Drexel vs. Virginia Prediction, Men's College Basketball Odds & Best Bets (11/3)

Fact checked at 6:47 AM ET, Nov 3, 2026

Odds as of 6:46 AM ET, Nov 3, 2026

No. 9 Virginia opens its season against Drexel at 7:30 PM ET at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville. Virginia should win easily. We just don't think it gets out of hand. Drexel plays slowly and defends, and a game with few possessions is hard to win by 32 and hard to push past 142.5. That puts us on the Under and on Drexel with the points.

Neither team has played a regular-season game yet, so most of the evidence is last season's. Drexel went 17-16, was picked ninth in the Coastal Athletic Association and brings back Josh Reed, Clem Edomwonyin and Dillon Tingler under Zach Spiker, now in his 11th season. Virginia went 30-6 in Ryan Odom's first year and returns Thijs De Ridder, the ACC's Preseason Player of the Year, 7-footer Johann Grunloh and Sam Lewis, with UC Irvine transfer Jurian Dixon projected to start. No injuries have been reported for either side, and both lineups are projections.

Drexel vs. Virginia Predictions

• Pick #1: Under 142.5 (-110)
• Pick #2: Drexel +31.5 (-112)

PICK #1: Under 142.5 (-110)

Drexel games rarely reach this number. Last season 24 of its 32 games against Division I teams finished below 142.5, and those games averaged about 135 combined points. The Dragons scored 68.1 points a game and allowed 67.3, and the school's numbers had them 11th in the country in opponent three-point percentage (30.3%) with a 47.1% effective field goal percentage allowed. Reed, Edomwonyin and Tingler are back from that group, and the coach is the same.

Against better teams away from home, Drexel's scoring dried up. Its road and neutral-site games against Syracuse, Saint Joseph's, UNCW, Charleston, Towson and Hofstra all finished under 142.5, and Drexel scored 65 or fewer in each. Virginia is a step up from every one of them.

The -110 price implies 52.4%. Virginia's offense is the risk here: the Cavaliers averaged 80.4 points last season, and four of their five home games against teams ranked 249th or worse in the RPI went over 142.5. Three of those four cleared it by a point and a half or less, and none of those opponents defended like Drexel. The betting leans the same way we do, with 87% of the bets and 99% of the money on the Under.

PICK #2: Drexel +31.5 (-112)

Virginia won by 32 or more three times last season, against American, Hampton and Rider. All three finished 249th or worse in the RPI; Drexel finished 215th. Against everyone else, the Cavaliers' biggest margin was 29, in a home win over NC State. Drexel, meanwhile, didn't lose by more than 30 all season, and that 80-50 loss to Syracuse was its only defeat by more than 21.

At -112 (52.8% implied), you're betting that Virginia can't do something it managed only against three of the weakest teams on its schedule, and that nobody did to Drexel last season.

The pace helps too, since fewer possessions give a lead less room to keep growing. And if Virginia is up big late, Odom has a crowded bench to look at, with six new scholarship players on the roster.

Drexel's offense is the worry. It scored 50 against Syracuse, and if the Dragons go cold for long stretches against Grunloh and Virginia's size, 31.5 points is within reach. We expect the pace to hold that off: a slow game with few possessions keeps both Virginia's margin and the total in check.

21+ (18+ where permitted). Odds subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.