Villanova Metrics: Wildcats Take a Hit After St. John’s Beatdown

Villanova Men’s Basketball tumbled down the metrics after a blowout loss to St. John’s on Saturday, Feb. 28, the 89-57 margin not telling the full story in a game decided before halftime.

The Wildcats (22-7, 13-5 Big East) fell to No. 34 in the KenPom Ratings and No. 33 in the NET rankings; before the loss, they checked in at No. 28 and No. 30, respectively. Bart Torvik likes Villanova even less, ranking them at No. 37 and a prospective nine seed in the NCAA Tournament, but they remain comfortably within the field with two games and the Big East Tournament left to play. After inching toward the Associated Press Top 25 poll in recent weeks, the Wildcats may fall out of the next vote entirely.

Joe Lunardi had them as a six seed (No. 24 overall) heading into the St. John’s game, a projection sure to have changed given the onslaught against the Red Storm. Teamrankings.com sees a seven seed (30.1 percent) as the most likely outcome but gives Villanova room to improve; a six seed (22.7 percent) is their second most likely outcome.

The Wildcats’ lack of ‘quality’ wins provides cause for concern, even though their December win over Wisconsin in Milwaukee looks much better than it did then. Villanova holds a 3-6 record in Quadrant 1 matchups after both Creighton and Butler fell out of the top 75.

Redshirt forward Matt Hodge’s injury, if it proves serious, will also limit their ceiling.