Pick St. John’s or UConn To Take Home A Big East Title

• St. John’s (+140) looks for dominant defense to lead them to their first conference title since 2000.
• Creighton (+400), UConn (+450) both ahead of 20th ranked Marquette (+550) despite being unranked.

NEW YORK – The Big East Tournament returns to Madison Square Garden for the 42nd consecutive year, and St. John’s looks to be the beneficiary of as close to a home court advantage as it gets in a conference tournament.

The sixth ranked Red Storm are rolling, coming into the tournament on a six game win streak to cap off a 27-4 regular season record, going 18-2 in conference play. Legal sports betting sites like them as the overall favorite to win the tournament.

Creighton, UConn, and Marquette all have a realistic shot to win the conference as well, with each team having been ranked at some point during the regular season.

2025 Big East Tournament Odds

• St. John’s: +140
• Creighton: +400
• UConn: +450
• Marquette: +550
• Villanova: +1200
• Xavier: +1200
• Georgetown: +8000
• Butler: +10000
• Providence: +12500
• DePaul: +25000
• Seton Hall: +25000

Four Team Race

With the 3rd ranked defense in the country according to KenPom and a pseudo-home court advantage, it will be a tall task for any team to score on St. John’s.

However, they rank just 66th in offensive efficiency and are one of the worst three point shooting teams in the country. It may not have hurt them yet, but the inability to shoot from the outside could be their Achilles heel if their defense fails to continue its dominance.

Creighton accounted for one of St. John’s four losses on the season back on December 31st, pulling out a one-point victory at home. The Bluejays are 39th in offensive efficiency and 43rd in defensive efficiency, good but not elite on either end.

They lost junior guard Pop Isaacs for the season in December and managed to finish with a 15-5 conference record, but likely will feel his absence more than ever in the high pressure atmosphere of tournament games.

Should You Bet On Uconn Basketball?

UConn is the two-time defending national champion, but are a far cry from their previous seasons. They finish the regular season unranked with a 22-9 record after losing just three games all of last season, including the NCAA Tournament.

They feature an elite offense, ranking 14th in offensive efficiency, but just 96th in defensive efficiency. Dan Hurley is arguably the best coach in all of college basketball, so it would not be a surprise to see UConn make a run at a second consecutive conference title.

Online college basketball sportsbooks give Marquette longer odds to win the conference than both Creighton and UConn despite the fact that Marquette is ranked 20th in the country and neither Creighton or UConn are ranked.

This is in part due to their mediocre 13-7 record in conference play and consecutive losses to end the regular season to UConn and St. John’s.

Despite a more efficient offense than St. John’s and Creighton, as well as a more efficient defense than Creighton and UConn, the Golden Eagles had just a 1-5 record against the three conference opponents.

Roll with either St. John’s at +140 to protect their home court and continue to lock down on the defensive side of the ball, or believe in UConn at +450 to repeat as conference champions behind a high powered offense and elite coaching.

News tags: Big East Tournament | Butler Bulldogs | College Basketball | Creighton Bluejays | Dan Hurley | DePaul Blue Demons | Georgetown Hoyas | KenPom | Marquette Golden Eagles | Pop Isaacs | Providence Friars | Seton Hall Pirates | St. John’s Red Storm | UConn Huskies | Villanova Wildcats | Xavier Musketeers