Villanova Men’s Basketball Closing In On KenPom Top 40

Villanova Men’s Basketball is up to No. 43 in the KenPom Ratings after a three game winning streak, putting them on the verge of NCAA Tournament discussions. During the preliminary preseason rankings, the Wildcats checked in at No. 50, so this marks a significant gain after just four out-of-conference games.

Villanova holds the No. 38 offensive ranking and the No. 61 defensive ranking; KenPom ranks them third in the Big East behind UConn (No. 7) and St. John’s (No. 20), just ahead of Creighton (No. 49). Georgetown, 4-0 and a media darling in their third season under Ed Cooley, ranks seventh in the conference (No. 73). Despite their strong metrics, pundits like ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi haven’t included the Wildcats in recent NCAA Tournament projections.

While KenPom isn’t anywhere near as important as the NET rankings, which will come out once December begins, teams generally need to rank among the top 40 in order to feel strongly about their tournament hopes: that’s because 32 of the 68 teams in the NCAA Tournament punch their ticket via an automatic bid, so the at-large bids need to worry about weaker teams overperforming in their respective conference tournaments.

Up next, the Wildcats will begin Big 5 play at La Salle. They’ll host Old Dominion heading into the Thanksgiving break, then have games against Temple and their Big 5 Classic matchup (one of St. Joseph’s, Penn and Drexel) before the meat of their out-of-conference slate begins. If Villanova can continue to gel on defense in that time, they’ll be well on their way to a strong season in their first year under head coach Kevin Willard. With that said, it’s still only November.