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Villanova Bracketology

Villanova Continues Tumble Down NET Rankings

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Villanova Basketball

Villanova continued their slow tumble down the NET rankings — and to the fringe of the NCAA Tournament bubble — after giving up the lead in the last two minutes of their Tuesday, Jan. 14 loss to Xavier.

Before the onset of play on Jan. 14, Villanova occupied the No. 51 spot in the NET rankings and the No. 48 spot in the KenPom ratings. Following the result, they sit at No. 54 per the NET system, while they remained at No. 48 in the KenPom ratings. It’s not the most drastic result after losing a winnable game on the road, but the Wildcats also saw their tournament odds fall from 33.9 percent to 25.4 percent. Less than a week removed from an nail-biting top ten win over UConn, Villanova failed to capitalize on any positive momentum, instead beginning a two game losing skid. Even worse, they were in an excellent position to win during the late stages of both games, and opposing teams are starting to have more success limiting star forward Eric Dixon.

The Wildcats now possess a 1-4 record in Quad 1 games, 2-1 in Quad 2, 2-2 in Quad 3 and 6-0 in Quad 4. Strength of schedule isn’t doing the Wildcats any favors, as a previous Quad 1 win over Cincinnati (and a Quad 2 loss to St. Joseph’s) both dropped down a category as those teams began their own slides down the NET rankings. The Wildcats are also an ugly 1-4 on the road, with the lone win their emphatic comeback over Butler.

Villanova isn’t down for the count yet, but after  similar struggles during Big East play last season, they’ll need to snap that streak in a hurry if they want any hope of earning an at-large bid for the tournament.

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