The 2020–21 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...

in the

2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 25, 2020 and concluded on March 14, 2021. The 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament culminated the season and began on March 18 and concluded on April 5. Season ...

. Led by head coach Jay Wright in his 20th year, the Wildcats played their home games at the

Finneran Pavilion The William B. Finneran Pavilion is a 6,501-seat multi-purpose arena in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States, about 10 miles northwest of downtown ( Center City) Philadelphia. Built in 1985, the arena is home to the Villanova University Wildca ...

on the school's campus in the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

suburb of

Villanova, Pennsylvania Villanova is a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It straddles Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County and Radnor Township in Delaware County. It is located at the center of the Philadelphia Main Line, a series of Philadelphia suburbs lo ...

. However they did not play at

Wells Fargo Center Wells Fargo Center may refer to: *Wells Fargo Center (Los Angeles), California *Wells Fargo Center (Sacramento), California * Wells Fargo Center (San Francisco), California * Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, California * Wells Fargo Cen ...

due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They are members of the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...

. They finished the season 18-7, 11-4 in Big East Play to finish as regular season champions. They were upset in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament by Georgetown. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Winthrop and

North Texas North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas) is a term used primarily by residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas to describe much of the north central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. Residents of the Dallas–Fort Wor ...

to advance to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to the eventual champions Baylor.

Previous season

The

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

finished the 2019–20 season 24–7, 13–5 in Big East play to finish tied for first place. As the No. 2 seed in the Big East tournament, they were slated to play DePaul in the quarterfinals, but the Tournament was cancelled at halftime of the first game of the quarterfinals due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, along with the rest of the NCAA postseason.

Offseason

Departures

Preseason

The Wildcats were picked to win the

in the coaches' poll, receiving nine first-place votes and a total of 99 points.

Collin Gillespie Collin Gillespie (born June 25, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) on a two-way contract with the Grand Rapids Gold of the NBA G League. He played college basket ...

and

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl Jeremiah Christian Robinson-Earl (born November 3, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Villanova Wildcats. High schoo ...

were selected to the Preseason First Team All-Big East, while

Justin Moore Justin Cole Moore (born March 30, 1984) is an American country music singer and songwriter, signed to Big Machine Records imprint Valory Music Group. For that label, he has released six studio albums: his self titled debut in 2009, '' Outlaws ...

was selected to the Preseason Second Team All-Big East. Villanova was considered one of the favorites to win a national title after returning most of its roster from the previous season, and was ranked third in the preseason

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

poll.

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=12 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Big East tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament

Rankings

^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team Villanova Villanova Wildcats men's basketball seasons Villanova Villanova Villanova