2024 Big East Tournament Preview: Odds, Picks & Bracket

Amidst the raging seas of conference re-alignment, the Big East stands as a beacon of both nostalgia from the past and hope for the future.

Every other basketball conference has been shaken and turned upside down as schools chase the money that comes with the highest levels of college football.

The Big East, on the other hand, steers clear of that mess. Only one of the conference's 11 schools has an FBS football program, and UConn's reversion to the Big East was a way for the school to plant its flag firmly on the side of basketball and history, versus chasing an unpredictable payout.

The result is not the best basketball league in college hoops, though it's the purest. The Big East is the closest college basketball fans get to the game they fell in love with decades ago — 11 teams, bonded by academics, core values and, at least compared to some of the other messes out there, geography.

Nine of the 11 teams harbored hopes of an NCAA tournament bid this season, with several at the top considered national title contenders.

This culminates in the Big East tourney, a microcosm of everything right about the Big East. It's been held at the same location for decades, with fans from across the conference footprint making the pilgrimage to Madison Square Garden, hoping to see their team make history.

The 2024 edition of the Big East tourney promises to live up to the hype, just like this event seems to every year.

So, here's a 2024 Big East Tournament preview.

Big East Tournament Odds

Big East Tournament Bracket

Wednesday, First Round Games

This is the only game in the event without any NCAA tournament implications, as both teams have fallen off the bubble in recent weeks.

For Butler, this will be the Bulldogs' first game in a full week, since beating Xavier in Indianapolis last Wednesday.

The teams split their home-and-home this season, with a third toss-up scheduled for the Garden.

After Providence fans made the most of the return of its former head coach, Ed Cooley, the Big East standings handed the Friars a third chance to defeat Cooley and the Hoyas.

This one will mean more to the Friars, beyond the emotion of the Cooley situation. Providence has NCAA tournament dreams, but it would need to reach at least the semifinals of the event to have a chance.

I'll likely take the Friars to cover here, but I'll have a similar eye on the second half if Providence looks poised to stay fresh for an upset bid against Creighton on Thursday.

Villanova finds itself squarely on the bubble, with bracketologists unsure how to handle the Wildcats. Villanova greatly hurt its chances over the past week, losing its final two regular season games.

Those losses resulted in Villanova losing a bye to the quarterfinals, though in the long run that might be a positive for the Wildcats. A record of 17-14 will scare the NCAA tournament committee — no team with 15 losses has ever been gifted an at-large bid. A win, even over lowly DePaul, adds a number to the win column.

The Wildcats' focus, however, should be on a quarterfinal date with Marquette. A win there would give the Cats a major chip on the resume.

That's where there may be an edge in the DePaul game. If Villanova runs up a huge lead in the first half, head coach Kyle Neptune may start thinking about keeping some of his players fresh for the do-or-die game against the Golden Eagles.

I'll have an eye on the second-half spread if Villanova is blowing out the Blue Demons.

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Quarterfinal & Semifinals Spots to Watch

This is the only quarterfinal already set, with a late flurry from the Johnnies earning the league's final bye. Five straight wins following Rick Pitino's testy postgame press conference on February 18 has the Red Storm once again on the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble.

That makes them a ripe candidate to sell high.

Seton Hall has also been hot, winning five of its last seven, with the losses coming in the two toughest Big East games (at UConn and at Creighton). The Pirates swept St. John's already this season and though many say it's hard to beat the same team three times, that's more old wives tale than fact:

If Seton Hall opens around +5, I'll back the Pirates.

Thursday will offer the answer to the single biggest question about the Big East tournament: Is Tyler Kolek healthy? The all-everything Marquette point guard has been sorely missed in the three games he's been out with an oblique injury.

Without him, the Golden Eagles' offense isn't quite to "chicken with its head cut off" levels, but certainly feels like a puppy trying to walk without a leash. Kolek is the focal point of everything Marquette does on that end of the floor, even when he's not involved in the action.

No one knows that better than Villanova, which was dominated by Kolek twice this season. In two prior meetings, Kolek averaged 26.5 points, 10.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals. He willed the Golden Eagles to a road win at Villanova in late January.

It's unclear how much of Kolek's absence was precautionary for a Marquette team that felt fairly locked in to a two or three seed in both this tournament and the NCAA tournament.

Having him fresh for the postseason is far more important than the benefits of changing either of those seeds. His status and performance for this game dictates Marquette's future this week and beyond.

In a conference with three top tier teams, this game stands out as the one fans should be hoping to see. It was ripped away from us two weeks ago, when Marquette scratched Kolek and big man Oso Ighodaro pre-game due to an injury and illness, respectfully.

With a healthy roster, I like Marquette's chances, just as I did prior to the game two weeks ago. Creighton forces teams to operate in the mid-range and Kolek's connection with Ighadaro — especially as a short roller after screens — gives the Golden Eagles the leg up on that end of the floor.

If Kolek is injured, or this talented Villanova team wakes up, we could see a rematch of what's been the weirdest home-and-home series in college basketball this season.

At Creighton, Villanova trailed by 14 in the second half, charged back, never led by more than three points, survived some wild officiating and won in overtime.

In the rematch last Saturday in South Philadelphia, Creighton spurted out to a 32-8 lead early on. Villanova gradually inched back and eventually tied the game. Creighton needed a bucket in the final second to secure the win.

Both games are a testament to how volatile these teams are, largely because of their love of the 3-point shot. Creighton takes them and makes them at clips among the highest in the nation, while Villanova loves to shoot 3s, despite middling percentages.

This means the Bluejays are always on the verge of a scoring spurt and leaves Villanova scoreless for long droughts.

It's hard to see the Wildcats going three straight games (ignoring what should be a "gimme" over DePaul on Wednesday) against the conference's best to try to earn the Big East's automatic big to the Big Dance.

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Futures Breakdown

Yes, we made it more than 1,200 words without mentioning the conference regular season champs and national title favorites. In a way, that's because no news is good news.

The bracket breaks nicely for UConn, with the other two top teams — Marquette and Creighton — likely needing to square off 24 hours before having a chance to top UConn for the Big East title.

It's hard to recommend the Huskies at this price, given how fickle a single elimination tournament can be. The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds feel like all risk and no reward for UConn bettors, so you're better off hoping to cash in on Connecticut in a potential title game on Saturday.

If things play out as scripted, Kolek should be back in the lineup, these teams should meet in the semifinals and the winner should get a crack at Connecticut on Saturday. This is March, so the script might hit the shredder at any moment.

Ultimately, I'd shy away from either of these teams due to what amounts to a rock, paper, scissors situation. I think Creighton has a better chance to knock off the top-seeded Huskies, yet I'd back Marquette in this potential semifinal matchup.

Kolek's question marks leave me wary to bet Marquette, while Creighton's chances scare me at this price.

This is the only future I'll be placing on the Big East, hoping for a lottery ticket with the Pirates.

It's hard to back anyone who plays Wednesday night, as they'll need to pull off four wins in four days. Even if you love what Villanova has to offer, the Wildcats' worst case scenario features games against Marquette, Creighton and UConn.

The top side of the bracket requires an upset of UConn, but Seton Hall did so once this year. I like the downhill driving offense of Seton Hall to test UConn's guards defensively.

The Pirates also have a win over Marquette and dragged Creighton to three overtimes.

There's just no reason that St. John's — which was left for dead three weeks ago — should be +800 (at DraftKings) to win this tournament while Seton Hall is +3500 — especially when KenPom's model sets their quarterfinal as just a four-point game.