Twenty-one years in captivity / His shoes too small to fit his feet "Nelson Mandela" - The Specials
Butler Bulldogs
67 85
FINAL Conference
Villanova Wildcats
Big East Conference · Hinkle Fieldhouse · January 3, 2026
Betting Lines
Spread BUT -2.5 Away covered
O/U 149.5 Over
Money BUT -148 / VILL +124
Model Predictions
Spread Total BUT win
Actual VILL +18 152 Lost
Massey BUT -4.0 (-22.0)
Massey Totals 152.9 (-0.9)
Bradley-Terry 30%
Weighted B-T 13%
Efficiency Plus ML BUT -2.7 (-20.7) 146.1 (+5.9) 62%
Baseline Tuned ML BUT -2.7 (-20.7) 142.8 (+9.2) 64%
Baseline ML BUT -2.8 (-20.8) 143.9 (+8.1) 66%
Baseline Plus ML BUT -2.2 (-20.2) 143.3 (+8.7) 63%

Predictions use only rating snapshots dated before tip-off. Parenthesised values are the signed error vs. the actual result. Model performance →

Last 5 Meetings

Feb 26, 2026 VILL 8273 BUT
Mar 1, 2025 VILL 8070 BUT
Jan 1, 2025 VILL 7365 BUT
Feb 20, 2024 VILL 7262 BUT
Jan 27, 2024 BUT 8881 VILL

Team Comparison

Record & Ratings BUT VILL
Overall 16-16 24-9
Conference 7-13 15-5
Home 10-7 14-3
Away 3-8 9-3
Neutral 3-1 1-3
Last 5 3-2 4-1
Streak L1 L2
Avg Pts For 79.4 77.1
Avg Pts Against 77.5 71.2
Massey 13.3 (#39) 13.2 (#40)
Bradley-Terry 1.97 (#52) 3.45 (#15)
W. Bradley-Terry 2.63 (#58) 5.23 (#14)
RPI 0.578 (#55) 0.646 (#17)
Shooting & Four Factors BUT VILL
FG% 47.0% 45.7%
3PT% 35.4% 37.5%
REB / G 42.3 37.8
OREB / G 14.6 13.5
AST / TO 1.48 1.46
Four Factors — Offense
eFG% 53.4% 54.6%
TOV% 15.8% 16.0%
ORB% 39.1% 37.5%
FT Rate 29.2% 22.0%
Four Factors — Defense
Opp eFG% 48.3% 50.2%
Opp TOV% 16.3% 19.4%
DRB% 70.9% 69.2%
Opp FT Rate 16.1% 17.3%

Game Analysis

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