5. Villanova Wildcats
One team that raised alarm bells in the first week was Villanova, who lost on the road at Penn in a local matchup. Because of how poorly last season went, there was plenty of concern for second-year head coach, Kyle Neptune. Even a blowout win over Maryland right after didn’t mean much because the Terrapins have objectively looked terrible to start the season.
That’s why the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament was so important to them, both from a resume and a PR standpoint. They took on Texas Tech, a team that hadn’t lost a game to that point. It was an impressive effort from the Wildcats, winning 85-69, thanks to 38 points and 12 rebounds combined from Eric Dixon and Justin Moore.
The star duo played a big role in the next game, an 83-81 overtime victory over North Carolina. Dixon went for a career-high 34 pts and 10 rebs in the win. And as close as that game was, the title game versus Memphis was an instant blowout, ultimately winning 79-63, with all five starters scoring in double figures.
There’s a shot that all three wins will be in the Quad 1 range, guaranteed to be at least Quad 2. But besides taking a massive leap in their resume-building, the Wildcats and Coach Neptune proved that they are for real and that last year was more of a blimp in the radar than a long-term issue. Up next is a St. Joe’s team that took Kentucky into overtime so Nova can’t afford to overlook them or else they’ll take another “Big 5” defeat.