Villanova Bracketology: Close Call Drops Wildcats in NET Rankings

After an uninspiring performance at Seton Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 26, the Villanova Wildcats fell one spot in the NET rankings, from No. 50 down to No. 51.

Villanova (17-12, 10-8 Big East) needed a 25 point second half outburst from Eric Dixon — who outscored Seton Hall single handedly in the last 20 minutes — in order to sneak past a pitiful Pirates team with just two conference wins all season.

The Wildcats remained firm in the KenPom ratings, checking into the No. 55 spot. Villanova’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament hover around 6.8 percent per teamrankings.com. While they’re on the edge of the bubble, the Wildcats’ most likely path to the Big Dance via winning the Big East Tournament and securing an automatic bid (5.4 percent).

With at least three guaranteed games remaining in their season, the Wildcats possess a 2-6 record in Quadrant 1 matchups, a 4-4 mark in Quad 2 games, and 5-1 and 6-1 records in Quadrants 3 and 4, respectively.

Virginia, who handed Villanova a 70-60 neutral site loss back in November, recently climbed back into the top 100 in the NET rankings, moving that loss from Quad 3 to Quad 2. St. Joseph’s, meanwhile, is hovering close to the No. 75 spot, which would improve that loss to Quad 2, and UConn sits in the No. 35 slot, needing to improve five spots in order to give the Wildcats another passive résumé boost with a Quad 1 win.