Analyst Smacks Villanova With Rough Reality Check

The Villanova Wildcats are facing a tough road when it comes to making the NCAA Tournament.

Feb 26, 2025; Newark, New Jersey, USA; Villanova Wildcats forward Eric Dixon (43) goes to the basket against Seton Hall Pirates center Emmanuel Okorafor (23) during the first half at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Villanova Wildcats are a classic example of a bubble team, as they are a squad playing in a big conference with some impressive wins, but also a bunch of losses.

Villanova is 17-12 heading into its Saturday matchup with Butler and absolutely must win its final two games of the regular season (including a clash against Georgetown) to have a chance.

The Wildcats do own a 10-8 record within the Big East, but ESPN's Joe Lunardi currently has them out of the NCAA Tournament field. As a matter of fact, he has them on his "next four out" list.

Meanwhile, ESPN's Neil Payne provided a more detailed breakdown in his most recent bubble watch piece, giving Villanova a 13 percent chance to make the Big Dance.

"Seven of the Wildcats' 12 losses were against top-50 opponents (and 11 of 12 were against the top 100), while they have five wins over the top 50, so there are ways to spin their case," Payne wrote. "But they rank 6th in NET in a Big East that looks to only send four tourney teams, and their only remaining résumé booster might be a trip to Georgetown in the regular-season finale on Tuesday."

There is no question that the Wildcats have some decent wins under their belt, Heck, they beat St. John's and Marquette in February.

However, Villanova has gone just 6-7 over its last 13 games, and as Payne noted, Georgetown—who the Wildcats lost to earlier in the season—is not exactly much of a case booster.

If Villanova does win its last two games, it would finish 19-12 with a respectable 12-8 conference record and would probably have to do some damage in the Big East Tournament to have a shot.