College basketball betting is going to dominate the sports betting world for the next few weeks, and we’ll get started on Tuesday with the first round of the Big East Conference tournament.  We’ll take a look at a 6:30 PM Pacific/9:30 PM Eastern start time game between Rutgers and Cincinnati.  Both teams finished well off the pace in the Big East standings–Cincy finished 11th and Rutgers finished 14th.  Overall, their records are a lot closer than the seeding disparity would suggest, with Cincinnati going 16-14 SU and Rutgers 15-16.

BIG EAST OPENING ROUND–CINCINNATI VS. RUTGERS

The Big East tournament is being held at Madison Square Garden, so this is essentially a road game for both teams.  Bearcats won at Rutgers by 7 in late January, so that probably accounts for them being favored here.  Neither team is much on the road, with Cincinnati 4-10 SU and Rutgers 2-10.  Overall, its probably a more favorable venue for Rutgers due to New York’s proximity to New Jersey.

This is essentially a play against Cincinnati, or more specifically a play against them being favored by 8 points with their dubious pointspread credentials this season.  The Bearcats were 7-17 against the spread overall, 2-8 ATS as a favorite and 4-13 ATS against Big East opponents.  In all fairness, Rutgers wasn’t a great pointspread team either going 12-14 ATS but they’re also not favored by eight points.  We’re not sold on the Scarlet Knights either, but in a battle between two weak teams we’ll back the one that doesn’t have to win by just about a double digit margin to cash our ticket.

PLAY RUTGERS +8 OVER CINCINNATI