Best Bets For Big East, ACC Conference Championships: Creighton Vs. St. John's, Louisville Vs. Duke

The men's college basketball conference tournaments have sucked for me from a betting perspective. I've had a bunch of "tough beats" and my "best bet" to win the Big XII title was eliminated Friday. Yet, I can save face, and make some money back, if the St. John's Red Storm wins the 2025 Big East Tournament Championship. While I was at it, I threw in a bet for the ACC title game, for sh*ts and giggles. 

2025 Big East and ACC Championship Best Bets 

• Big East: St. John's Red Storm -6.5 (-110) vs. Creighton Bluejays via Caesars Sportsbook, risking 1.1 units (u).
• ACC: Louisville Cardinals +6.5 (-112) vs. Duke Blue Devils via DraftKings, risking 1.12u.

Creighton vs. #6 St. John's (-6.5) in ‘The Garden’, 6:30 p.m. ET

In the Big East title game, the Johnnies will go "belt to a**" on the Bluejays. St. John's avenged one of its four regular-season losses by beating Creighton 79-73 in The Garden last month. The Bluejays beat the Red Storm at home in their first meeting 57-56 New Year's Eve. 

The Johnnies are giving me vibes of UConn's back-to-back title run from 2022-24, when the Huskies essentially crushed everyone in the NCAA Tournament. In fact, I argue that St. John's would've made it to the Sweet 16 last year if it didn't get snubbed by the selection committee. 

The St. John's Red Storm play the Creighton Bluejays Saturday in the 2025 Big East men's college basketball conference championship. (Photo credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images)

St. John's lost to Connecticut 95-90 in the 2024 Big East semifinals. UConn beat Xavier 87-60 in the quarterfinals and Marquette 73-57 in the Big East championship. Then, in the 2024 NCAA tourney, the Huskies beat every team 14+ points en route to their second straight title. 

With that in mind, the Red Storm hammered Butler 78-57 Thursday and Marquette 79-63 Friday. Despite the one-point margin in their first meeting, the Johnnies are levels above the Bluejays. Plus, St. John's has a home-court advantage, and Creighton, like most college basketball teams, is worse on the road. 

Lastly, the Red Storm crushed the Bluejays in the "battle for possessions" in the regular season, where Creighton turned the ball over 20 more times, 10 in each meeting. It's tough to overcome that type of possession discrepancy in basketball. Unless the Bluejays go nuclear from 3-point range and/or get help from the refs, the Johnnies will beat the brakes off them. 

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#13 Louisville (+6.5) vs. #1 Duke in Charlotte, 8:30 p.m. ET

Either I'm a sucker or the market will bet the Blue Devils regardless of Cooper Flagg being out and the Cardinals as +6 underdogs is the correct price. Because Duke was -7 favorites vs. North Carolina in the ACC semifinals Friday and Louisville is more than a point better than UNC. 

The Cardinals beat the Tar Heels 83-70 at home in their only meeting this season. As +8.5 home underdogs, Louisville lost to Duke 76-65 in December. But, Flagg was Ken Pom's MVP for that game with 20 points and 9 boards, both game highs. So, without Flagg, it's tough getting to -6 with the Blue Devils over the Cardinals. 

Duke Blue Devils All-American Cooper Flagg will miss the 2025 ACC Championship against the Louisville Cardinals Saturday. (Photo credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images)

Also, Duke blew a 24-point lead in a 74-71 win vs. its archrival Friday. Of course, I bet the Blue Devils -7, and it's another conference tourney game I've lost where the team I bet held a significant lead on the spread at halftime. However, my butt-hurtness isn't affecting my Louisville-Duke analysis. 

Rather, I cannot un-see the Blue Devils getting locked up by the Tar Heels in the second half Friday. Duke scored just 4 points in nearly six minutes and shot 22.7% from behind the arc for the game. Well, Louisville's defense is much better than North Carolina's. Finally, the Cardinals have won 11 in a row and a conference title means more to them than the Blue Devils. 

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Follow me on X (or Twitter, whatever) @Geoffery-Clark, and check out my OutKick Bets Podcast for more betting content and random rants. I'll add bets to my college basketball 2025 betting record via X all season.