Villanova Bracketology
Villanova Drops Out of Top 60 in NET Rankings

Villanova Men’s Basketball dropped two spots in the NET rankings after their Friday, Jan. 24 loss to No. 10 Marquette, falling to the No. 61 slot.
Villanova sits exactly in the middle of the 11 team Big East, holding a 5-5 conference record (12-9 overall) that’s good for sixth place. The KenPom ratings slot the Wildcats in nine spots higher than the NET rankings at No. 52, a one spot drop from before their loss to Marquette.
The Wildcats have struggled mightily away from their home court, posting a 1-5 record on the road and 1-2 at neutral sites, with the lone neutral site win coming in Philadelphia against Temple during the Big Five Classic.
The Wildcats hold an 0-5 record in Quadrant 1 matchups this season, with ranked wins over Cincinnati and UConn dropping down to Quad 2 as those teams began to struggle; a 3-1 record in Quad 2, 3-2 in Quad 3 and 6-1 in Quad 4. Losses to St. Joseph’s and Virginia dropped into the category from Quad 2, while their early season loss to Columbia now rates as a backbreaking Quad 4 defeat.
Villanova’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament, per teamrankings.com, now sit at a miniscule 11.9 percent, and each game they play now feels like a must-win situation. They’ll get a week off before their next game, a Saturday, Feb. 1 home duel with a tough Creighton team that beat Villanova 86-79 in Omaha back in December. The long layover could give the Wildcats a chance to get their feet back under them… or end up a long prelude to the inevitable.