Villanova vs. DePaul College Basketball prediction, preview
DePaul finds itself much higher in the Big East standings than anyone anticipated this season, and has now won four of their last five games. All four of those victories have come with the Blue Demons priced as the underdog — funny enough, the only loss came priced as the favorite against Providence.
DePaul is no longer a team we can look past in the Big East. That said, Villanova is a step up in class, and comes in desperate for a win. The Wildcats have lost two of their last three games, but against the cream of the crop in the conference. Villanova lost at home to UConn, and then got smashed by Saint John’s on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
It was a great spot to back the Red Storm on Saturday night, who were off a 32-point loss to UConn, and wound up beating Nova by that same margin. Villanova has been pretty consistent in Big East play. Outside of a flukey home loss to Creighton, the Wildcats beat the teams below them and lose to the teams above them. Nova is 0-4 against UConn and Saint John’s, and 13-1 against everybody else — including a win over DePaul.
The Blue Demons have exceeded expectations, but have been a far superior bet on their road. They are 9-2 ATS in road games this season, compared to a pedestrian 8-7 ATS at home (10-5 outright). Villanova has been winning regardless of where it plays, and that includes thriving in road games. The Wildcats are 10-4 away from home, and 8-3 in true road games. Even more impressive, they continue to win the games they are supposed to — 19-1 as the favorite, with that outlier loss to the Blue Jays.
We should see Villanova on top of its game in this one, coming off the embarrassing 32-point loss on Saturday night. The Wildcats are 6-0 off a loss this season, and I expect that trend to continue on Wednesday night at DePaul.
