The return of star point guard Dominic James has Marquette fans excited about the upcoming season. Find out just how far the junior can take his team in our 2007 Marquette Golden Eagles Betting Preview. SportsBetting.com has the Golden Eagles at 40 to 1 to win the NCAA Championship.
Without James, Marquette would have still been an upper third team in the Big East, but with him, they are a legit title contender. With fourth and sixth place finishes in the 16-team power conference the last two seasons, the Eagles are ready to up their status even further.
The Eagles will also be trying to get postseason monkeys off their back. They haven’t won a postseason game since 2003 when they advanced to the Final Four.
Marquette’s weak post game was exposed in last year’s NCAA Tourney game against the Michigan State Spartans, and it still has a long way to go. Center Ousmane Barro should be improved and more confident this season. He runs the floor well and is a solid offensive rebounder, but he must develop a better post game and stay out of foul trouble. Undersized forward Lazar Hayward will give the Eagles some much needed toughness down low. This banger has the ability to get to the foul line. Dan Fitzgerald is a forward who can flat out shoot it. He led the Eagles with 52 3-pointers last season.
The guards will carry the Eagles this season. James, Jerel McNeal, and Wesley Matthews have tons of experience. James is, perhaps, the most athletic guard in college hoops. He averaged 14.9ppg and 4.9apg last season. McNeal gets the job done on the defensive end of the floor. Stick him on any opponents’ top scorer and he has the ability to shut them down. Matthews is versatility personified. At 6’5’’ he is a solid rebounder as well. Sophomore David Cubillan and Maurice Acker give Marquette some solid depth at the guard position.
With James, McNeal, and Matthews carrying the load, we can expect the Eagles to be a top 20 team. A lack of interior play will ultimately cost this team a Big East title and a spot in the Final Four. We feel the Eagles get the first round exit monkey off their backs this season, but the Sweet 16 is as far as we have them going.
Sign up for Jimmy Boyd’s season package and crush your book all season long. Make sure you check out the rest of Jimmy’s predictions to beat the college basketball odds in this year.
Checkout our live College Hoops at Point-Spreads.com showcasing real time odds of the world's top online sportsbooks all in one easy to use location. Get line movements in real time and find out who has the best college basketball betting odds.
SportsBetting.com has posted the odds on the NCAA Championship:
Air Force 300 – 1
Akron 300 – 1
Alabama 300 – 1
Arizona 50 – 1
Arizona St 300 – 1
Arkansas 75 – 1
Auburn 300 – 1
BYU 200 – 1
Boston College 200 – 1
Bradley 300 – 1
Butler 100 – 1
California 100 – 1
Clemson 75 – 1
Colorado St 300 – 1
Creighton 300 – 1
DePaul 200 – 1
Drexel 300 – 1
Duke 35 – 1
Florida 50 – 1
Florida St 300 – 1
Fresno St 300 – 1
George Washington 300 – 1
Georgetown 15 – 1
Georgia 100 – 1
Georgia Tech 100 – 1
Geroge Mason 100 – 1
Gonzaga 50 – 1
Hofstra 300 – 1
Houston 200 – 1
Illinois 300 – 1
Illinois St 300 – 1
Indiana 20 – 1
Iowa 300 – 1
Kansas 10 – 1
Kansas St 60 – 1
Kent St 300 – 1
Kentucky 40 – 1
LSU 300 – 1
Louisville 15 – 1
Marquette 40 – 1
Maryland 50 – 1
Memphis 7 – 1
Miami FL 300 – 1
Miami OH 300 – 1
Michigan 300 – 1
Michigan St 20 – 1
Minnesota 300 – 1
Mississippi 300 – 1
Mississippi St 100 – 1
Missouri 200 – 1
Missouri St 300 – 1
Nevada 200 – 1
New Mexico 300 – 1
New Mexico St 200 – 1
North Carolina 6 – 1
North Carolina St 60 – 1
Notre Dame 200 – 1
Ohio St 50 – 1
Oklahoma 100 – 1
Oklahoma St 300 – 1
Old Dominion 300 – 1
Oregon 40 – 1
Oregon St 300 – 1
Pittsburgh 200 – 1
Providence 300 – 1
Purdue 100 – 1
San Diego St 300 – 1
South Carolina 300 – 1
Southern Illinois 75 – 1
St Johns 300 – 1
St Josephs 200 – 1
Stanford 100 – 1
Syracuse 40 – 1
Temple 300 – 1
Tennessee 12 – 1
Texas 75 – 1
Texas A&M 50 – 1
Texas Tech 100 – 1
Toledo 300 – 1
U CONN 50 – 1
U MASS 300 – 1
UCLA 6 – 1
UCSB 300 – 1
UNLV 300 – 1
USC 75 – 1
Utah 300 – 1
Utah St 300 – 1
VA Commonwealth 100 – 1
Vanderbilt 200 – 1
Villanova 60 – 1
Virginia 100 – 1
Virginia Tech 300 – 1
Wake Forest 300 – 1
Washington 100 – 1
Washington St 40 – 1
West Virginia 100 – 1
Wichita St 300 – 1
Wisconsin 100 – 1
Xavier 100 – 1
zx Field (Any Other Team) 50 – 1
