If any March Madness odds followers doubted that the Big East was the nation’s best basketball betting conference, surely their opinions have changed now. Entering Friday’s Sweet 16 games, Five Big East teams are still alive and three have already advanced to the Elite Eight. Among them are No. 1 Pittsburgh and No. 3 Villanova, who clash Saturday. The winner gets a Final Four berth.

While the Pittsburgh vs Villanova odds look like a dead even matchup, each team has followed a very different path to reach this point. Pittsburgh has fought tooth and nail to reach this round of the March Madness odds, struggling early against Tennessee State and pulling out a win against Oklahoma State in the dying minutes. It’s scary to wonder where the Panthers would be without standout guard Levance Fields. He gave Pittsburgh the lead with five unanswered points against Oklahoma State and wowed online betting fans again by doing exactly the same thing in the final minute of Pittsburgh’s triumph over Xavier—a game in which the Panthers trailed by eight at the half.

Whereas the Panthers have left it on the floor to survive each round, Villanova, save for a brief scare from American, has stomped on its competition at the sportsbook. Villanova’s victory margin is actually widening the deeper it goes in the tournament; it obliterated higher-seeded Duke by 23 points in the Sweet 16. On paper, online betting fans have to seriously consider Villanova in this NCAA basketball betting matchup. The Wildcats beat the Panthers 67-57 on Jan. 28 and have distributed scoring, meaning Pittsburgh can’t key on one player defensively.

In the end, I like the battle-hardened team to grind out a win over the untested team. Pittsburgh keeps coming out on top of close games, largely because of its clutch play from Fields and reliable inside scoring form DeJuan Blair and Sam Young. Online betting fans simply don’t know yet whether Villanova can battle through a tight contest. Bet on Pittsburgh, which as already proven itself, to reach the Final Four.

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