Villanova

The Big East isn’t very good this year. UConn and St. John’s sit atop the league. UConn is Final 4 good, St. John’s is rolling but has warts too ugly to overlook. Third in the league is a familiar face that has bounced back from the Kyle Neptune experience. The Villanova Wildcats and Kevin Willard are looking to get back to the tournament and are in good shape to do so.

The Wildcats are currently 26th in KenPom. 31st in offense and 32nd in defense, this team screams being somewhere in the 7-10 area of seeding. Their best win is a “neutral court” win in Milwaukee over UW-Madison. After that, sweeping the season series against Seton Hall are their next two best wins. A home date this weekend with UConn awaits and a trip to MSG against the Johnnies next weekend gives them two more chances at good wins.

The roster is a nice blend of transfers and freshmen. Redshirt frosh Matthew Hodge and silky smooth PG frosh Acaden Lewis look like classic Nova players. Big man Duke Brennan from Grand Canyon provides the muscle and Devin Askew from Long Beach State has added a threat from 3.

In the Four Factors, Nova doesn’t do anything exceptionally. They’re a weak defensive rebounding team and do not get to the foul line. This isn’t a sleeper to make a deep run. What it is, is a building block. Assuming they keep Lewis and Hodge along with junior guard, Tyler Perkins, they’ll have pieces to build around.

I wouldn’t expect them to make the second weekend. I do expect them to be much better in 2027 and a threat in the league. Whether Willard has Jay Wright’s ceiling as a coach, I doubt, but he is at a place that can and wants to compete for national titles. He no longer has any excuses. It will be fascinating to watch play out.