Though there ended up being a three-team tie atop the regular season rankings, the Seton Hall Pirates are currently the choice of linemakers at online sportsbooks to cut the nets down at the conclusion of the Big East Tournament. A very surprising stance considering Kevin Willard’s squad fell to both Creighton and Villanova to close the regular season which ultimately cost them the outright title. Speaking of Jay Wright’s Wildcats, they’re the current 3-time champs and will be gunning for the program’s sixth tourney title when they take on the winner of the 7/10 matchup in the quarterfinals. The Bluejays invade MSG the hottest team in the conference yet find themselves third in the futures odds pecking order. Regardless, this tourney looks to be wide open with seven of the entrants having a better than average chance to win it all and punch its auto bid to the NCAA Tournament. Let’s take a deep dive into the numbers and see if we can’t set ourselves up for success come Saturday night.
The Big East Tournament is set to tip-off on Wednesday, March 11, 2020 at 7 p.m. ET from the Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. The games will be broadcast live on FS1.
ODDS TO WIN BIG EAST TOURNAMENT
| TEAM | ODDS |
| Seton Hall | +250 |
| Villanova | +300 |
| Creighton | +350 |
| Providence | +600 |
| Butler | +700 |
| Marquette | +700 |
| Xavier | +800 |
| Georgetown | +3300 |
| DePaul | +5000 |
| St. John’s | +5000 |
Favorite to Bet: Seton Hall Pirates +250
I don’t know what’s gotten into the Gatorade The Hall’s been drinking of late, but I’m hoping a new batch travels with the team to the Big Apple. I’ve got NCAA Tournament liability with Myles Powell and his mates and got a much better number than the +2500 offering currently available on the March Madness betting odds. I refuse to believe this team has all of a sudden forgotten how to win pivotal basketball games after doing so a number of times throughout the regular season. The recent body of work is not good. Getting swept by Creighton also leads one to believe it simply can’t hang with the Bluejays firepower. Dropping that 2-point decision at home to Nova also does the squad no favors. Be that as it may, I’m still a believer and think tournament style play is the jolt that gets this team revved back up again. Remember, this team hit the skids then recovered emphatically after getting out to a great start. I’ve got the Pirates tabbed as a team that goes through a bit of positive regression over the next couple weeks. Where it gets them remains to be decided. It’s 28.6 percent implied probability on the Big East Tournament futures odds is well-ahead of the 16 percent shot Teamrankings.com is giving them to win this tourney. I’ll side with the linemakers thank you very much! Though I’m no doubt seeing through blue and white glasses…
Underdog to Bet: Creighton Bluejays +350
After suffering losses to Georgetown, Villanova and Butler in the middle of January, there wasn’t a hotter team in the Big East than that of the Bluejays. Greg McDermott’s kids went on to secure wins in 11 of its final 13 games and went on to cover the closing college basketball odds in all but three of those matchups. In doing so, they catapulted themselves to the top of the Big East heap and won the regular season title for the very first time splitting the accolades with both Nova and Seton Hall. Securing big road wins late in the year at The Hall and Marquette allowed them to do so. This could be the team’s coming out party with a bulk of the nation unlikely to pay much attention to a team from a little school in Omaha, NE. That could prove to be a grave mistake when betting the Big East tourney futures! Ty-Shon Alexander and Marcus Zegarowski are without a doubt two of the most deadly sharpshooting guards you’ve never heard of. The duo combines for 33 points per game and shoots around 40 percent from the Land of 3. I don’t know about you, but I’ll gladly back a team that knows how to convert from deep in this day and age of basketball; be it collegiate or pro.
Longshot to Bet: Butler Bulldogs +700
Kamar Baldwin. Seriously, do I need to relay any more than that? He’s by far the most clutch player that will take the court at MSG over the next week. He knows how to finish as seen numerous times this season – just ask Villanova and Xavier! With no true dominant team in this conference, it’s foolish to think Butler deserves to have an implied probability of 12.5 percent when it’s shown the ability to beat almost every team in conference play over the course of the regular season. Especially the team’s in its bracket with triumphs already logged against Georgetown, St. John’s, Creighton and Providence. Teamrankings.com actually likes the Bulldogs chances of winning this tourney a bit better (14.5%), so there is some line value to be had at the current price point. The only main worry would be if Butler finds itself in the final and matches up against a Seton Hall team it’s already fallen to twice. But you know the adage of it being tough to beat a team three times in the same season. Regardless, Baldwin and the Bulldogs are getting a beer money investment from me!
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