The Creighton Bluejays take on the Butler Bulldogs in Indianapolis, IN. Tip-off is set for 12 p.m. ET on FOX.
Creighton is favored by 2 points on the spread with a moneyline of -125. The total is set at 144.5 points.
Here are my Creighton vs. Butler predictions and college basketball picks for January 11, 2025.
Creighton vs Butler Prediction
My Pick: Butler +2.5 (Play to +2)
My Creighton vs Butler best bet is on the Bulldogs spread, with the best odds currently available at BetRivers. For all of your college basketball bets, find the best lines using our live NCAAB odds page.
Creighton vs Butler Odds
| Creighton Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-2 -108 | 144.5 -112o / -108u | -125 |
| Butler Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+2 -112 | 144.5 -112o / -108u | +105 |
- Creighton vs Butler spread: Creighton -2
- Creighton vs Butler over/under: 144.5 points
- Creighton vs Butler moneyline: Creighton -125, Butler +105
- Creighton vs Butler best bet: Butler +2.5 (Play to +2)
Spread
I'm backing the Bulldogs on the spread as short home 'dogs against a Bluejays team that struggles mightily on the road.
Moneyline
I'm passing on the moneyline, but I expect Butler to win this game outright.
Over/Under
I'm passing on the over/under.
My Pick: Butler +2.5 (Play to +2)
Creighton vs Butler College Basketball Betting Preview
What happened to Butler? The Bulldogs have lost eight consecutive games after recording solid non-conference wins against SMU, Northwestern and Mississippi State. They most recently lost at Providence by 19 on Wednesday.
It isn't poor variance, as opponents have canned fewer than 30% of their triples during the five games in conference play. The Bulldogs seem broken right now, especially after recently dropping a home game to Villanova by allowing the Wildcats to close the outing on a 22-1 run.
Unfortunately, I might have to try and back the Bulldogs again as home ‘dogs.
Schematically, this is a good matchup for Butler.
Creighton’s infamous KalkDrop is excellent at denying secondary motion-based offenses — specifically rim-and-3 and catch-and-shoot denial. But drop-coverage is vulnerable to on-ball wing creation, and the Bluejays have been torched by bigger wings all year (Nebraska, San Diego State, Texas A&M, Alabama, Marquette, even Georgetown).
Butler lives and dies with wing creation. The Bulldogs rely heavily on Pierre Brooks II, Jahmyl Telfort and Patrick McCaffery, who combine for nearly 44 points per game.
Butler runs a similar drop-coverage defensive scheme. As such, the Bulldogs have been elite at denying secondary actions, specifically rim-and-3 denial (77%, 26th-lowest nationally) and catch-and-shoot denial (16 catch-and-shoot jumpers per game allowed, 46th-lowest).
Butler’s defensive issues stem from being unable to stop the dribble, as its wing trio can’t stay in front of anyone.
But that might not matter against Creighton, which plays almost exclusively inside-out motion-based basketball by feeding Ryan Kalkbrenner in the post while running off-ball screens on the perimeter to generate open jumpers.
If Pop Isaacs were healthy, the Bluejays might have enough off-the-bounce middle-of-the-floor shot creation to expose Butler's brutal dribble defense. Alas, he's not walking through that door.
As long as Andre Screen and Co. hold up in the post against Kalkbrenner, Greg McDermott might have a tough time running his offense. The Bulldogs have performed pretty well against opposing post-up sets (.73 PPP allowed, 85th percentile), so I’m willing to bank on the defense.
This is all compounded by Creighton’s road woes. The Bluejays are 0-3 in true road games this year and 1-2 in neutral-court games, ranking 352nd nationally in Haslametrics' away-from-home metric.
They’re also 3-7-1 as a favorite. Creighton has been listed as a road favorite once this season, laying five at Georgetown, and the Bluejays were promptly blown out, losing by 24 in a game that was never really competitive.
It’s so gross, but I have to back Butler. The Bluejays can’t play on the road, and this is a tough schematic matchup for them. I’m praying that Thad Matta’s squad is finally due for a win after a string of disgusting losses — it’s nice that the Bulldogs are coming back home after back-to-back road games.
Also, there's simply no way I'm not betting on Butler in these uniforms. Those are too cold to fade.
