A loaded night of college basketball tips off Wednesday evening when Marquette travels to Xavier for a 6:30 p.m. ET tip. Xavier is favored by seven points, down half-a-point after the line opened at 7.5. The Over-Under, or total number of points Vegas thinks will be scored, is 164.5, unchanged from the open.
In this Big East basketball showdown that could have major implications on NCAA Tournament seeding come March, you need to see what SportsLine data scientist Stephen Oh has to say.
Earlier this month, Oh told readers to back Marquette in a pick'em game against Seton Hall, meaning Vegas viewed it as 50/50. The result: Marquette 84, Seton Hall 64 -- Oh cashed with a ton of room to spare.
That helped Oh extend his streak picking college basketball games to 20-9 overall and made him 3-0 on his past three picks involving Marquette hoops. Anybody following his picks is up big right now.
Part of his success: He co-founded AccuScore and specializes in sports simulations, projections and statistical analysis.
Now, he has analyzed Marquette-Xavier on Wednesday from every possible angle and locked in his picks.
We can tell you he has a slight lean to the Under. But he has a strong pick for which side of the spread you should be all over, and he's sharing that only over at SportsLine.
Oh has taken into account No. 8 Xavier's strong 18-3 season (14-7 ATS) that also includes a 6-2 start in Big East play and a current three-game winning streak. The Musketeers won a top-20 showdown against Seton Hall over the weekend, so they come into the contest with a lot of confidence.
Senior guard Trevon Bluiett has been the catalyst on offense, averaging 19.1 points. He scored 23 earlier this season when Xavier beat Marquette, 91-87.
But just because Xavier got the win on the road against the Golden Eagles in late December doesn't mean the Musketeers will be able to cover a large seven-point spread at home on Wednesday.
Marquette kept that game competitive and the Golden Eagles have a chance to do that again on Wednesday in the national spotlight. These teams have very similar numbers when it comes to scoring offense and defense and both are 3-2 in their last five Big East games.
And Marquette (13-6, 4-3) already has big wins over LSU, Seton Hall, Georgetown and Providence. It won't be intimidated against a top-10 caliber opponent like Xavier.
Oh has evaluated all of these circumstances, spotted a big edge in this line, and quickly jumped all over it.
So what side of Xavier-Marquette do you need to be all over? Visit SportsLine now to get Stephen Oh's strong pick for Xavier-Marquette, and see which side offers tremendous value, all from an expert who is on a 3-0 run on picks involving Marquette and is on a strong 20-9 run overall on his college basketball.
