Villanova Bracketology: Slow and Steady for Wildcats’ Ranking

Villanova continued their slow climb up the NET rankings after beating Xavier 80-68 in Philadelphia on Sunday, Feb. 9, avenging a blown lead at the hands of the Musketeers in January in doing so.

After beating DePaul in unconvincing fashion in Chicago on Wednesday, Feb. 5, the Wildcats held the No. 55 spot in the NET rankings. Now, they’re up to No. 53 (and No. 51 per KenPom). They’re inching close to where they were following the win over UConn, easily the high point of the Wildcats season (and head coach Kyle Neptune’s three year tenure), when they occupied the No. 49 spot and rested firmly on the bubble.

While they only need to climb four spots to reach that point again, the Wildcats still face an uphill road to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022. Right now, their chances of making the postseason 0, with the most likely path resting in an automatic bid through winning the Big East Tournament (5.1 percent) as opposed to an at-large bid (2.9 percent).

What goes into that No. 53 ranking? Villanova possesses an 0-5 record in Quadrant 1 matchups, 5-2 in Quad 2, 3-2 in Quad 3 and 6-1 in Quad 4. With UConn currently occupying the No. 33 spot in the NET rankings, that loss could soon flip back to Quad 1… and the Wildcats will host St. John’s on Wednesday, Feb. 12, another chance to pick up a massive ranked win.

After that, Villanova will head to Providence before facing UConn and Marquette in back-to-back games, a grueling stretch that could help them tread water and get back into the tournament hunt… or put their hopes firmly to bed.