The Big East has another tough matchup in the first round of the 2026 March Madness Tournament.
Villanova faces off against Utah State in an 8-9 matchup, where the Wildcats are actually 2.5-point underdogs despite being the higher seed in the West Region.
The total comes in at 147.5 points as Kevin Willard’s group looks to spring the upset in the rare higher- seed underdog spot.
The ranking systems certainly think this will be competitive, as the Wildcats are ranked No. 33 according to KenPom, while Utah State comes in at No. 29.
Meanwhile, Bart Torvik’s system ranks Utah State No. 28, and the Wildcats No. 36.
So, just about every major ranking system projects Utah State as the side here, but is that the play against the spread? We dive in and give our best bet and prediction for Villanova vs. Utah State.
Villanova vs. Utah State prediction
Villanova ended the season playing pretty well, going 8-2 to close out the year, though it’s unclear how great those wins really are, given that, I believe, the Big East was weaker than in years past.
The Wildcats were smashed by St. John’s, 89-57, in an embarrassing blowout, and even lost to Georgetown as a top seed.
We’ve seen Villanova, 24-8, lose to inferior competition all year long.
The Aggies (28-8) don’t really have any losses like that on their resume this year, though, coming from what is generally considered a worse mid-major conference.
Still, the bad losses by Villanova are enough to scare me away, especially recently against the Hoyas.
A volatile team like the Wildcats isn’t what I want in this matchup, as the Aggies are a consistently solid team on both sides of the ball.
Betting on College Basketball?
I’ll take Utah State to control the pace and force the Wildcats to turn the ball over and cover the spread.
PREDICTION: Utah State -2.5 (-110, BetMGM)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Erich Richter is a brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt but he has a black belt in MMA betting. During the football season he’s showcased massive profits at The Post in the player prop market the last two seasons. While constantly betting long shots, his return on investment is 30.15 percent since 2022.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
