:00 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

When the teams met in Houston, the Cougars rolled to a 34-point win. Expect a much closer affair this time. SMU won an 85-83 thriller the last time the teams met in Dallas.

With upcoming games against Memphis and Tulane, the Cougars (23-2, 11-1 American Athletic Conference) need to make sure they are ready for this one even if the Mustangs have just nine wins.

Freshman Jarace Walker had 23 and 10 rebounds in the first game against SMU.

Two of the last three times that SMU played host to Houston, the game was decided by two points or less.

Owls vs Middle Tennessee State

• Date, time: Thursday, Feb. 16, 7:00 p.m. ET

Something will have to give in this Conference USA matchup with Middle Tennessee State only losing twice at home and FAU having just two road losses.

The Owls (24-2, 14-1 Conference USA) are coming off an overtime win over Louisiana Tech with Alijah Martin keeping the Owls from being grounded with six 3-pointers.

Middle Tennessee swept the season series a year ago before the Owls rolled to the 85-67 win at home on Jan. 26.

FAU is 16-7-1 against the college basketball spreads this season and that is tied for the fourth-best mark among Division I men’s programs.

Gaels vs San Diego

• Date, time: Thursday, Feb. 16, 10:00 p.m. ET

Logan Johnson is coming off back-to-back 30-point efforts for Saint Mary’s and will be facing a San Diego team that has struggled defensively. The Toreros are last in the WCC in field goal percentage defense and only Pepperdine allows more points per game among conference teams than San Diego.

The Gaels (22-5, 11-1 WCC) have won 17 straight in the series and covered against the college basketball betting lines in eight of the last time.

San Diego (11-16, 4-9) gets to face Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga back-to-back while the Gaels have a nationally televised game against Brigham Young on Saturday night.

The Toreros are tied for the national lead with 19of their games finishing over the total.

Gonzaga vs Loyola Marymount

• Date, time (TV): Thursday, Feb. 16, 11:00 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)

It is safe to assume that this game has been circled on the calendar by the Gonzaga players ever since Loyola Marymount came to Spokane and left with a stunning one-point win to end Gonzaga’s 75-game winning streak at home.

Gonzaga came into that matchup having won 25 straight against Loyola Marymount, with the last 21 decided by double digits.

Cam Shelton led the way with 27 points while Gonzaga’s Drew Timme finished with just 17. Since that time, the Lions are 3-3. However, one of those wins came against WCC-leading Saint Mary’s.

Gonzaga has won five of its last six games. The Bulldogs (21-5, 10-2) had a pair of 99-point efforts and topped 80 points in each of those five wins.

dub ✅ pic.twitter.com/p23nKY0Khv

— Gonzaga Basketball (@ZagMBB) February 12, 2023

Pirates vs UConn

• Date, time (TV): Saturday, FebU. 18, 12 noon ET (FOX)

UConn has been tough to beat at home with a 12-2 record while Seton Hall has split its 10 road games, so the edge goes to the Huskies in this matchup.

The Pirates came away with a one-point win when the teams met on Jan. 18 as UConn squandered an early 15-point lead.

Both teams were a little 3-point happy in that matchup. Don’t be surprised to see the Huskies (19-7, 8-7 Big East) feeding the ball down low to Adama Sanogo and Donovan Clingan in the rematch.

Each of the last three games in the series finished under the total with the home team capturing the last four games.

Villanova vs Providence

• Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 18, 4:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

How much will Providence have left after a grueling double-overtime win over Creighton on Tuesday?

Relive last night’s 2OT thriller with the Postgame Report pic.twitter.com/5DQyTBugf7

— Providence MBB (@PCFriarsmbb) February 15, 2023

Villanova has won three straight games and with Justin Moore back on the court, the Wildcats are much better than their 13-13 record might indicate.

Villanova is just 3-7 on the road so this could be a tough test going against the only Big East team yet to lose at home.

Five of the last seven games between the Friars and Wildcats finished under the total. That includes visiting Providence’s 70-65 win on Jan. 29 as Jared Bynum’s 17 points in the second-half proved to be the difference for Providence (19-7, 11-4).

Creighton vs St. John’s

• Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 18, 7:30 p.m. ET (FS1)

Creighton lost a chance to move into a tie for first place in the Big East with a double-overtime loss at Providence on Tuesday.

All five starters scored in double figures with Ryan Nembhard leading the way with 21 points, four off his season-high, and 10 rebounds for the Bluejays (17-9, 11-4).

With the next two games against Marquette and Villanova, this is the type of game that a team with March Madness aspirations needs to come away with a win.

St. John’s owns a recent win over Providence with Joel Soriano dominating inside with 13 points and three blocked shots, so the Red Storm can play with anybody in the league, especially at home.

When the teams met last month in Omaha, the Bluejays shot 57% from the floor in a 28-point win. It was Creighton’s fifth win in a row against St. John’s and the Bluejays covered against the Las Vegas odds and college basketball lines in each of those matchups.