Notre Dame vs. Villanova Prediction: College Basketball Picks & Odds (Nov. 1)

Villanova alum Pope Leo XIV will be on hand to watch the Wildcats kick off the 2026-27 college basketball season in historic fashion in Rome when facing Notre Dame, as it’s the first regular-season NCAA basketball game ever played in Italy.

My Notre Dame vs. Villanova prediction backs the underdogs, who despite going through a sort of a rebuild, face an unproven Wildcats team with some injury concerns.

Tip-off from Palazzo dello Sport is set for 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday (FOX), and the Wildcats are 7.5-point betting favorites. 

Notre Dame vs. Villanova picks & odds

See all of our experts' college basketball picks based on the latest college basketball odds.

Picks submitted: Oct. 29 at 2:05 p.m. ET. Odds subject to change. 

Total wagered: 3 units | Profit if all picks win: +2.49 units

Notre Dame vs. Villanova best bet

Notre Dame +7.5 (-110 via DraftKings)

Villanova is a projected No. 7 seed for the NCAA Tournament in the most recent ESPN Bracketology, and most peg the Wildcats as the third best team in the Big East behind league favorites UConn and St. John’s. But we might not see the Wildcats at their best until mid-season. Sharpshooter Matthew Hodge is working his way back from an ACL injury, and Oregon transfer Kwame Evans sat out the team’s exhibition schedule with a leg injury. 

Evans was recently cleared for practice, but Villanova would be at a disadvantage even if he wasn’t 100%, as it is counting on his 13.3 points and 7.4 rebounds from Oregon last season.

The early scouting report on the Wildcats is that they’re a much bigger team than Jay Wright ever had in his tenure. But I expect Micah Shrewsberry’s squad to counteract that with spacing and 3-point shooting.

Play to: Notre Dame +7

Score prediction: Villanova 75, Notre Dame 71

Notre Dame vs. Villanova player props

Follow all of our college basketball analysis and expert predictions this season.

Braeden Smith to record four or more assists (-150 via FanDuel)

Notre Dame has an implied team total of 70.5 points, and will likely put much more of an emphasis on sharing the basketball than it did last year.

The Fighting Irish finished a disappointing 16th in ACC play in assist rate (46.8%), though leading assist man Jalen Haralson ranked in the top 285 nationally with a 22.9% assist rate.

Braeden Smith is a fifth-year senior who transferred from Gonzaga, and boasts a 2.53 assist-to-turnover ratio. That ranks in the top 20 among active players, and he will have plenty of early opportunities to improve upon his 4.6 career assists per game while running the Fighting Irish offense.

Play to: O/U 3.5 (-165)

Tyler Perkins Over 15.5 points (-110 via FanDuel)

In today’s day and age with the transfer portal and seemingly new roster construction each season, it’s rare when coaches can rely on veteran players. But that is exactly what I expect Villanova head coach Kevin Willard to do with Tyler Perkins early in the season.

Perkins finished last season ranked in the top 10 among Big East players in Evan Miyakawa’s offensive efficiency metric. Reaching this point plateau would require him to score more than the 13.7 points he averaged last season, but that is a jump I expect from a former Third Team All-Big East player.

Perkins took 15.9% of Villanova’s team shots in 2025, and that number rose to just under 25% last year (13th-most in league play).

Play to: 15.5 (-115), pass at 16.5 or higher

Live Notre Dame vs. Villanova odds

See the latest odds movement and more on our Notre Dame vs. Villanova matchup page.

Latest Notre Dame vs. Villanova injuries

Villanova:

• Matt Hodge, F (ACL) - out
• Kwame Evans, F (leg) - questionable

Notre Dame:

• Logan Duncomb, C (lower body) - day-to-day

How to watch Notre Dame vs. Villanova

• Date: Sunday, Nov. 1
• Tipoff: 9:30 a.m. ET
• Location: Palazzo dello Sport (Rome, Italy)
• TV/Streaming: FOX