UConn’s 1st loss, Creighton’s bounce back among latest Big East Basketball storylines
By John Makuch
5. Villanova falters after a hot start
The Villanova Wildcats had an impressive start to the season, winning against the likes of North Carolina, Memphis, and Texas Tech in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Before that, they had lost to Penn on the road, but it seemed that was only a one-time early-season upset from an in-state rival. But now, there is great cause for concern with these Villanova Wildcats.
This week, they lost to two more in-state opponents, Saint Joseph’s, and Drexel, which are opponents a team like this should not be losing to. This team showed they were deep, had tons of talent, and could compete with ranked opponents and teams that are right in the mix, now they are losing to lower-tier opponents.
Villanova appears to have a playing down to your competition problem, and whether this is a Kyle Neptune issue, or just a matter of talent on this Villanova roster, is yet to be seen. But this is not something that can continue, and they have some tough games coming up. The Wildcats have to take on Kansas State and UCLA before the conclusion of non-conference play, and we are yet to see which Villanova we will get. The Wildcat team we saw in the Battle 4 Atlantis can beat anybody in the nation, but the team we saw this week is barely a contender in their own conference.
Something will have to change, and change quickly for these Wildcats to get back to form. But these two losses greatly affect their NCAA Tournament chances if they do not have a great run in the Big East.