The Big East has five teams ranked in the Top 25: Georgetown
\nHoyas<\/span>, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Louisville
\nCardinals, Connecticut Huskies, and whatever the Marquette Warriors are now
\ncalled. Two more teams have 22 wins: West Virginia Mountaineers and the Pittsburgh
\nPanthers. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

To say the least, the 2008 Big East Men\u2019s Basketball
\nTournament should be one of the most hotly contested ever. This is perhaps why
\nthe Vegas odds<\/a>
\nare so close. John Thompson Jr. and the Georgetown Hoyas<\/span>,
\nled by Roy Hibbert<\/span> and Jonathan Wallace, are the
\nfavorites at 3\/2. <\/p>\n

However, Louisville<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\nis very close behind at 5\/2 and Connecticut<\/st1:place><\/st1:State>
\nand Notre Dame are 5\/1. Rick Pitino and his Cardinals have very much rebounded
\nfrom early season injuries that saw David Padgett miss 10 games, Juan Palacios
\nout for nine and Derrick Caracter<\/span> have some off court
\ndistractions. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Marquette<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> and Pittsburgh<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\nare both fairly long shots at 12\/1. Pitt though won 3-of-4 to enter the
\npostseason after a midseason conference swoon. Marquette<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\nhas only one conference tournament win in six years and stumbled across the
\nfinish line. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The once highly regarded Villanova Wildcats can be had at
\n15\/1. Bob Huggins current team, the West Virginia Mountaineers are at 15\/1 and
\nthe team he made his name with, the Cincinnati Bearcats are 30\/1, the same odds
\nas Seton Hall. The Providence Friars backed into the tournament, but with a
\nrecent win to Connecticut<\/st1:place><\/st1:State>,
\nperhaps the 40\/1 odds a<\/span> a<\/span>
\nbit steep. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Though most sportsbooks<\/a>
\nhave posted the March Madness tournament lines, these quoted odds are courtesy
\nof NewBodog<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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