The Villanova Wildcats (4-5) and Boston College Eagles (5-5) meet in a Saturday neutral-site affair at the Never Forget Tribute Classic in Newark, N.J. The opening tip at the Prudential Center will be at 5 p.m. ET (FOX). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Villanova vs. Boston College odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Villanova is coming off a 70-59 home win over Penn (Dec. 7). The favored-by-14.5 Wildcats were tagged with an ATS loss in that game and are just 1-4 ATS since Nov. 24. ‘Nova has shot just 41.5% from the field over that stretch.
The Eagles last played Tuesday, dropping a 74-71 overtime affair against New Hampshire. Boston College was a -14.5 favorite in that one; the Eagles are 1-3 ATS across their last 4 games. BC shooting has been all-around ineffective; 3-point accuracy mark of 26.8% has the squad ranked in the bottom-50 in NCAA-I.
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Villanova vs. Boston College odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 9:30 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Villanova -525 (bet $525 to win $100) | Boston College +365 (bet $100 to win $365)
- Against the spread (ATS): Villanova -9.5 (-115) | Boston College +9.5 (-105)
- Over/Under (O/U): 130.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
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Villanova vs. Boston College picks and predictions
Prediction
Villanova 67, Boston College 59
Moneyline
Prices are worked around the true odds here, offering no value to either side. PASS.
Against the spread
Villanova takes much better care of the basketball and is the superior shooting team. A favored-by-7.5 Wildcats team when the market opened was a solid play. Villanova’s extreme slow pace makes them a more difficult play at the current spread. PASS.
Over/Under
That molasses tempo is part of the best action in this match-up, and that’s the UNDER 130.5 (-115).
Neither side is adept in facets of the game like offensive rebounding or transition play that drive scores northward. Mix in VU’s pace, which is glacial, and BC’s, which is below-average and then throw in the neutral floor (and shooting background).
What you get is value on a game more likely to land closer to 120 or 125 than to 131.
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