March Madness Update: UConn Betting Pick in Big East Tourney
The Big East regular season is over with defending national champion UConn earning the No. 1 seed in the Big East tournament. Huskies head coach Dan Hurley has exchanged pleasantries with opposing student sections as often as UConn has lost in conference play.
When looking at the NCAAB picks, UConn is the favorite at -140 to win the Big East tournament for the first time since 2011 followed by Creighton at +400, Marquette at +500, and St. John’s at +900.
The Big East men’s basketball tournament begins with three first-round games on Wednesday. Xavier, who lost to Marquette in the 2023 Big East championship game, will meet Butler in the first game. Georgetown plays Providence while DePaul goes up against Villanova in the other first-round game. The tournament is being held at Madison Square Garden once again with Marquette trying to become the first back-to-back champion since Villanova in 2018 and 2019.
Ready for the @TheGarden 😤 pic.twitter.com/zaPRqtcc12
— BIG EAST MBB (@BIGEASTMBB) March 10, 2024
When looking at the college basketball futures odds, UConn is first with +500 odds of winning the national championship. Creighton and Marquette both come in at +2800 in the odds to win March Madness.
Keep on reading for more on the March Madness hopes of the teams from the Big East heading into the conference tournament.
Big Dance-Bound
UConn remained third in the NCAAB NET rankings. The Huskies are one of three teams with at least 11 Quad 1 wins.
The Huskies helped themselves by playing Texas, Kansas, North Carolina and Gonzaga during the non-conference portion of the schedule, winning three of those games.
Creighton moved ahead of Marquette after a recent win over the Golden Eagles. Creighton is 11th and Marquette 13th in the NCAAB NET rankings. Creighton is 8-6 in Quad 1 games but does have a pair of Quad 2 losses.
Marquette is among the national leaders with 15 games against Quad 1 teams, but is just 8-7 in those games. The availability of star point guard Tyler Kolek could impact the March Madness odds for the Golden Eagles.
After UConn, Creighton and Marquette, there is a bit of a gap between the next team with March Madness aspirations, with Villanova 33rd in the NCAAB NET rankings.
On the Bubble
Despite a solid NCAAB NET ranking, Villanova heads into the Big East tournament after losing its last two games and finishing 10-10 in the Big East during the regular season. A 4-10 record in Quad 1 games and three Quad 3 losses can’t be overlooked.
St. John’s has the longest current winning streak among Big East teams with five wins in a row. That got the Red Storm a bye into the quarterfinals. St. John’s is 39th in the NCAA NET rankings. The Red Storm are just 3-9 in Quad 1 games.
Providence could hit the 20-win mark by topping Georgetown in the first round of the Big East tournament as the Friars clash with former coach Ed Cooley for the third time this season. Providence is just 64th in the NCAAB NET rankings. Ten of Providence’s 19 wins are against Quad 4 teams.
Seton Hall is 13-7 in league play in one of the best conferences in the country, but will a fourth-place finish in the Big East get the Pirates a March Madness invitation? The Pirates moved from 68th to 62nd in the NCAAB NET rankings. A win over St. John’s in the Big East quarterfinals would provide a boost.
Wait ‘Til Next Year
The NCAA NET rankings for Xavier and Butler are 65th and 66th. They have combined for 23 Quad 1 losses so it probably will take a run to the Big East tournament title to get into the NCAA Tournament.
The good news for Georgetown and DePaul is that the 2023-24 season will soon be over. They are a combined 2-34 in Big East play. Georgetown has lost 11 conference games by double digits while 16 of DePaul’s last 17 losses came by at least 10 points.
Questions Of The Day
How many Big East teams made the 2023 NCAA Tournament?
Five Big East teams were in the 2023 NCAA Tournament field, with UConn winning the title. Creighton came up one point short of joining UConn in the Final Four while Xavier advanced to the Sweet 16.
Who has the best odds of reaching the Final Four among Big East teams?
UConn has +110 odds to reach the Final Four while Marquette has +500 odds, and Creighton is at +550 to reach the Final Four according to the BetUS sportsbook.
