The Villanova Wildcats (17-4) head into Hinkle Fieldhouse to play the Butler Bulldogs (17-5) Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. ET. We analyze the Villanova-Butler odds and betting lines, with college basketball betting advice and tips around this matchup.
Villanova at Butler: Three things you need to know
- Each team comes into this game off of a loss; Villanova lost 76-61 at Creighton Saturday, and Butler lost 65-61 at home to Providence.
- Villanova has the best record against Big East competition since Butler joined the conference (2013-14) at 111-22 with a 10.5-point margin of victory average. The Wildcats have 33 more intraconference wins than the second-highest winning team in the Big East.
- So far this season, Villanova is 2-2 versus ranked opponents, including a 56-55 win over the then No. 1-ranked Kansas Jayhawks while Butler is 0-3 against ranked competition.
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Villanova at Butler: Odds, betting lines and picks
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:15 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Villanova 73, Butler 66
Moneyline (ML)
The Big East is Villanova’s world and all the other teams are just living in it. Villanova has won two of the past four national championships, has been ranked first by the Associated Press at some point in three of those seasons, and has won three straight Big East tournaments.
The Wildcats crushed Butler 76-61 in their first meeting Jan. 21 and the Bulldogs could be without starting point guard Aaron Thompson for a fourth straight game. Butler has lost five straight to Villanova and the Bulldogs are just 4-11 against Villanova since entering the Big East. Seven of those losses came by double digits.
Butler has the fourth-highest winning percentage in the Big East since joining but they are just 14-32 against ranked opponents and Villanova is a Big East-best 35-17 with an average margin of victory of 4.8 points against ranked opponents.
BET VILLANOVA (+120) on the money line.
Against the Spread (ATS)
Surprise, surprise, Villanova has the best against the spread record in the Big East at 146-91-2, and the best ATS record against the Big East at 77-56, since Butler joined. The Bulldogs’ ATS record against conference opponents is ranked eighth out of 10 Big East teams in the same timespan. Also, the Wildcats taking a beating in their last game to Creighton will motivate them to get back to form against a familiar punching bag.
It feels like a sucker bet taking a public team like Villanova at such a low number, but whatever, let’s TAKE VILLANOVA +2.5 (-110) as insurance.
Over/Under (O/U)
This is a PASS on the projected total of 130.5 for me. The Under (-106) is 5-0 in the Wildcats last five road games and 4-0 in their last four games as an underdog. However, the Over (-115) is 6-1 in the Wildcats’ last seven versus teams with a winning record. Plus, Over is 5-0 in the Bulldogs’ last five home games versus teams with a winning road record and Over is 5-0 in their last five games versus a team with a winning percentage above .600.
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