Big East Tournament Betting Odds & Analysis

The 2023 National Champions have been rolling for what seems like a full calendar year now, and there is a reason they are heavy favorites to win the Big East Tournament. They dominated seemingly everyone in their path this season. The Huskies finished 28-3 in the regular season with 20 of those wins coming by double digits. Not surprisingly, they ranked 3rd in the nation in scoring margin, winning by an average of 17 points per game.

UConn is led by potential All-American Tristen Newton. He is averaging 15 points, 7 rebounds, and almost 6 assists per game. The senior guard is a walking double-double and is the catalyst of the Huskies’ offense. Cam Spencer is also a very dangerous guard. He is averaging 14.7 points per game and is shooting 45% from deep on the season.

There is, however, the possibility of UConn already looking ahead to the NCAA Tournament. They could lose to Seton Hall by 20 and still get a 1 seed, so there is always a chance they could get caught napping in one game.

The Big East is a difficult tournament to win. The Huskies have won three National Championships since their last Big East Tournament win in 2011. A year where they also won the Natty. That being said, the Huskies should be cutting down the nets at MSG on Championship Sunday.

If there is one team who could halt the UConn run of dominance, it could be one of the three teams to beat the Huskies this year. The Bluejays finished the season winning 8 of their final 9 games and bring in one of the most talented squads in the conference.

Baylor Scheierman is third in the conference in ppg (18.5) and second in rpg (8.8). And manning the paint is Ryan Kalkbrenner who leads the conference in blocks with 3 per game. Creighton is also one of the smartest offensive teams in the country, ranking third in the country in effective FG percentage.

The only deterrent to Creighton’s game is they tend to let their shooting, especially 3 point shooting, decide if they will win or lose games. In 5 of the Jays’ 8 losses this season, they shot less than 30% from behind the arc. Going cold from deep can put you behind the eight ball fast against the top tier of the Big East. It is also worth noting that Creighton ranks dead last in the country in turnovers forced per game.

The Bluejays are the second best team in the Big East and the most likely to knock off UConn if they meet up. The only question is will their shooting and depth be enough to get them to the championship game?

The Golden Eagles finished the season with the same record as Creighton, but they left a lot to be desired in the final games. They went 4-3 in the final 7 games of the season. Albeit the 3 losses were to Creighton and UConn (twice) but that’s still not the finish they were hoping for.

If Marquette has any chance at making a run, they will need star guard Tyler Kolek to be healthy. The senior has been out with an oblique injury since the second half vs. Providence on February 28th. The Golden Eagles went on to win that game but lost their next two. Kolek is definitely a key contributor to the offense, averaging 15 ppg and, a Big East leading, 7 apg on the season. Without him this offense appears lost at times.

If Kolek is healthy, then this team can make a run to Championship Sunday. Assuming Villanova avoids a catastrophic loss to DePaul, the Wildcats would face Marquette in the quarterfinals. Kolek has torched Nova this season, going for 26.5 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds and 2.5 steals vs. the Cats in their two meetings. If they win that they will most likely face Creighton in the semis. Kolek led a victory over the Jays back in December with a team leading 15 points and 8 assists.

You hate to say a team’s chances come down to just one player, but that is unfortunately what we have here. With a healthy Kolek, the Golden Eagles could make a run to a Big East Tournament Championship. Without him, they might not win a game in this tournament.

Villanova might be one of the hardest teams to get a read on in the Big East. At one point they lost 5 games in a row, then proceeded to win 4 of their next 5, before dropping 3 of their final 5 games of the season.

Not to beat a dead horse here,but Tyler Kolek’s injury will determine how far they go in this tournament. If he can’t go in their quarterfinal matchup, assuming they take care of business vs. DePaul, then they can definitely pull off an upset win over Marquette. That could lead to a rematch with Creighton. A team that they have played extremely well this season. They won in Omaha back in December, but dropped a heartbreaker to the Jays at home in the regular season finale.

The offense on this team will have to go through senior Eric Dixon who leads the team in ppg (16) and rpg (6). He also leads the team in blocks for what it’s worth. Nova’s strategy in this tournament might be to get to the free throw line early and often. They are number one in the country in free throw percentage.

If you’re looking to take a flier on a team in the tournament this is probably the best value. The Wildcats are a team that can capitalize on injuries and favorable matchups to surprise some people this week. If you are a believer in trends, Villanova has won 4 of the last 7 Big East Tournaments.