Villanova Wildcats vs BYU Cougars Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 11/03/25

The Villanova Wildcats and the BYU Cougars will meet in Las Vegas on the opening night of the college basketball season for a non-conference game. This game will be game two of the Hall of Fame Series in Las Vegas, where Arizona and Florida will face off first. The spread for this game is BYU -8.5 and BYU to cover is our best bet of the game.

BYU went to the Sweet 16 last March and is entering this season with arguably their biggest expectations in school history. The Cougars brought in their highest ranked recruit in school history in AJ Dybansta, who will likely be a top three pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. They surrounded Dybansta with talent that makes this team a legitimate national title contender.

Senior guard Richie Saunders is back for BYU after averaging 16.5 points a season ago and former four-star recruit Robert Wright III transferred in from Baylor following his impressive freshman season. They are currently preseason ranked No. 6 nationally on Bart Tovik, compared to Villanova’s No. 50 ranking.

Villanova enters this season with a new head coach after firing former head coach Kyle Neptune. Kevin Willard is an upgrade from Neptune but does not seem to have the talent to compete at a national level yet like BYU. BYU is projected to have the second-best offense in the country according to Bart Torvik and should have success scoring on Villanova’s defense that is preseason ranked No. 53. Take BYU -8.5 here.

*Take BYU -8.5 available at time of publishing. Playable at -10*