College Basketball Odds & Big East Quarterfinal Picks: Will Xavier Upset Marquette?
On Thursday’s college basketball odds board, the fourth-seeded Xavier Musketeers (21-10, 13-7) square off against the fifth-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles (22-9, 13-7) in the Big East tournament quarterfinals. The Musketeers are the higher-seeded team, yet they opened as 2.5-point underdogs. Let’s assess the betting odds and my picks for Marquette vs. Xavier, including potential same-game parlay options.
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marquette vs. xavier odds: spread, moneyline, total
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Marquette spread
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Xavier Spread
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Xavier ML
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Total: Over
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Total: Under
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March Madness Odds
Bettors can search for the best futures betting odds for Marquette, Xavier, or any other team within our March Madness odds comparison table.
college basketball best bets: Marquette or xavier ats?
Regular readers of TheLines’ college basketball coverage already know I’ve been higher on the Musketeers than the betting market for quite a while. In fact, I placed small futures bets on Xavier to win the league tourney and make the Final Four. Both are in my Big East tournament betting preview.
Unsurprisingly, I’m riding with Sean Miller’s squad in its quarterfinal tilt against the Golden Eagles. Xavier and Marquette split their regular-season series, but the Musketeers won the most recent contest on Jan. 18. From that victory onward, Xavier has ranked 24th nationally on BarTorvik, marginally trailing contenders like Texas A&M, Arizona, and Iowa State. They’re also well above 42nd-ranked Marquette.
During this same stretch, the Golden Eagles took a nose dive offensively, with their true shooting percentage (TS%) ranking in the 35th percentile. Much revolves around Kam Jones’ inefficient showing in Big East play.
Marquette is 13-17-1 against the spread (43.3%) overall, proving Shaka Smart’s crew may have been overvalued after going 9-2 straight up in its non-conference slate.
These teams are headed in opposite directions. The Musketeers have hit their stride after their new-look roster required time to gel. Meanwhile, the market is pricing the Golden Eagles as if they’ll eventually break out.
Xavier’s Biggest Advantages
Marquette has been more reliable defensively lately, but it’s struggled to guard motion-centric offenses, which Miller employs at a high level. In particular, the Musketeers grade in the 84th percentile of field-goal efficiency from the mid-range (40.3% per CBB Analytics), where leading scorers Zach Freemantle and Ryan Conwell delivered key buckets in their second meeting.
Conversely, led by Dailyn Swain and Marcus Foster, Xavier’s length on the wing limited Jones to a combined 39.4% clip from the field in their two contests. Unlike last year, the Cousy Award finalist is often relied on as a shot creator rather than playing more off-ball. I expect his inconsistent shooting to continue at Madison Square Garden.
The winner of this game will take on top-seeded St. John’s or ninth-seeded Butler in Friday’s semifinals.
Final Betting Thoughts
On Tuesday, I bet on Xavier +3 (-115 at bet365 Sportsbook), which you’ll find on our free sports betting Discord channel. Users can enroll in push notifications in the #roles server.
I’d play it down to +2 (-110). Good luck wagering on Marquette vs. Xavier odds!
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