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Villanova Men's Basketball

Villanova Slides in NET Rankings After Loss to Creighton

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Villanova Basketball

Although they managed to snap out of early-season woes with a 5-0 winning streak that included a Top 15 win over Cincinnati, Villanova Men’s Basketball still has some work to do if they want to make it back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022.

The Wildcats’ road loss to Creighton on Saturday, Dec. 21 set them on a brief slide in the NET rankings, which take into account things like strength of schedule, game location, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and win and loss ‘quality’. Prior to Saturday’s game, they’d occupied the No. 63 slot in the rankings, teetering on the very edge of the NCAA Tournament’s potential field of 68, especially when bid stealers start rearing their ugly heads in the conference tournaments.

The loss saw them drop two spots to No. 65: Villanova possesses an 0-2 record on the road, 1-2 record at neutral sites, is 1-1 in Quad 1 matchups, 0-3 in Quad 2 matchups, and 1-1 in Quad 3 matchups. Creighton counted as a Quad 2 game.

The KenPom rankings like Villanova a good deal more, giving them the eighth-best offensive efficiency in the nation and, tellingly, the 342nd-best ‘luck’. Those and other factors combine to slot the Wildcats in at No. 49, a good deal better than their NET ranking… but the NET carries far more weight in the selection committee’s process for at-large bids. With the 224th-best strength of schedule, additionally, it’ll be difficult for the Wildcats to pick up quality wins and meander up the rankings, so Big East showdowns with powerhouses like UConn and Marquette will prove critical for their tournament hopes, assuming the Wildcats don’t win a conference title this season.

 

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