Big East Tournament - Butler vs. Providence Prediction: Odds, Expert Picks, Betting Trends and Stats
The Big East men's basketball tournament tips off Wednesday afternoon when the Butler Bulldogs (13-18, 6-14) take on the Providence Friars (12-19, 6-14) in New York City.
Providence literally and figuratively limps into the tournament. They suffered numerous injuries to key players throughout the season which culminated in a five-game losing streak to finish the season.
Butler struggled throughout the regular season as well. They lost their last four.
These teams split their two games this season with each winning on their home floor. The Friars won in Providence, 84-65, on January 8 and Butler defeated Providence in Indianapolis, 82-81, on February 8.
Lets dive into the matchup and offer some information and possibly a sweat or two.
We've got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch the opening tip, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
Game details & how to watch Gonzaga vs. Providence
Date: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Time: 4:00PM EST
Site: Madison Square Garden
City: New York, NY
Network/Streaming: Peacock
Never miss a second of the action and stay up to date with all the latest scores and player news. Check out our day-by-day NCAA Basketball Schedule Page that includes live game updates.
Game odds for Bulldogs at Friars
The latest odds as of Wednesday courtesy of BetMGM:
Odds: Butler Bulldogs (-125), Providence Friars (+105)
Spread: Bulldogs -1.5
Total: 147.5 points
Expert picks & predictions for Butler at Providence
Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the NCAA calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, injuries, and the schedule.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for today's Bulldogs & Friars game:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play on Providence on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Providence Friars +1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the under on the Game Total of 147.5.
Butler vs. Providence: Top betting trends and recent stats
Butler was 19-12 to the OVER this season
Providence has won 8 of their last 10 games against Butler
Providence is just 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games against Butler
Providence has lost their last 5 games and is just 1-4 against the spread in those 5 games.
If you're looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our NCAA Basketball Top Trends Tool on NBCSports.com!
Please bet responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.
Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:
· Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
· Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
· Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
· Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
9 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Maddie Misch stares down pressure for St. Laurence. ‘Gives me some adrenaline.' Plus, area state softball notes.
Time after time, Montini had a runner in scoring position with two outs against St. Laurence pitcher Maddie Misch. And then, moments later, a zero went up on the scoreboard. It happened in each of the final four innings as the Vikings crept closer and closer to making softball history. Finally, they won to advance to state in Class 3A for the first time ever. When the going got tough, Misch got going Monday for St. Laurence in a 6-2 victory in the Class 3A Benedictine Supersectional. The junior right-hander dodged disaster like a pro. 'I actually feel like the pressure sometimes gives me some adrenaline,' Misch said. 'I feel I've always kind of performed well under pressure. It never really has gotten to me. 'I have trust in my defense. I know that I don't have to worry about those situations because I know my defense has my back. I have confidence we can get out of any situation we get into.' Misch has been — if not an unhittable force — certainly a clutch performer for St. Laurence (23-7), which will play Providence (25-11) at 10 a.m. Friday in a state semifinal game at Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria. During the regular season, Misch and fellow junior right-hander Breanna Cahue were a one-two pitching punch. St. Laurence coach Teagan Walsh could very well use both against Providence. But Misch has come up big in her playoff performances. 'With Maddie, just the growth we've seen from sophomore to junior season is tremendous,' Walsh said. 'She holds herself accountable, she holds her teammates accountable, and she's a great voice even when she's not in the lineup.' When Providence plays at state for the first time since 2018, junior second baseman Bella Olszta will be doing some catching up to her older brother. Last season, Eddie Olszta was a starting infielder in baseball for the Celtics, who won the Class 4A state championship. Little sister wasn't jealous. Far from it. 'I think of my older brother as someone I look up to,' Bella said. 'I do compete with him a little bit, but I more look up to him. When he went to state, I said, 'I really want to do this. It seems super cool.'' She will get her chance in Friday's semifinal against St. Laurence. Olszta has been one of the standouts this season for Providence. She's a .333 hitter with seven doubles, two triples, two home runs and 12 RBIs. During her three years on varsity, Olszta has been one of the Celtics' most versatile players, Although she was a natural middle infielder, Providence coach Jim Holba played her at third base and first base during her freshman and sophomore years. 'We had a need at those positions the past two seasons,' Holba said. 'We had an older girl (Sophia Thormeyer) playing at second base. Bella is a good athlete, so we put her in the fire pretty quick. She was willing to step in and get it done. 'Bella has progressed every year, putting extra points on her average. And she has been a quiet leader for us.' Junior first baseman Alexis Vander Tuuk thinks that Lockport coach Marissa Chovanec is a pretty cool aunt. But playing for her is even cooler. 'She is definitely one of the stricter coaches I've had,' VanderTuuk said. 'But I like how she's able to joke with us still. We have a lot of serious moments at practice, but we're also allowed to have fun while working hard. 'For me, personally, playing for my aunt is very similar to playing for my mom (Ali), who coached me on my travel team. They are very similar people with very similar coaching tactics. It's a crazy experience, but I'm blessed to get to play for her every day because she is an amazing coach.' VanderTuuk will be in the starting lineup at 3 p.m. Friday when Lockport (31-9) plays Barrington (34-3-1) in a Class 4A state semifinal. After two seasons on the junior varsity, VanderTuuk has emerged as a solid player this spring for the Porters. She's batting .301 with 12 doubles and 13 RBIs. Aunt Marissa is pretty proud. 'Alexis is a ballplayer, and it's fun for our family,' Chovanec said. 'She has done a great job at first base for us with her glove and her flexibility and she's consistent hitting in the 5-7 hole. 'It's exciting that she has stepped up. She earned her spot.'
USA Today
11 hours ago
- USA Today
New Jersey duo hoping to make impact at U.S. Open in neighboring Pennsylvania
New Jersey duo hoping to make impact at U.S. Open in neighboring Pennsylvania There are 156 golfers in this week's U.S. Open, but only two of them understand the beauty of the Navesink River and the aggravation of Route 35 traffic. A pair of New Jersey lifers. Chris Gotterup hails from Little Silver and attended Christian Brothers Academy. Ryan McCormick was raised in Middletown and went to Mater Dei High School. They aren't the sole New Jerseyans in the field this week at Oakmont Country Club in the Pittsburgh suburbs, but they are the only ones who didn't split at the first opportunity. Gotterup earned All-America honors at Rutgers, while McCormick became the Big East individual champion at St. John's. 'I know he takes great pride in that, and I take great pride in it,' Gotterup said of their local bona fides. 'There are good players who grow up in Jersey and go away to college. We're two of the only guys who have toughed it out and climbed through the ranks in a place where you wouldn't think you could do it.' Gotterup, 25, is making his second appearance at the U.S. Open after also qualifying in 2022. This is the first U.S. Open for McCormick, 33. More: 'It better not be easier when you're done': 5 things I learned from Gil Hanse on Oakmont 'It speaks to how quality the golf is in New Jersey and especially in Monmouth County,' McCormick said. 'It's awesome that we're both out here playing still.' Oakmont is an iconic venue, one of the most demanding in the country. When they tee off Thursday, however, don't expect guys who have played through tough conditions for much of their lives to be intimidated. 'I like to describe myself as someone who is gritty, and I know Ryan would say the same thing,' Gotterup said. 'That's just part of our New Jersey roots.' More: What would an 18 handicap shoot at Oakmont? Pros weigh in, and their answers are hilarious Chris Gotterup: 'Still earning my place' Golf is a funny game. In 2024, Gotterup was in good position to qualify for the U.S. Open, but he three-putted the final hole and missed the cutoff by one stroke. This year, at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, he rallied with a six-under final round to punch a ticket. 'It was looking like for a long time that I wasn't going to be here,' he said. 'I turned on the jets at the end, and it ended up being enough.' He'll need those jets at Oakmont, where he's grouped with Joakim Langergren and Mason Howell. They tee off at 8:46 a.m. Thursday and 2:31 p.m. Friday. 'In a perfect world, you'd be out here for two straight weeks trying to learn every little nuance that you could,' Gotterup said after a couple of practice rounds on the course. 'There are some holes where it breaks your brain; if you're in the rough and you hit it 40 yards short of the green, it's going to get there. It's a mental challenge more than anything.' It doesn't hurt that he won a PGA Tour event last year, shooting 22 under par at the Myrtle Beach Classic in South Carolina. 'That honestly feels like a long time ago,' Gotterup said. 'I feel like I'm still earning my place out here.' He's done that since graduating CBA. At Rutgers, he developed from an average college golfer into a star, and as a postgraduate at the University of Oklahoma he won the Fred Haskins Award as the most outstanding Division I golfer in 2022. At a time when the professionalization of college football and basketball is casting a cloud over the future of other intercollegiate sports, Gotterup can attest to the virtues of his time on campus. 'There were so many stepping stones for me that, even if I was good enough at Rutgers to turn pro, I would not be in the same position I am now,' he said. 'I needed those years of getting the crap beat out of me and coach yelling at me and teachers telling me, that I wasn't trying hard enough in school. There are all these pieces that built up to get my feet underneath me to the point where I can finally kick some (butt).' His biggest piece of advice for the current crop of high school golf standouts? 'Go somewhere where you're going to be comfortable and you're going to play -- for me, that was Rutgers,' he said. 'And it's important to not get burnt out. Do other stuff, play basketball. You don't need to act like a tour pro at 17.' Ryan McCormick: 'You're in the right spot' It's been a roller-coaster couple of years for McCormick, who lives in Florida now but spends his summers in Jersey. He earned his PGA Tour card in 2023 but took his lumps. 'It was difficult and I learned a lot and I got my butt kicked – and I played well a few weeks out of the year,' he said of the PGA Tour. 'But in our business, there is really no long-term security unless you win.' He ended up on the Korn Ferry Tour this year. 'Every time you advance in anything, but especially in golf, you play against better competition and better courses, you find out about yourself and how good your game is really, and what you need to do to get better,' he said. 'As frustrating as last year was, I learned a lot, and I'm a lot better for it now. I'm probably the best version of myself with my golf game that I've been in my life.' It all came together June 2, when McCormick punched his ticket to Oakmont by winning his U.S. Open qualifier by a whopping five strokes. McCormick is a huge Seton Hall basketball fan – his family has owned season tickets since the 1990s – and he drew an analogy that hardwood aficionados will appreciate. 'It was like Darius Lane or Jeremy Hazell,' he said, referencing former Pirate sharpshooters. 'When they get hot, you just keep feeding them. I hit it really well.' In Oakmont, he's grouped with Trevor Cone and amateur Zachary Pollo. Their tee times are 2:20 Thursday and 8:35 a.m. Friday. 'I've been trying to qualify for the U.S. Open since I was 15,' McCormick said. 'I've always watched every day. It's my favorite golf event.' Part of his typical pre-event preparation is playing a video-game version of the course on PGA Tour 2K. Anything to gain a little extra insight. 'I always try to do my research on the golf course that I'm playing,' McCormick said. 'I've been spending time looking at the past US Opens there, watching the final rounds of the last three of them. You never know what you might pick up on that might help you out there. 'I know they've changed the course, But as far as venues go, this is probably one of the top U.S. Opens you'd want play – you think of Winged Foot, Pebble Beach and Oakmont. So to qualify in a year when it's at such a historic venue is exciting.' If he does something notable this week, you may see replays of a strange clip from April, when he played a round in Georgia with tape over his mouth to control frustrated outbursts. 'It really went all over the world through all different types of news outlets,' McCormick said. 'It was an unbelievable thing that I had no idea was going to get so much attention.' McCormick said the idea was to enhance his focus. 'I've never been afraid to try anything that will help me,' he said. 'It was an exercise that I had in an old book of mine – go play with earplugs in, go play without talking, go hit some shots with a blindfold. Eliminating the senses. I took that to the extreme obviously. The feedback was out of control. But the golfers really understood, and I'm glad for the most part people found it funny.' McCormick's U.S. Open debut marks a full-circle moment for his family. His father Mark McCormick, the longtime head pro at Suburban Golf Club in Union, qualified at age 49 in 2012. It's in the blood, for sure. 'When we moved to Middletown, my dad put this small green in the backyard,' Ryan said. 'My brother (also named Mark) would sometimes practice with me and make up leaderboards for all four majors. I remember us doing the 'U.S. Open' a lot. Now I'll be on the real leaderboard and he won't have to create a fake leaderboard for me to compete on.' Dream big. That's Ryan McCormick's advice anyone growing up in the Garden State who might have a future in golf. 'I always believed in myself, but there were plenty of times as a junior and even in high school when I got my butt kicked, and I just kept working,' he said. 'Just know that between Chris and I and Max Greyserman (a Short Hills native who also qualified), it shows that if your dreams are to play on the PGA Tour, you're in the right spot. Just keep working on it.' Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996. Contact him at jcarino@
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
NBA Trade Idea Gives Warriors' Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler New All-Star Teammate
NBA Trade Idea Gives Warriors' Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler New All-Star Teammate originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Golden State Warriors made a blockbuster trade in February, acquiring six-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat. Advertisement The Butler trade saved the Warriors' season. Golden State acquired Butler on Feb. 6. The team lost to the Los Angeles Lakers that night, dropping their record to 25-26. The Warriors went on a major run after Butler made his Dubs debut, going 23-7. Golden State finished the season as the seventh seed in the Western Conference and faced the Houston Rockets in the first round of the 2025 playoffs. Behind Butler and Steph Curry, the Warriors beat the Rockets in seven games. However, the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated Golden State in the second round in five games. Curry suffered a Grade 1 left hamstring strain in Game 1 and missed the rest of the series. Golden State Warriors stars Steph Curry (right) and Jimmy Butler get a new center in this NBA trade idea. Troy Taormina-Imagn Images Many people believe Curry and Butler need another All-Star scorer next to them to compete for the championship next season, which is why Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report proposed that the Warriors trade for Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic this offseason. Advertisement Bailey proposed the Dubs trade Moses Moody and Buddy Hield to the Bulls for Vucevic, the No. 45 pick in this year's draft and a 2028 second-round pick. "For the Warriors, this is a bit of a desperation move, since Vucevic is 34 and on an expiring contract," Bailey wrote. "His long-term value is nowhere near Moody's (hence, Chicago's inclusion of some draft capital). "But they were woefully thin at the 5 in 2024-25. And even at this age, Vuc is a starting center who can pass, space the floor and fit into Golden State's read-and-react system." Vucevic is a two-time All-Star. He averaged 18.5 points and 10.1 rebounds for the Bulls this season while shooting 53.0% from the field, 40.2% from 3 and 80.5% from the foul line. Advertisement The 34-year-old Vucevic will make $21.5 million next season in the final year of his contract. Vucevic has played for the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic and Bulls. He has career averages of 17.2 points and 10.5 rebounds. Related: NBA Trade Idea Sends Warriors Forward to Bulls This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
