Villanova Bracketology: ‘Cats Supplant Hoyas on Offseason Bubble

After falling off of ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s offseason bubble watch for the month of July, the Villanova Wildcats made it back onto the list published on Tuesday, Aug. 26.

While they haven’t made it into the tournament field in any of Lunardi’s rankings, published once a month during the offseason, the Wildcats have hovered around the No. 76 spot as the last team included in the “Next Four Out” category. Big East rival Georgetown pushed them off the list in July, and now the Wildcats leapfrogged the Hoyas once again.

As with any offseason rankings, there’s a good deal of subjectivity. After the transfer portal window closed in the spring, few opportunities exist for any team to marked improve their standings. The Hoyas took part in the GLOBL JAM offseason exhibition, taking down the Japanese national team 88-53 behind 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists from sophomore transfer DeShawn Harris-Smith, who played at Maryland under Kevin Willard last season.

In other words, the Hoyas did everything they needed to do to maintain their offseason standing, while Villanova remained sidelined beyond summer practices. Mercifully, the offseason will end soon, with less than two months remaining before the Wildcats’ preseason begins with an Oct. 19 exhibition against VCU.

Other Big East teams to make the cut include UConn, St. John’s and Creighton; Lunardi’s list slotted Marquette as one of the first teams left out of the 68-team tournament field.