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

The college basketball season is five weeks old. Xavier has had mixed results. The Musketeers have scored wins over three prominent programs — West Virginia, Cincinnati, and Florida — but have lost to the three best teams on their schedule: Indiana, Duke, and Gonzaga. It would have been a very big problem for Xavier and head coach Sean Miller if the WVU, Florida, and Cincinnati games had slipped through the cracks, so at least the Musketeers didn't get hit much harder than they have been in nonconference play. However, Cincinnati clearly doesn't look like an NCAA Tournament team, and Florida is going to struggle to make the field of 68. West Virginia is the most likely NCAA Tournament team the Musketeers have defeated so far this season. They have a lot of work to do, one year after missing the NCAA Tournament with a late-season swoon. Xavier's wins and losses have both been very competitive. The Musketeers beat Cincinnati by three and Florida by seven, while they lost to Indiana by two, Gonzaga by four, and Duke by seven. Xavier has to be better in close games, but the Musketeers also have to do things which put them in positions where every crucial game doesn't go down to the wire.

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

College Basketball Odds: Xavier-Georgetown Odds

Xavier Musketeers: -10.5 (-114)

Georgetown Hoyas: +10.5 (-106)

Over: 156.5 (-108)

Under: 156.5 (-112)

Why Xavier Could Cover the Spread

The fact that Xavier has played so many close games shouldn't be too much of a concern in this game. Georgetown has lost to South Carolina, Loyola Marymount, American University, and a not-very-good version of the Syracuse Orange. Georgetown got off to a 12-2 start against Syracuse a week ago and was then outscored 81-52 the rest of the way, losing 83-64 to one of Jim Boeheim's more mediocre Syracuse squads. Georgetown just isn't very good, and therefore one can make the argument that the Hoyas aren't nearly as good an opponent as the teams Xavier has played (West Virginia, Florida, Duke, Gonzaga, Cincinnati, Indiana). The Hoyas are a few notches worse, and that alone should give Xavier considerable breathing room in this contest. The Musketeers just need to be good — they don't have to be great — to thump Georgetown. As long as the Musketeers avoid a bad performance, they should be absolutely fine against a team whose coach, Patrick Ewing, simply isn't getting the job done.

Why Georgetown Could Cover the Spread

The Hoyas are not an especially good team, but they know this pre-Christmas Big East game is huge for them and their season, so they are going to go all-out in the attempt to win. Some might say that every team tries to go all-out in every game, but that's not true. In a 30-game season, college basketball teams can and do apply more of an emotional investment to some games than they do to others. This is a maximum-investment game for Georgetown, so you should see the Hoyas make an extra-intense commitment at the defensive end of the floor, where they often struggle. You should see Georgetown make some hustle plays that it doesn't always make. Winning the game will be really difficult for Georgetown, but covering a 10.5-point spread is very attainable for the Hoyas.

Final Xavier-Georgetown Prediction & Pick

Georgetown is not a good team, but this does feel like a game in which it will deliver an inspired performance and force Xavier to handle the pressure late. GU won't win outright, but it will cover.

Final Xavier-Georgetown Prediction & Pick: Georgetown +10.5