Villanova Men’s Basketball a Near-Consensus Top 30 Team

Villanova Men’s Basketball enters the 2026-27 preseason ranked as the No. 27 team in the country according to college basketball analyst Bart Torvik, continuing a pattern of the Wildcats landing on the cusp of the Top 25.

Villanova picked up a smattering of AP votes last season but never managed to make the list, always dropping a game right when they seemed on the cusp of returning to the poll for the first time since 2024. Now that they’re on the cusp of a ranking before having played so much as a preseason game, the Wildcats seem to have earned the benefit of the doubt after a successful debut season from head coach Kevin Willard.

Torvik ranks them as the No. 42 team in the country based on talent, and they’re the No. 3 team in the Big East overall, checking in behind St. John’s (No. 7) and UConn (No. 12).

Analysts like Evan Miyakawa and Jon Rothstein similarly have the Wildcats in their top 30; Andy Katz, on the other hand, listed them at No. 50 in early May, before the acquisition of Italian center Luigi Suigo. The first AP Poll should drop in mid-October, around the time the preseason schedule starts.