2026 Big East Conference Basketball Tournament Odds & Predictions
The Big East used to be the best conference in college basketball, but that reputation isn’t there anymore. Still, UConn, St. John’s, and Villanova are three awesome programs, and some of the other teams in this conference have done big things in recent years. So, there’s still some intrigue when it comes to following this tournament, and it starts at the top. The Red Storm and Huskies are two teams that will be looking to make deep runs in March Madness, but they’ll first look to make things happen at Madison Square Garden — where both schools tend to have a lot of fans in the stands. Villanova is also going to look to spoil the party, as Kevin Willard has the Wildcats playing good ball in his first year with the school. With all of that in mind, keep reading to see how we’re betting the Big East tournament.
How to Watch the Big East Conference Tournament
When: March 11-14
Where: Madison Square Garden in New York, New York
Format: Teams seeded by records within conference; top-five teams receive first-round byes
Watch: Peacock/NBCSN, FS1, FOX; Championship Game on FOX on Mar. 14 at 6:30 p.m. ET
College Basketball Odds | College Basketball Betting Splits | Greg Peterson’s Daily Lines | Steve Makinen’s Power Ratings
Big East Conference Bracket
Big East Conference Tournament Seeds, Teams and Odds
- St. John’s Red Storm (+185)
- UConn Huskies (+100)
- Villanova Wildcats (+650)
- Seton Hall Pirates (14-1)
- Creighton Bluejays (40-1)
- DePaul Blue Demons (110-1)
- Marquette Golden Eagles (60-1)
- Butler Bulldogs (100-1)
- Providence Friars (80-1)
- Xavier Musketeers (250-1)
- Georgetown Hoyas (130-1)
(odds from DraftKings Sportsbook accurate at time of publish)
Favorite To Win Big East Conference Tournament
UConn is No. 7 in Bart Torvik’s Power Ratings, sitting 24th in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency (123.8) and 11th in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency (95.5). The Huskies are also 11th when looking at KenPom’s overall rankings, and they’re the only Big East program inside the Top 20 for either website. Dan Hurley has himself another contender, with this year’s team being much better than last year’s. And even in a down season in 2025, that UConn team pushed eventual champion Florida in the NCAA Tournament. Hurley’s teams always have a chance because of how good of a job he and his staff do preparing the players, but the groups are flat-out special when you combine that execution with high-level talent. This year’s team has that. The Huskies have some awesome guards in Solo Ball, Braylon Mullins, and Silas Demary Jr., Alex Karaban is still around as a jack-of-all-trades wing, and Tarris Reed Jr. is a dominant force on the inside. If there’s anywhere UConn runs into trouble, it’s with the officials. This team is 298th in the country in Free Throw Rate defense (40.1%), which is why Hurley is always a threat to blow gasket. UConn needs to be a little more disciplined defensively if the team wants to achieve big things in March, but there’s no reason to doubt the Huskies.
Big East Conference Tournament Darkhorse
If there’s a team that has the ability to make a surprising run to the finals, it just might be Greg McDermott’s Creighton squad. The Bluejays lost in the finals of this tournament a year ago, and this year has been a little disappointing. However, UConn and Villanova are two of the three best teams that the Big East has to offer, and both of those teams are in the bottom half of the bracket. That said, Creighton can make the finals with wins over Seton Hall and St. John’s. That’s not going to be easy for the Bluejays to pull off, but it’s not impossible either. Creighton did score a win over Seton Hall during the regular season, so the Bluejays should believe they can do it again. They’ll just need to find a way to get over the Red Storm hump, as they got rocked in two meetings with Rick Pitino’s squad this year — losing by a total of 46 points. However, there is a reason to believe that Creighton can top St. John’s. That’s 3-point shooting. The Bluejays are 24th in the nation in 3-point rate (48.0%) this season, while the Red Storm are 295th (33.9%). St. John’s simply doesn’t shoot the ball, so Creighton can pull off the upset with a hot shooting performance. The team will just need to show up with hard hats to battle on the glass.
Betting Pick to Win the Big East Conference Tournament
This is another conference in which backing the favorite feels like the only call. UConn might have ended the season with a rough loss to Marquette, but this is an awesome basketball team. This conference is also insanely weak. St. John’s is the only other program with a puncher’s chance of making a deep run in March Madness, but Pitino’s crew is miserable to watch offensively. That could end up doing the Red Storm in, and it’s definitely why I don’t believe in St. John’s in a neutral-floor meeting with UConn. Parlaying Duke to win the ACC with UConn to win the Big East could be interesting.
Makinen Power Ratings for Big East Conference
Steve Makinen’s Betting Trends for the Big East Conference Tournament
- Only three of the last 25 Big East quarterfinal teams that enjoyed a round 1 bye have lost to a team that played, going 16-9 ATS (64%).
- Big East tourney favorites in the -5 to -9.5 range have been vulnerable, 25-13 SU but 13-25 ATS (34.2%) over the last 12 seasons, although they did go 2-0 SU and ATS last year.
- The L9 Big East tourney first-round games have gone Under the total (100%).
- Big East quarterfinal double-digit favorites are on a 13-3 ATS (81.3%) run since 2006. Overall, for the tournament, DD favorites are on a 13-5 ATS (72.2%) surge.
- Big East semifinal dogs have been a very profitable play of late, 9-11 SU but 15-5 ATS (75%) since 2015.
- Twelve of the last 15 Big East championship games have gone Under the total (80%).
- Teams that win a Big East tourney game comfortably (by 8 points or more) haven’t followed up that performance with another good one, going 17-25 SU and 16-26 ATS (38.1%) in the next round.
More Steve Makinen Conference Tournament Betting Trends.
Check out the other previews in our 2026 College Basketball Conference Tournament Betting Guide.
