Villanova vs Georgetown Picks and Odds

• #9 Villanova and Georgetown open Big East conference play on Friday, December 11th, at 7:00 PM ET
• The Wildcats have won six of the past seven matchups straight up, but the Hoyas have covered the spread in two of the past three
• The odds for the game, as well as matchup analysis and a pick, can be found in the article below

Villanova and Georgetown last played each other on March 7 of this year, which in some ways feels like 10 years ago. That was last season, and of course only days before the pandemic changed everything.

Now, the #9 Wildcats will face the unranked Hoyas again to open Big East play for the season on Thursday at 7:00 PM ET. Villanova is favored for a seventh-straight game — dating back to that last battle with Georgetown — while the Hoyas are double digit underdogs for the second time this season.

 #9 Villanova vs Georgetown Odds

Odds taken Dec. 10 at FanDuel.

How They’ve Fared So Far

Villanova’s lone blemish came in overtime against Virginia Tech (No. 49 in KenPom’s rankings), a team they led by 12 at one point in the game’s final 10 minutes. That was about two weeks ago, and it can be largely overlooked after the Wildcats posted an impressive road win over No. 13 Texas on Sunday.

𝙏𝙤𝙥 3 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙨 from win no. 4 over Texas 😼 pic.twitter.com/yPnwRfFQf8

— Villanova MBB (@NovaMBB) December 8, 2020

The Wildcats also boast solid wins over Arizona State (No. 28 in KenPom) and Boston College (No. 86 in KenPom).

Georgetown’s resume has a lot less ink on it. The Hoyas’ two wins came against teams outside KenPom’s top 150 (with a combined record of 3-5). They lost to Navy, who’s off to a 3-1 start and might be underrated, and No. 11 West Virginia, who looks like a quintessentially fierce Bob Huggins-led group.

The good news is the Hoyas largely hung with West Virginia, losing by nine but holding a lead inside the final eight minutes. The bad news is they haven’t been anyone of note yet.

ATS Analysis

As mentioned earlier, the Wildcats have been favored for seven straight games now, and they’ve handled themselves fairly well in that role. They’ve covered in consecutive games and three of the past four, with the exception being that straight up loss to Virginia Tech.

The Hoyas have covered in consecutive games as well and are 2-2 against the spread this year. Most interestingly, perhaps, is that they covered against West Virginia as 11.5-point underdogs — which happens to be the identical spread in this game.

Bettors should rejoice the fact that conference season is rolling in because it means we have a lot more head-to-head matchups to analyze. These teams split their two matchups last year against the spread: in January, Villanova covered an eight-point spread with an 80-66 win; in March, Georgetown covered an 8.5-point spread with a 70-69 loss.

Key Returnees

Villanova carried four of its starters from last year into this season, meaning it has plenty of familiar faces with experience against Georgetown. The Hoyas, meanwhile, only had two starters return.

Looking specifically at that March 7 game they played against each other, two of the Hoyas’ top three scorers are gone. And that shows, as Georgetown is a fairly average offensive team (102.6 adjusted offensive efficiency, 109th in NCAA Division I) that doesn’t take care of the ball well (24.8 turnover percentage, 267th in D-I).

GAME PREVIEW | No. 9 Villanova (12/11/2020)

Presented by @Hilldrup#HoyaSaxa pic.twitter.com/oWmNq7WVkC

— Georgetown Hoops (@GeorgetownHoops) December 10, 2020

Those four returning starters for Villanova happened to be four of their top five scorers from last year, too. As a result, they’re an offensive dynamo (114.7 adjusted offensive efficiency, fourth in D-I) with a very low turnover rate (13 percent, 10th in D-I).

Collin Gillespie appreciation post 👊

RT if you’re a fan. @Colling1021 pic.twitter.com/Jd00QywyG1

— Villanova MBB (@NovaMBB) November 10, 2020

We certainly like the Wildcats to win outright, but that doesn’t have a lot of value attached to it. Against the spread might be tight, as the Hoyas demonstrated an ability to keep things close against West Virginia, but we still like the experience and effectiveness that Villanova brings.

Pick: Villanova -11.5 (-110)