Although the Big East Conference doesn’t get top billing like some of the other conferences in NCAA college basketball, it still has some high-end teams with championship pedigree. One of those teams is the Villanova Wildcats, who are favored to win the Big East regular-season title.
Online sportsbook Sportsbook has Villanova as a +225 favorite to finish at the front of the pack and be the Big East regular-season champion for the seventh time in eight seasons.
After the Wildcats are the Seton Hall Pirates (+350), Marquette Golden Eagles (+400), Xavier Musketeers (+550) and Creighton Blue Jays (+900) to round out the top five programs on the oddsboard.
Should Villanova Be The Favorite?
The Villanova Wildcats should be favored to win the Big East regular-season title for three reasons: One, they have two incoming freshmen who were five-star prospects in high school in PF Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and SG Bryan Antoine. Two, they have a Hall of Fame coach in Jay Wright, who is one of the best offensive innovators in college basketball. Three, the rest of the Big East just isn’t that good.
By default, Villanova will have more talent on the floor on any given night when conference play starts for the Big East. Barring injury, the Wildcats should coast to the top of the standings and add another regular-season trophy to the mantle.
Teams That Could Surpass Villanova
The strength of the Big East isn’t what it used to be back in the 1990s and 2000s, when at least four or five teams could legitimately compete every year to be at the top of the conference standings.
As a result, there are only two teams I would consider that can contend with Villanova or even surpass them in the standings and that’s Seton Hall and Marquette.
Seton Hall returns two players who averaged double-digit scoring and both coincidentally have Myles as their first name. Myles Powell is clearly the more talented of the two as he averaged 23.1 points per game last season and is one of the front-runners for the Naismith Player of the Year. The other, Myles Cale, is no slouch either, averaging 10.3 points and 4.1 rebounds while leading the team in three-point percentage at 37.8. The Pirates have the second-best odds at +350 and were 1-2 SU and ATS vs Villanova last season.
As for Marquette, it starts and ends with senior SG Markus Howard. The playmaker and scorer for the Golden Eagles is electric when he gets it going and averaged 25 points per game last season while shooting 40 percent from behind the arc.
However, after Howard, it gets dicey for Marquette, which lost forwards Sam and Joey Hauser to transfer. They combined to average just under 25 points and 12.5 rebounds last season while both shot over 40 percent from three-point range. It’s not a great bet at +400 but a great player like Howard can carry a team to the top.
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Villanova Wildcats | +225 |
| Seton Hall Pirates | +350 |
| Marquette Golden Eagles | +400 |
| Xavier Musketeers | +550 |
| Creighton Blue Jays | +900 |
| St. John’s Red Storm | +1600 |
| Providence Friars | +1600 |
| Georgetown Hoyas | +2000 |
| Butler Bulldogs | +2500 |
| DePaul Blue Demons | +5000 |
Odds as of November 6 at Sportsbook
