College Basketball Conference Tournament Betting Preview - Big East
 
The countdown to the NCAA Tournament is less than one week away, and Selection Sunday is March 16. The small conference tourney's have started to finish with some teams punching their ticket to the Big Dance. But the power conferences will crown their winners this week with many at-large teams completing the March Madness brackets. The Big East tournament tips off Wednesday, March 12, and 11 teams will try to take the title with 4 teams secure for March Madness next week including 2-time defending champion Connecticut, according to ESPN's Bracketology. 

It's wall-to-wall basketball every day this week with conference tournament engaging action providing many of the most exciting games as the memorable moments build into March Madness and the most live bet games of the season as the media coverage ramps up for the NCAA Tournament. 

Follow the Big 12 and ACC tournaments and teams along with the Big Ten, SEC and Mountain West with those CCT's tipping off March 11-12. The top seeds Houston, Duke, Michigan State, Auburn and New Mexico lead a number of teams that will make the NCAA Tournament with top teams odds and stats to review as you craft your bets ahead of March Madness.

Bet on NCAA Basketball at one of these Elite-rated sportsbooks!

While the college basketball conference tournaments and March Madness generate billions of dollars wagered, the money bet offshore is 3-4 times that amount. So, there are still many benefits to wagering offshore, and Off Shore Gaming Association provides benefits for players to get more out of their online gambling experience. Especially fans and bettors in the three most populous states that still do not offer wagering options with U.S. sportsbooks - California, Texas and Florida. Neither does Georgia, Alabama or South Carolina for SEC faithful fans, or Minnesota and Missouri, with the Show Me State pushing hard to change that yet this year. 

All odds provided by BetOnline, a top online sportsbook and the largest gaming company in Panama. 

Big East

Odds to win the Big Ten Conference tournament from BetOnline and leading online sportsbooks refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live betting. Each teams offensive and defensive efficiency ratings from KenPom.

St. John's (27-4/18-2) captured the regular season title in the second year under head coach Rick Pitino. The Red Storm are top-3 in the country in defensive efficiency ratings and a defensive dominator that will shoot to win their first Big East Conference title since 2000. The other top teams and seeds in the Big East who will also make the NCAA Tournament are Creighton (22-9/15-5), Connecticut (22-9/14-6) and Marquette (22-9/13-7).

St. John's has won six in a row entering the Big East tournament and beat the next three best teams above during that stretch and swept (2-0) both Connecticut and Marquette this season. St. John's 4 losses this season were by a combined 7 points to Baylor, Georgia, Creighton and Villanova. 

Big East Stats, Trends and Notes 

The value of having a bye in conference tournaments is typically significant, especially when they are believed to be the better team. In fact, heading into the 2025 action, VSiN research notes that conference tournament favorites off a bye are 312-106 SU and 219-191 ATS (53.4%) over the last five seasons against teams that played earlier in that tournament. 

- Only three of the last 22 Big East quarterfinal teams that enjoyed a round 1 bye has lost to a team that played, going 14-8 ATS.
- Big East quarterfinal double-digit favorites are on a 12-2 ATS run since 2006. For the tournament, double-digit favorites are on an 11-4 ATS surge. 
- Big East semifinal 'Dogs have been a very profitable play of late, 8-10 SU but 14-4 ATS since 2015.
- Twelve of the last 14 Big East championship games have gone Under the total. 

St. John's is also top-5 in total rebounds and top-20 in scoring margin (+12 ppg). Marquette was 17-3 before finishing the season 5-6. Creighton had a 9-0 SU/ATS run over a month starting Jan. 11. Xavier (21-10/13-7) has won 7 straight games entering the tournament, but only one win vs. stronger team with a blowout win over Creighton, and Xavier lost to St. John's in overtime on this court at MSG. Villanova (18-13/11-9) did beat St. John's during a series split (1-1), and the Wildcats have won 4 of the last 7 Big East Conference tournaments and 17 of their last 20 games in the tournament. Connecticut lost both meetings to St. John's this season, and the 2-time defending national champion Huskies play at a very slot pace with a top-15 efficient offense but a defense that has fallen off this season.

Big East Tournament Schedule 

The Big East basketball tournament is held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The opening five games are streamed on Peacock with FS1 carrying two quarterfinal games. The semi's and title game are televised on FOX. The last four Big East tournament winners are Connecticut, Marquette, Villanova, Georgetown.  

First Round: March 12
Second Round: March 13
Quarterfinals: March 14
Semifinals: March 15
Championship: 3:30 p.m. March 16 

Matchups and Odds 

Wed., March 12 

- No. 9 Butler (-1.5) vs. No. 8 Providence, 147
- No. 10 DePaul vs. No. 7 Georgetown (-3.5), 145
- No. 11 Seton Hall vs. No. 6 Villanova (-11), 126 

Thurs., March 13

- No. 9 Butler vs. No. 1 St. John's (-12.5), 146
- No. 5 Marquette (-2) vs. No. 4 Xavier, 144 
- No. 10 DePaul vs. No. 2 Creighton (-12), 145
- No. 6 Villanova vs. No. 3 UCONN (-6), 137

Fri., March 14

- No. 5 Marquette vs. No. 1 St. John's (-5), 141.5
- No. 3 UCONN (-3.5) vs. No. 2 Creighton, 139.5

Sat., March 15

- No. 2. Creighton vs. No. 1 St. John's (-6), 140.5

Select matchups and game odds with any additional stats and information you can bet on provided as able as the conference tournaments progress. 

Follow along and check out more college basketball conference tournament betting odds and futures at BetOnline.ag.

You can bet on it. 

FairwayJay is a proven sports handicapper and insightful analyst. He chips college basketball and additional sports betting coverage and reporting on industry news and events. Read more great insights from FairwayJay and follow him on  X: @FairwayJay