The Butler Bulldogs take on the Creighton Bluejays in Omaha, NE. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
Creighton is favored by -5.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -190. The total is set at 153.5 points.
Here’s my Butler vs. Creighton predictions and college basketball picks for December 30, 2025.
Butler vs Creighton Prediction
My Pick: Butler ML +160
My Butler vs Creighton best bet is on the Bulldogs to win outright. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Butler vs. Creighton Odds
| Butler Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+5.5 -110 | 153.5 -110 / -110 | +160 |
| Creighton Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-5.5 -110 | 153.5 -110 / -110 | -190 |
- Butler vs Creighton spread: Creighton -5.5
- Butler vs Creighton over/under: 153.5 points
- Butler vs Creighton moneyline: Butler +160, Creighton -190
Butler vs Creighton College Basketball Betting Preview
Conference play in the Big East has begun, but it now takes center stage as we pass the Christmas season. Teams with dreams of a March Madness berth will begin getting real chances to show their worth to the committee and to future opponents.
Both Butler and Creighton hope to be in that conversation, yet they have a long way to go. This would be Creighton's biggest win of the season, which isn't saying much. A neutral-court victory over Virginia is the best thing Butler has done, with no true road wins on its resume yet.
This should be a tightly-contested battle, worthy of a mid-week watch.
Butler Basketball
Butler is desperately trying to claw its way into the NCAA Tournament conversation by making itself part of the second tier of the Big East.
UConn is a clear step ahead, with St. John's and potentially Villanova on its heels. After that, there's a drop-off in the conference, with Creighton, Butler, Seton Hall and maybe Providence wrestling for position.
Butler has the talent to fight its way to the top of that second tier. Thad Matta has a potent scoring duo in senior Michael Ajayi and junior Finley Bizjack.
Ajayi comes via Gonzaga, where he was mired in the background as a role player. Here at Butler, he's blossomed. Ajayi is posting 16 points and 12 rebounds per night, notching a double-double in 10 of 13 outings this season.
Butler wants to play faster than its opponents, with Bizjack pushing the pace and Ajayi leading the charge of an aggressive offensive rebounding group. That's a new phenomenon for Matta, whose first three Butler teams all ranked in the bottom 75 nationally in hauling in their own misses.
With Ajayi and big man Drayton Jones inside, these Bulldogs can afford to be a little more aggressive, but it has hurt them.
Butler ranks in the bottom 10 in the country in the efficiency difference between transition defense and standard defense, according to Hoop-Explorer, with offensive rebounders scrambling to get back on defense being an issue.
Creighton Basketball
Few coaches have as strong a gameplan from game to game and season to season as Greg McDermott at Creighton. It took a few years for his philosophy to set in, but in recent years, there's a clear McDermott way to play the game.
Defensively, the Bluejays want opponents shooting 2-point baskets, preferably jump shots. No program is as committed to avoiding free throws allowed than Creighton. The Bluejays lead the nation in free-throw rate allowed this season, having topped the nation in that statistic each of the last two years.
The difference between this year and previous seasons is in the middle of the defense. Four-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Kalkbrenner is off in the NBA, leaving McDermott to fend without an elite rim protector.
In the past, the gameplan was easier to execute: run opposing shooters off the 3-point line, knowing you had Kalkbrenner behind you to prevent a rim attack. Last season, Creighton opponents ranked 328th in rim rate and fourth in mid-range shot rate, per Hoop-Explorer.
This season, the mid-range rate is still at 60th nationally, but Bluejay opponents are getting to the rim, ranking 74th in that metric.
On the other end of the floor, for a coach that views fouling as a sin defensively, McDermott's teams don't really push the issue, ranking 346th in free throw rate. Instead, the Bluejays love the long ball, scoring almost 40% of their points from out there.
The theory is simple: you shoot twos, they'll shoot 3s and bet the math works out.
Without Kalkbrenner or some of the other stars of Creighton's recent past, the math isn't so easy. This is a roster built mostly in the transfer portal, with a season-ending injury to promising sophomore Jackson McAndrew ending his season.
Butler vs. Creighton Betting Analysis
Butler is the better team of the two, yet the lack of a road win makes me hesitant to think the Bulldogs can steal this one.
Butler makes for an interesting case for Creighton's math problem. The Bulldogs are also in the top 10 in the nation in free-throw rate allowed and 2-point rate allowed.
Butler will fight to keep Creighton from going bombs away from long range, yet year after year, McDermott's teams simply find a way to get their shots off, whether they're open or not.
On the other end, Creighton will force Butler into the mid-range, but Bizjack and Ajayi are comfortable there and both savvy enough to work their way to the rim against this Creighton team without a rim protector.
I like Butler to be successful offensively and win this one on the road.
My Pick: Butler ML +160
