The post-Jay Wright era at Villanova has gotten off to a rocky start under head coach Kyle Neptune and things did not get much better on Selection Sunday.
For the second consecutive season, the Wildcats will not participate in the NCAA men’s tournament.
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Wright’s tenure started in 2001-02 with three consecutive trips to the NIT before he got his program back to the NCAA tournament, so Neptune isn’t completely off track yet, however this is the first time the Wildcats have missed out on an opportunity to play for a championship in back-to-back seasons since then.
Five of the Kenpom top 40 were left out.
St. John’s – 25
Wake Forest – 31
Villanova – 35
Cincinnati – 37
Pitt – 40— CougarStats (@CougarStats) March 17, 2024
The three-time NCAA champions were among the most notable names on a particularly strong bubble this year, which kept the Wildcats’ tournament dreams on edge over the last two months. While early season victories over No. 14 North Carolina, Texas Tech, Maryland and No. 12 Creighton bolstered the Wildcats’ resume, the team really struggled against ranked opponents, going 2-5 with two losses each to Marquette, UConn and St. John’s.
Villanova wasn’t even among the first four out.
One year after going 17-17 (10-10 Big East) with a first round exit in the 2023 NIT, Neptune’s second year on the job didn’t yield much better results as the program went 18-15 (10-10 Big East).