Villanova Shoots Up KenPom Ratings After First Road Win

Villanova Men’s Basketball shot up six spots to No. 37 in the KenPom Ratings after beating La Salle 70-55 in their Big 5 pod play road opener on Wednesday, Nov. 1. The ratings, which rank each of the 365 Division I basketball teams based on offensive and defensive efficiency, provide a solid indicator of whether or not a team is in the running for an NCAA Tournament bid.

Teams need to land in the top 40 of the NET rankings, which correlate with the KenPom ratings but don’t directly match up, in order to feel confident about their chance of picking up an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The NET rankings will start to publish daily in December, once there’s enough of a data set for them to go off of.

The Wildcats’ defensive efficiency, per KenPom, went from the No. 61 rank before the game to No. 52 after; their offensive efficiency climbed just one spot to No. 38. As their position on the edge of the top 40 suggests, the Wildcats currently look like a fringe tournament team to pundits like ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi, who ranked them just outside the field of 68 in his most recent projection.

Villanova will play just three games in the next 18 days, including two against Big 5 opponents. While Big 5 play isn’t ever a gimme, the light schedule will give forward Duke Brennan a chance to rehab an ankle injury that didn’t look serious but caused him to leave in the second half against La Salle. Big 5 play isn’t ever a gimme, but the Wildcats’ schedule will pick up dramatically from there, allowing them to make or break their résumé in a potential down year for the Big East.