Marquette (+6.5) Has The Most Wins In The Country Vs. Top-25 Teams

This angle of Virginia’s game-winner at Cameron is epic 🚨 — let’s talk Marquette vs. UConn 👇

Marquette vs. UConn Preview

The Power Five conferences may get most of the attention, but don’t sleep on Big East basketball this year. With five teams currently cracking the Top-25, we’re getting a taste of the conference’s glory days. Tonight there’s a classic Big East rock fight going down in Connecticut — take a look at the lines ahead of the showdown 👇

#18 Marquette @ #24 UConn Betting Preview

• Spread: UConn -6.5

• Moneyline: UConn -285 (bet $285, win $100), Marquette +230 (bet $100, win $230)

• Over/Under: 141.5

Shaka The World

Marquette might not only be the biggest surprise in the Big East this year — they could very well be the most surprising team in the nation 😳

• Not much was expected out of the Marquette’s reshaped roster in Shaka Smart’s first season as head coach; they were picked to finish ninth in the Big East preseason poll

• The Golden Eagles put the country on notice with an upset win over #10 Illinois in the second week of the season, and they’ve gone on to beat five other ranked teams since. Their six ranked wins are the most in the nation

• They’ve been especially hot of late, winning eight of their last nine games with a 5-1 record against ranked opponents over that span. They jumped six spots to No. 18 in the most recent poll 

With the second toughest strength of schedule in the Big East, Marquette has gone toe-to-toe with the nation’s best this season. But, their opponent tonight has also proved themselves against elite competition

• UConn is the only team in the country to take down #1 Auburn this year

• The Huskies came out on top over the Golden Eagles, 78-70, the first time these two teams met this season. UConn’s star backcourt of R.J. Cole and Tyrese Martin combined for 45 points in the victory

Expect UConn’s offense to run through that duo again, while Marquette will undoubtedly continue to feed forward Justin Lewis, who has dropped at least 18 points in five of his last six games 😤

Trivia question: Shaka Smart has been a successful coach at a few school, which did he get his first head coaching gig at? (answer below)

Back to the Big Ten

I know I mentioned Power Five conferences were already getting enough of the spotlight, but it’d be a crime not to mention a couple of games going down in the Big Ten tonight. Just take a peek👇

🧀 #14 Wisconsin @ #17 Michigan State

• Spread: Michigan State -4.5

• Moneyline: Michigan State -182, Wisconsin +150

• Over/Under: 139.5

Both the Badgers and the Spartans are looking to bounce back from underwhelming weeks; Wisco struggled at Illinois before barely holding off Penn State, while MSU snuck past Maryland prior to getting blown out by Rutgers

• These two teams met back on 1/21; despite 25 points from Wooden Award candidate Johnny Davis, Wisconsin was unable to fend off Michigan State at home, losing 86-74

📍 #13 Illinois @ #3 Purdue

• Spread: Purdue -6

• Moneyline: Purdue -238, Illinois +195

• Over/Under: 148

Illinois and Purdue have looked like two of the best teams in the nation over the past couple weeks — neither has lost since 1/21, going a combined 9-0 since then

• The season’s first iteration of this rivalry gave us one of the best games of the year, with Purdue escaping Champaign with a 96-88 double-OT victory

Tonight, all eyes will be on the matchup between Kofi Cockburn and Zach Edey, two of college basketball’s most imposing bigs. Both are playing at the top of their game ahead of what should be an awesome encore 😎

For My Parlay Gurus

I guess the theme for my parlay tonight is road dogs from Wisconsin 🤷🏻‍♂️. In a pair of games I expect to come down to the wire, I’m going with both the Golden Eagles and Badgers to cover. Take a look 👇

• Marquette +6.5 vs. UConn: -110

• Wisconsin +4.5 vs. Michigan State: -110

$100 on this bet would win you $264 — if we hit, make sure to email [email protected] for $100*. First come, first serve 😉

Trivia question: Shaka Smart was named head coach of the VCU Rams in 2009, where he coached for six years before leaving for Texas. In 2011 he led the Rams on an iconic Cinderella run, as they became the first team to advance from the "First Four" to the Final Four