The Butler Bulldogs take on the Georgetown Hoyas. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Butler Georgetown prediction and pick.

The college basketball season is filled with unpredictable and unlikely events, but Georgetown struggling is not one of them. Yes, Georgetown did make the NCAA Tournament under Patrick Ewing by making the 2021 Big Dance after winning the Big East Tournament. Everyone in the Georgetown program hoped that moment would be a momentum-building turning point for coach Patrick Ewing, a catalyst for improved recruiting and performance. It just hasn't happened. Georgetown was not good last season, and the Hoyas have not been good at all this season. They just lost to DePaul, which is not a very good team at the moment. The Hoyas enter this game 5-9, and they're basically at the point where they have to win the Big East Tournament as their only possible path to the NCAA Tournament. People at Georgetown really want Patrick Ewing to succeed, but it's hard to see how they can justify keeping Ewing much longer if results don't begin to markedly improve.

Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Butler-Georgetown College Basketball odds.

College Basketball Odds: Butler-Georgetown Odds

Butler Bulldogs: -3.5 (-104)

Georgetown Hoyas: +3.5 (-118)

Over: 144.5 (-110)

Under: 144.5 (-110)

Why Butler Could Cover the Spread

The fact that Georgetown just lost to DePaul — one of the worst non-Georgetown teams in the Big East — is a pretty obvious indicator that the Hoyas are at rock bottom, or are very close to it. Nine losses before the start of 2023? That's a disaster for Patrick Ewing. When the program suffered last season, everyone could accept the point that the 2021 Hoyas weren't all that good but caught fire during the Big East Tournament and rode the wave to an unlikely NCAA Tournament berth. The fact that Georgetown didn't make the NCAAs in 2022 was not a surprise to anyone. However, this season was supposed to be a journey in which Ewing learned from 2022 and made adjustments to create a noticeably better Georgetown team. It hasn't happened. Butler is a better team, and that should manifest itself on the court in this game. Butler will also want to wash away the awful taste of that terrible Providence game, especially that first half in which the Bulldogs were outscored by 28 points and could not get off the mat.

Why Georgetown Could Cover the Spread

The Hoyas are not an especially good team, but they can see that Butler is not playing well right now. The Bulldogs were crushed by Providence at home in a game where they were outscored 46-18 in the first half, just a total wipeout. Georgetown has faltered, but so has Butler. This is not a confident team heading into Washington, D.C., for this game. Butler could easily wobble on the road and not handle the environment well against the Hoyas, who will be motivated to turn their season around and learn from the DePaul loss. Georgetown will not be complacent in this game, and Butler could be so caught up in its recent failures that the Bulldogs will not produce a vigorous, strong effort This could be a funk that Butler won't be able to pull out of in this game. It might get worse before it gets better.

Final Butler-Georgetown Prediction & Pick

Georgetown and Butler are both struggling right now. There's no really good reason to bet on this game.

Final Butler-Georgetown Prediction & Pick: Butler -3.5