Villanova faces Rutgers tonight

#12 Villanova (20-5) vs. Rutgers (10-15)
9:00 p.m., 19 February 2009 at the Pavilion

TV: ESPN2

Line: Villanova -18

Villanova returns to the Pavilion tonight to face a struggling Rutgers team in another Big East game. Though Rutgers blew out the Wildcats last year at the RAC, Villanova is strongly favored to win this one easily.

It's senior night on campus, so expect a starting lineup of Dante Cunningham, Frank Tchuisi, Dwayne Anderson, Shane Clark, and probably Scottie Reynolds. Though no game in the Big East should be easy, the Rutgers game is the perfect night to tolerate a little ceremony, given Villanova's huge edge to get the win.

Rutgers is 1-11 in conference play, with the Scarlet Knights' sole victory coming over 0-13 DePaul. Their best win on the entire year is a 4-point victory over Robert Morris at the RAC three months ago.

Villanova by the Numbers runs its usual quantitative preview. I Bleed Blue and White outlines the keys to the game. Ed from 1977 fills in at vacationing VUHoops for a preview column. Nova News is back with its usually thorough preview. Villanova Viewpoint pens an open letter to "the Wildcat faithful."

KenPom predicts an 18-point Villanova win at home, with a 95 percent chance of victory. The betting line is also sitting at 18.

You can try to guess the game's final score in the comment thread, below. The closest guess wins a mention in the next article. If you'd like to win something tangible, like an actual Villanova folder from last year's tournament run, enter Let's Go Nova's tournament contest.