Villanova Holds Firm in NET Rankings After UConn Upset

Although they picked up a thrilling 68-66 win over No. 9 ranked UConn on Wednesday, Jan. 8, the Villanova Wildcats didn’t see their efforts bear fruit in the NET rankings.

Villanova entered the game ranked No. 49, up two spots from where they’d finished after their win over DePaul on Saturday, Jan. 4 as a result of other teams slipping behind them, and at No. 49 they stay. The Wildcats possess a 1-2 record in Quadrant 1 games, 2-1 in Quad 2, 2-2 in Quad 3 and 6-0 in Quad 4. UConn counts as their lone Quad 1 win, as their Dec. 3 win over Cincinnati (then considered Quad 1 as the Bearcats sat as the No. 14 team in the country) dropped down to Quad 2 after Cincinnati entered an 0-3 skid.

The KenPom Ratings have treated the Wildcats more kindly in recent weeks, but Villanova actually dropped in those, down to No. 41 from No. 37. What caused the lukewarm results? Margin of victory matters for the NET rankings, and while they picked up their biggest win of the Kyle Neptune era in defeating the Huskies, a two point win at home is about as close as it gets. UConn played without star freshman Liam McNeeley, but the rankings don’t take player absence into their strength of win calculations, so that’s not part of it.

The win over Cincinnati and the loss to St. Joe’s ending up weighed worse as time goes on doesn’t do the Wildcats any favors either.

Nevertheless, Villanova sits in the No. 4 spot in the Big East and is starting to creep their way into the March Madness conversation. Their next game, at St. John’s on Saturday, Jan. 11, will provide another chance to bolster their résumé.