Villanova Men’s Basketball Picked in Bottom Half of Big East

The Big East Conference held their media day for the 2025-26 basketball season on Tuesday, Oct. 21, hosting players and coaches from each of the 11 member schools and conducting preseason polls among the conference’s head coaches; Villanova Men’s Basketball was selected to finish seventh in the conference, while Villanova Women’s Basketball checked in at No. 4.

The men’s team finished sixth last season under former head coach Kyle Neptune; this year, under the leadership of Kevin Willard, they’re expected to fall behind St. John’s, UConn, Creighton, Providence, Marquette and Georgetown. Both Providence and Georgetown have surged up the list as head coaches Kim English and Ed Cooley continue to rebuild their respective programs.

While the Big East may not think highly of Villanova this season, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi has the Wildcats on his offseason bubble, ahead of teams like Providence and Georgetown. The Wildcats also won their first game of the Kevin Willard era, an exhibition against VCU, in dominant fashion, but have a number of injuries to key players who could miss the start of the regular season.