Bracketology 2014: Some disagreement on Villanova's seeding emerges

It wasn't an impressive weekend for the Wildcats, who didn't look as dominant against Marquette and Georgetown as they had looked against their pre-Creighton Big East opponents. Nonetheless, the Wildcats made progress (believe it or not) against Georgetown, showing that they could still win in a defensive battle and perhaps that they were not a complete liability on the perimeter.

The Wildcats are now ranked fourth by RPI, moving up one spot from last week. They are down one spot on KenPom.com, from 14th to 15th; the Wildcats' offense is now ranked 10th and defensively rated 28th in the nation. All of which bodes well for the 'Cats ability to receive a high seeding.

On to the Bracketology . . .

ESPN (Joe Lunardi) - 2 Seed, Buffalo, East Region

Lunardi's bracket doesn't consider the weekend games for the 'Cats, but he has held the 'Cats as a 2-Seed in the East Region from last week. He now has the Wildcats slated to play the Robert Morris University of the Northeast Conference in that opening match in Buffalo.

Standing in their way would be 7-Seed Saint Louis, 3-Seed Iowa State, and 1-Seed Syracuse. Former Big East schools Cincinnati and Connecticut are also in this region, as is 12-seeded Providence.

CBS Sports (Jerry Palm) - 4 Seed, Raleigh, South Region

Palm is the least optimistic bracketologist for the Wildcats this week. He has them dropping from a 2-Seed opening a West Region campaign in Buffalo to a 4-Seed launching a south-region run in Raleigh. In that region, they would play metro-Atlanta school Mercer of the Atlantic Sun conference, a 13-Seed.

To advance to the second weekend, they would also need to defeat the winner of 5-Seed UMass and 12-Seed UW Green Bay. Top seeds in that region include Wichita State (1-Seed),  San Diego State (2-Seed), and Wisconsin (3-Seed). Louisville (6-Seed) and Providence (8-seed) also await on this quadrant.

NBC Sports (Dave Ommen) - 2 Seed, Buffalo, East Region

If NBC Sports is right, Jay Wright may want to ask Andy Talley for some background about Stony Brook University, to mention in his press conferences. Dave Ommen has kept the 'Cats lined up as a 2-Seed in Buffalo, playing the Seawolves. To advance to the Sweet 16, they would have to get past the winner of 7-Seed Ohio State and 10-Seed Florida State as well.

Top seeds in NBC's MSG-Regional quadrant include Syracuse (1-Seed), Oklahoma State (3-Seed), and Iowa (4-Seed). UMass, Connecticut and Providence were also seeded in this region.

SB Nation (Chris Dobbertean) - 2 Seed, Buffalo, West Region

SB Nation's Dobber made a small shift for Villanova, moving them from the East to the West Region this week. The Wildcats remain on the two-line, however. In this projection, they champs would face American University of the Patriot League in an opening weekend trip to Buffalo. Winning would put them up against either Oklahoma (7-Seed) or New Mexico  (10-Seed).

Other top seeds in the Dobber's bracket include Arizona (1-Seed; and a potential all-Wildcat Elite Eight) and Wisconsin (3-Seed).

Bracketology Around the Big East

All four bracketologists are giving the Big East four entries to the tournament this week and all seem to be in agreement on which four. Villanova, Creighton, Xavier and Providence as the likely bids, with a few other teams perhaps on the bubble.

The schools are seeded as follows:

NBC - (2) Villanova, (5) Creighton, (8) Xavier, (9) Providence

ESPN - (2) Villanova, (4) Creighton, (7) Xavier, (12) Providence

CBS - (4) Villanova, (3) Creighton, (7) Xavier, (8) Providence

SBN - (2) Villanova, (4) Creighton, (8) Xavier, (10) Providence