(2) UConn vs. (10) Marquette – Tops in the Country with a Win

Game-day:  2/25/2009

Tip-off:  7:00 pm est.

The Connecticut Huskies travel to Marquette to take on the Golden Eagles in a very meaningful game now that the Pittsburgh Panthers, the Huskies’ Big East #1 ranked rival, lost to Providence on Tuesday night.  The Huskies are in the Power Rankings, but they aren’t exactly one of the better teams in those rankings ATS.  Straight-up, they are a very nice 25 and 2, but against the spread the Huskies have gone 10 and 11.  Their ATS record on the road is 5 and 2.

The Marquette Golden Eagles are another top Big East team. They haven’t been as dominating as Pittsburgh and Connecticut but they’ve done enough to secure a 23 and 4 straight-up schedule.  Their record ATS is 11-10-1.  At home the Golden Eagles have been pretty even going 5-5-1.  A victory against Connecticut would really help Marquette get a nice seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Here is the BetOnline betting line for this game.

Connecticut Huskies                         +1 -110                                    O 144 -110

Marquette Golden Eagles                 -1 -110                                     U 144 -110

Here are a few online wagering trends for this game.

• The Connecticut Huskies are 6 and 1 against the spread in their last 7 games as the underdog.
• The Connecticut Huskies are 1 and 4 against the spread in their last 5 games overall.
• The Marquette Golden Eagles are 1 and 4 against the spread in their last 5 games versus a rival from the Big East.
• The Marquette Golden Eagles are 4 and 1 ATS in their last 5 games as a home favorite of ½ to 6 ½ points.

Marquette is a very good team, but Connecticut watched the door crack open when the Pitt Panthers lost to the Providence Friars on Tuesday night.  I expect the Huskies to kick the door wide open by beating Marquette on the road as a 1 point underdog.

As good as the Golden Eagles have been this season, they were dominated by Connecticut in January, 89 to 73.  The Huskies had five players score in double figures in that game.

I haven’t seen anything out of Marquette to convince me that they change the outcome in this game.

I have to go with Connecticut in this.  I’ll be betting the Huskies to beat the +1 point spread .