I haven't been high on Villanova for a while now, and it seems like Saint Mary's is peaking at the right time.
St. Mary's are built with size and length and under coach, Randy Bennett - St. Mary's are playing a defensive style of game, that will stagger Villanova.

St. Mary's will take advantage of the bad misses and convert easy buckets today. This isn't your Wildcats team of the past and I like ST Marys to have a shot to win outright.

Villanova is very inconsistent in March. In odd years, the Wildcats tend to flame out early. In their past six tournament appearances in an odd year (2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017) the Wildcats are 6-6 overall and have gone down in the first round three times. Outside of their 2009 Final Four run, the Wildcats are 2-5 in odd years, and the wins were over Lafayette and Mount St. Mary's.

Saint Mary's is a lot better than either of those teams, and I think it's going to show it here. They have been flying under the radar and rarely just on TV. I like the ST MARYS Gaels to cover and possibly pull the upset straight up.