The Villanova Wildcats will visit Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday to take on their Big East rival St John’s Red Storm. At this present time, the college basketball betting odds at BetOnline is indicating that Villanova is a 4.0-point favorite, and there’s also a posted total of 145.5.

Sunday will be the 2nd meeting of the season between these teams. Villanova defeated St. John’s at home on 1/8 by a score of 76-71. However, the Wildcats failed to cover as a 6.5-point favorite. Additionally, that contest barely stayed under the total of 148.5. St. John’s has now covered 4 of its last 5 games against Villanova.

Big Money Wildcats

Villanova will enter this game with a sparkling 20-5 overall record and that includes 11-1 in Big East Conference action. Their only conference loss came at #10 Marquette (21-4) by a mere 1-point margin. Furthermore, the Wildcats are a money-making 17-8 ATS (68%). Their against-the-spread success goes well beyond this season. The defending national champions are a terrific 43-18 ATS (70.5%) in their last 61 games overall.

The Wildcats will be facing a St. John’s team with an 18-7 season record. Villanova has gone an incredible 40-14 ATS (74.1%) during their previous 54 games when facing teams with a winning record.

Red Storm Stuck in Neutral

St. John’s began this season by winning 12 straight games. Since that time, things haven’t been quite as easy for the Red Storm, and they’ve gone an uninspiring 6-6 in their last 12 games. On a positive note, they’re coming off an 77-73 home win in overtime over Butler this past Tuesday. Unfortunately for Red Storm backers, their team has gone 0-4 in their last 4 games following a win, and they lost by a decisive average of 15.0 points per contest.

Rebounding has been a huge concern for St. John’s of late. Specifically, the Red Storm is at a -9.6 rebound per game differential throughout their previous 5 contests. They currently rank #309 out of 353 Division 1 teams this season in rebounding margin.

Next Best Place to Home

Madison Square Garden has been St. John’s home away from home for longer than I care to remember. Having said that, Sunday will be just their 2nd game at MSG during this 2018-2019 regular season campaign. St. John’s lone trip to the Garden was on 12/9/2018 when they beat Princeton 89-74 while covering as a 12.0-point favorite. Although, it must be noted, St. John’s also played 2 games earlier this season at the nearby Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York. Those games resulted in close wins on consecutive days over California 82-79 and VCU 87-86.

Final Analysis

St. John’s took advantage of an extremely soft non-conference schedule which enabled them to get off to a 12-0 start. None of those 12 victories came over teams that are currently ranked. They’re a mediocre 6-6 in conference play and that includes home losses to DePaul (13-10), Georgetown (15-10), and Providence (14-11).

Villanova on the other hand, played an aggressive non-conference slate while facing teams such as Michigan (22-3), Furman (21-5), Florida State (20-5), Temple (18-7), and Kansas (19-6).

When it comes to college basketball betting, sometimes the best wagers are ones we don’t make. That’s going to be the case for me regarding this matchup. Nonetheless, if you put the hypothetical gun to my head, my slight lean would be toward Villanova.

Ross Benjamin is a top sports analyst and one of the sports industry's most respected handicappers. Follow him on Twitter: @RossBenjamin1 or visit his website at RBWins.com