Villanova Round-Up: KenPom Rating, NCAA Tournament Projection

Villanova Men’s Basketball dropped in the KenPom ratings after a shaky 89-75 win over Old Dominion, falling from No. 39 to No. 40 as of games played on Tuesday, Nov. 25. That’s not particularly surprising: the closer Villanova comes to the top, the harder it’ll become for them to gain substantial ground as the top teams funnel together.

Villanova now holds the No. 42 offensive efficiency ranking and the No. 63 defensive efficiency according to KenPom. Before the game, they checked in at No. 49 and No. 40, respectively.

The Wildcats (5-1) played without senior forward Duke Brennan against Old Dominion, as he suffered an ankle injury against La Salle the previous week. Brennan’s absence forced head coach Kevin Willard to tinker with his lineup even more than he might have otherwise, to varying results. With that said, while Willard has talked at length about his team’s defensive struggles this season, a shaky game without one of their top contributors isn’t particularly surprising.

The Wildcats also made ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s weekly post as the projected “First Team Out” of the 68-team tournament field. That’s up three spots from last week, and the Wildcats played just one game in that time: Lunardi’s post came before the Old Dominion game.

Currently amidst a five game winning streak, Villanova will return to action at home against Temple on Monday, Dec. 1 in order to determine their seeding in the Big 5 Championship game.