If Villanova makes it to the Field of 68 this March, it seems exceedingly likely that they will play their way in from the City of Dayton as a 12-seed. If that is the case, the Wildcats would have to ship out to Ohio mid-week and hope to have a chance to make it to the first weekend.
Joe Lunardi's latest bracketology has projected that the 'Cats are still "in" for the postseason tournament at the moment, being one of the last four teams in after losing their Monday night game to a struggling Seton Hall. That wasn't the biggest surprise of the night, however. An Iowa State loss also helped to push Kentucky back up to join Villanova in the bracket -- and the two Wildcats would be playing against each other in Dayton.
Two teams named Wildcats in blue-and-white. Nobody would be confused by that, right? That's one of the more entertaining possibilities when your team has such a common nickname.
For the record, USA Today's projections also have Villanova in the field, but playing Charlotte for a chance to face 5-seeded Ohio State in the first round.
CSNPhilly.com points out that Nova has four victories against the RPI top-50 and only two truly UGLY losses to Columbia (RPI 259) and Seton Hall (RPI 115). Neither of the uglies are ultimately going to be fatal blows for Nova's chances, but they may need to win one of the last two games to add a fifth top-50 win to their resume.
Villanova's biggest problem was an unimpressive non-conference schedule, that may give the committee pause. The 'Cats have improved enough from their early struggles to get big wins in league play, however, and they will have to hope that the Big East schedule is enough to carry them through this season.