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Who doesn’t love some Big East basketball? Last year was a down season for the conference, as just three teams made the NCAA Tournament and only UConn and St. John’s made the second weekend.
The league looks better from top to bottom this year, though.
Dive in below for my Big East college basketball betting preview for the 2026-27 season, including odds, picks and predictions.
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2026-27 Big East Regular Season Title Odds
| Team | Odds (DraftKings) |
|---|---|
| UConn | +138 |
| St. John’s | +270 |
| Marquette | +640 |
| Villanova | +690 |
| Creighton | +1250 |
| Providence | +1800 |
| Xavier | +3500 |
| DePaul | +5100 |
| Seton Hall | +10000 |
| Georgetown | +11000 |
Big East Favorite
Tell me if you’ve heard this before: the UConn Huskies are the pick to win the Big East.
Dan Hurley brings back two starting guards from last year’s national runner-up: 2026-27 Big East Preseason Player of the Year Silas Demary Jr. and projected NBA lottery pick Braylon Mullins, who spurned the league for another year in Storrs.
Plus, the Huskies got active in the portal. They lost sharpshooting four-man Alex Karaban and big man Tarris Reed Jr., so Hurley brought out the big bucks to haul in Nik Khamenia (Duke) and center Na’jai Hines (Seton Hall).
Khamenia, a former top-30 recruit, is a 6-foot-8 and can shoot the ball from deep at a solid clip. Meanwhile, Hines is familiar with the physical Big East and is a frontrunner for the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year award.
Moreover, the Huskies can ease in highly touted freshman guards Junior County and Colben Landrew. Landrew will start at the three from day one, but he’s the fourth or fifth offensive option.
I’m not sure I view any other Big East team with top-10 potential. Marquette is the No. 2 team for me, and St. John’s is third, but both have more noticeable holes than UConn.
Although the Huskies are the favorites, they’re the right pick to win the league.
Big East Best Futures Bet
The best bet to win the Big East? This one is a layup. The value is strong with Marquette. I view the Golden Eagles as the biggest threat to UConn, yet St. John’s is way closer in the odds department.
Three of the Golden Eagles’ top five scorers are returning: Nigel James Jr., Royce Parham and Adrien Stevens.
James will battle for Big East Player of the Year after coming off averaging 16 points and four assists per game as a freshman.
Plus, Shaka Smart finally renewed his transfer portal membership, snagging two studs in wing Nolan Minessale and big man Sananda Fru.
Fru will give Marquette the interior threat it lacked last year. The German big averaged 9.6 points and 6.1 rebounds in just 22 minutes per game last season. He’ll have way more leash in Milwaukee and could average close to a double-double.
Minessale is a bit different. He can play 1-4 basically and fills up the stat sheet. How will he handle the Big East athletes? Time will tell, but he’s skilled and tough.
With all that talent and Smart’s coaching chops, I’ll take the number with Marquette.
Big East Best Value Bet
For the “value” section, I always want a deep cut with a path to making noise.
And the one that catches my eye is the Xavier Musketeers at 35/1.
Richard Pitino led the Musketeers to an unimpressive 15-18 record in his first year at the helm.
Things will be different this year thanks to a strong financial investment in this roster.
I already liked Xavier before the fifth-year lawsuits happened, but adding Filip Borovicanin (at least for now) gives Xavier top-three upside.
Adding Borovicanin allows Xavier the flexibility to play a few different ways.
It can opt for a jumbo lineup with Chance Westry (6-foot-6), Ruben Dominguez (6-foot-6), Borovicanin (6-foot-9), Jovan Milicevic (6-foot-10) and Mike Nwoko (6-foot-10).
That lineup works due to Borovicanin’s playmaking ability and fluid movement (4.2 assists per game), and no other team in the conference would match the Musketeers’ length.
And don’t forget Xavier has Tru Washington, who’s a defensive dynamo at the two.
That means Pitino could also go small and start Dominguez (10 PPG, 40% from 3 at Texas A&M) and Washington, who started at Miami last year. Washington can fit into any lineup thanks to his elite defensive chops and winning DNA.
I view Westry as the piece that’ll make or break Xavier’s season. Who doesn’t want a 6-foot-6 point guard? He averaged 15.5 points and 5.5 assists per game at UAB, but he also shot 24% from 3 and had some serious defensive lapses.
If Westry irons out those two issues, Xavier has the goods to be a top-three Big East team.
Big East Player to Target for Props
Rick Pitino loves having a reliable point guard. Not only does he have a reliable one this season, but he has one who’s 23 years old and played EuroLeague ball.
The 6-foot-4 Quinn Ellis filled up the stat sheet for Olimpia Milano, averaging 7.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.
I’m curious to see where his props sit because Ellis could average 12-5-5 pretty easily.
And he’s the only point guard Pitino can rely on, so he’ll get plenty of usage.