St. John’s could easily come away victorious here, but its odds of doing so are a bit short considering a dangerous field that includes a solid Marquette squad, as well as Creighton, Villanova and Dan Hurley’s battle-tested and back-to-back defending national champion UConn team.

These two teams are trending in opposite directions with Marquette struggling and Xavier getting hot at the right time. Xavier must keep winning to stay off the bubble, while Marquette needs to build momentum.