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Big East This Weekend: Top 3 Games to Bet
Defending national champion UConn heads into the weekend on a nine-game winning streak and has opened up a two-game lead on Creighton and Marquette in the Big East standings. Those are the three teams expected to challenge for the conference title by those who make college basketball predictions.
UConn and Marquette both have road games on Saturday and they are two of the four Big East teams with winning records on the road. UConn is the only Big East team still perfect at home.
UConn received 71 first-place votes to remain atop both the national polls. Marquette moved up five spots to No. 9 in the Associated Press poll and went from 15th to 10th in the USA Today coaches poll.
The Huskies are fourth in the NCAA NET rankings and are tied for the national lead with seven Quad 1 wins. Marquette and Creighton are 14th and 15th in the NCAA NET rankings.
When looking at the college basketball futures odds, UConn is second with +900 odds of winning the national championship. Marquette’s odds to win March Madness have moved from +1600 to +3000 in the last three weeks. Creighton is the next closest Big East team with +3500 odds to win it all.
UConn has the best odds at -800 to win the Big East title followed by Marquette at +600 and Creighton at +900.
1. Butler (14-7 SU, 10-10 ATS) at Creighton (16-5 SU, 10-11 ATS)
- Date/Time: Friday, Feb. 2, 9 p.m. ET
- Butler vs Creighton Live Stream: TBS.com
Butler and Creighton both bring three-game winning streaks into the first game of the weekend in the Big East.
Most of the focus with Creighton centered around the high-scoring trio of Baylor Scheierman, Tyler Alexander and Ryan Kalkbrenner, but Steven Ashworth has scored in double figures in five straight games and that could be a key factor moving forward.
Michigan State transfer Pierre Brooks had a run of seven straight games with at least three 3-pointers snapped during Saturday’s overtime win over Villanova as he continues to lead Butler in scoring.
Creighton has won each of the last three games against Butler. The Bluejays won by 21 and 22 points to sweep the 2022-23 season series. Each of the last three games between the teams finished under the total.
Butler has covered against the Las Vegas odds in just two of its six road games this season while Creighton is just 4-7 ATS at home.
2. UConn (19-2 SU, 12-9 ATS) at St. John’s (13-8, 11-10 ATS)
- Date/Time: Saturday, Feb. 3, noon ET
- UConn vs St. John’s Live Stream: TBS.com
When the teams met back in December in Connecticut, Rick Pitino’s Red Storm threw a scare into the defending national champions before losing by four points. St. John’s took the lead with 4;15 to play. However, the Red Storm had one basket the rest of the way.
St. John’s hopes to be able to finish the job at home and perhaps the Red Storm can have some confidence with the way UConn struggled in a win over Providence the last time out.
St. John’s has lost four of its last five games as more help is needed for top scorer and rebounder Joel Soriano. He is coming off a game with 21 points and 15 rebounds in a loss to Xavier.
For UConn, Cam Spencer looks to get going after connecting just four of his 28 3-pointers over the last four games. Freshman Stephon Castle has 32 points, eight rebounds and six assists in the last two games for the Huskies.
– Stephon Castle starred
– Devin Carter was mortal
– A parade to the foul line
– Josh Oduro, Donovan Clingan sidelinedThat and more from Wednesday night. No. 1 UConn beat Providence in a game that left something on the table. #pcbb https://t.co/O6kFu7iGCo
— Bill Koch (@BillKoch25) February 1, 2024
UConn has won four of the last five games but has covered in just one of those games.
The Red Storm are tied for third in the Big East with six games going over the college basketball spread.
3. Providence (14-7 SU, 12-8-1 ATS) at Villanova (11-10 SU, 10-11 ATS)
- Date/Time: Sunday, Feb. 4, 6 p.m. ET
- Providence vs Villanova Live Stream: TBS.com
Villanova has dropped five games in a row with three of the losses coming by five points or less. In its last two home games, the Wildcats fell to UConn by one point and to Marquette by just five points. Can the Wildcats finish the job against a Providence team that is 2-4 on the road?
Providence won both games a season ago, covering in both of those matchups.
Villanova has won eight of the last 10 home games against Providence.
Josh Oduro has 42 points and 15 rebounds in the last two games for the Friars while TJ Bamba led Villanova with a season-high 24 points in the loss to Marquette.
Villanova is 5-5 against the spread at home while Providence leads the conference by covering in five of the last road games.
Questions Of The Day
Which Big East team has had the most games go over the total?
Since the start of the 2022-23 season, 38 UConn games have landed over the total. That is seven more than any other Big East team.
Who has the best odds of winning March Madness among Big East teams?
Defending national champion UConn has +900 odds of winning the national title according to the BetUS sportsbook and that is second only to Purdue’s +800 odds.
