Big East Odds Report: The Seton Hall Pirates Are Back on Top and in Control
By: Brent Booher
The Seton Hall Pirates (20-7, 12-3 Big East) stopped a two-game skid this week when they beat Butler 74-72 at the buzzer Wednesday. Sunday, behind Myles Powell’s 18 points, the Pirates easily handled St. John’s 81-65 to stay atop the Big East standings entering this week’s action.
The Pirates do not get a very easy ending to their regular season however.
This week, Seton Hall has one game on its schedule when it travels to Marquette on Saturday before ending the season with a home game against Villanova, and a road game against red-hot Creighton (more on them in a moment), meaning the race to win the Big East is far from over.
We would love to tell you about the Pirates odds to win the Big East Tournament, but because of New Jersey state law, all we can tell is you is that Seton Hall is +370 to make the Final Four and +2500 to win the entire tournament.
Up Next:
February 29: at Marquette (17-9, 7-7 Big East)
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Creighton Emerging as Big East Favorites
Marcus Zegarowski hit all seven of his 3-point attempts in an 81-59 thrashing of then 21st ranked Butler.
The sophomore guard seemingly couldn’t miss a shot from distance if he tried.
It was symbolic of how Creighton basketball has gone of late.
The Blue Jays (22-6, 11-4 Big East) are the hottest team in the conference and are one of the hottest in all of college basketball.
Creighton has won nine of its last 10 games and are 7-1 ATS in their last eight.
This is a team capable of having one of their four guards shooting the lights out like Zegarowski did, on any given night.
And, with their season finale being a home date against first-place Seton Hall, Creighton is eyeballing their first ever Big East regular season crown.
First the Blue Jays will need to avoid the upset on Sunday against St. John’s.
Creighton’s recent surge up the Big East standings has not gone unnoticed by oddsmakers, as the Blue Jays Big East odds are now at +300, up from +600 a week ago. Their odds to win the National Championship have also improved from +6000 to +3000 in the same time frame.
Should Creighton continue their winning ways, these odds will only drop even further.
Up Next:
March 1: at St. John’s (14-13, 3-11 Big East)
Villanova Wins Fourth Straight Game to Stay in Big East Title Race
Following their three-game losing streak at the beginning of the month, Jay Wright’s Villanova Wildcats (21-6, 10-4 Big East) are back to their winning ways, running off four-straight victories to pull within 1.5 games of first-place Seton Hall.
The latest pair of victories for the Wildcats came at the hands of Big East bottom feeder DePaul 91-71, and tournament hopeful Xavier 64-55.
Villanova has seemingly shaken off the slump that hit them at the start of the month and with a strong finish to February, gets to face off against Seton Hall on March 4 in a matchup that could determine the fate of the Big East regular season champion.
Oddsmakers are still very bullish on Jay Wright’s squad, as they are the short favorites to win the conference at +250, and are listed at +2000 to win their second National Championship in three years
Up Next:
February 26: vs. St. John’s (14-13, 3-11 Big East); February 29: vs. Providence (16-12, 9-6 Big East)
Providence Helps At-Large Chances with Win Over Marquette
The Friars (16-12, 9-6 Big East) moved into fourth-place in the Big East with a key 84-72 win over Marquette on Saturday.
The win was Providence’s third in a row, and helps boost the profile for a team currently living on the bubble in the chase for an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament a month from today.
The Friars have another chance to boost their resume and impress the committee when they go on the road to face Villanova on Saturday.
Despite the recent strong play from the Friars, oddsmakers are still not fully sold on the boys from Providence. The Friars enter this week with Big East odds at +1200.
Up next:
February 29: at Villanova (21-6, 10-4 Big East)
Marquette, Butler and Xavier Have Rough Weeks
If there was anything that helped Providence’s cause more than their two victories last week, it was the cumulative awful weeks the middle of the Big East shared.
While Marquette and Butler figure to be safe in the tournament for now, the same cannot be said for Xavier.
The Musketeers suffered a crushing 64-55 home loss to Villanova on Saturday, in a game that Xavier had to have for their at-large tournament hopes.
Xavier (17-10, 6-8 Big East) now figures to need to win out to close the season, and even that may not be enough without a win or two in the Big East Tournament.
Marquette (17-9, 7-7 Big East) meanwhile fell for the third-straight game when they lost to Providence 84-72 on Saturday. The Golden Eagles are safe for the time being, but a loss to Georgetown on Wednesday would not be ideal towards their chances.
Lastly, Butler (19-9, 7-8 Big East) fell for the fifth time in seven games when Creighton embarrassed them 81-59, in a game the Bulldogs trailed by 35 in.
Butler finds itself in a similar position as Marquette, where they should be positioned to make the tournament, but another bad loss before the Big East Tournament would be potentially damaging.
Oddsmakers agree that Butler, Marquette and Xavier are all viable options for a run in March however.
Here is a current look at the current futures odds to win the Big East Tournament for the rest of the conference, provided by DraftKings.
Butler +350
Marquette +500
Xavier +800
Georgetown +2000
St. John’s +2500
DePaul +3000
Big East Betting Nuggets
- Seton Hall is 2-6-1 ATS in their L9 games
- Creighton is 7-1 ATS in their L8 games
- Villanova UNDER is 7-2 in their L9 games
- Providence is 5-2 ATS in their L7 games
- Marquette is 7-3 ATS in their L10 games (1-2 ATS last 3)
- Butler is 2-8-1 ATS in their L11 games
- Xavier is 5-1 ATS in their L6 games
- Georgetown UNDER is 10-5 in their L15 games
- St. John’s is 1-4 ATS in their L5 games
- DePaul is 1-4 ATS in their L5 games
