Utah State vs. Villanova: 2026 NCAA Tournament Odds and Expert Predictions
Utah State vs. Villanova meet in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Friday. The game will be played at Viejas Arena in San Diego.
Game details
Villanova enters as the eighth seed. Utah State is seeded ninth.
Tipoff is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. ET. The matchup is part of the opening-round slate.
Season snapshots
Utah State
The Aggies are 28-6 on the year. They swept the Mountain West regular-season title with a 15-5 conference mark.
Utah State won the conference tournament final 73-62 over San Diego State. The Aggies have a four-game winning streak.
Villanova
The Wildcats finished 24-8 overall. They went 15-5 in Big East play to place third.
Villanova lost 78-64 to Georgetown in the Big East quarterfinals. The Wildcats have won two of their last three games.
Odds, projections and expert predictions
DraftKings Sportsbook lists Utah State as a 1.5-point favorite. The over/under for the contest sits at 147.5.
The Filmogaz.com Projection Model ran 10,000 simulated versions of this matchup. The model leans to the over and finds one side of the spread cashes in about 60% of trials.
The projection model entered the tournament on an 11-1 run on top-ranked over/under picks. It is also on a 28-22 run on top-rated college basketball side selections.
Key takeaways
- Both teams posted 15-5 conference records during the regular season.
- Utah State arrives with recent momentum after a conference title win.
- Villanova seeks bounce-back performance after a quarterfinal exit.
For updated odds, matchup analysis, and further expert predictions, check Filmogaz.com. Use projections as one tool in your decision-making process.
