The 2015–16 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented
Villanova University
Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...
in the
2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
The 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 13. The first early-season tournaments to begin were the Puerto Rico Tip-Off and the Charleston Classic. The season ended with the 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tour ...
. Led by the school's 8th head coach
Jay Wright in his 15th year, the Wildcats were members of the
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...
and played most of their home games at
The Pavilion, with some select home games at the
Wells Fargo Center. The Wildcats finished the season with a record of 35–5, 16–2 to win the
Big East regular season. They lost in the championship of the
Big East tournament to
Seton Hall. The Wildcats earned an at-large bid to the
NCAA tournament as a No. 2 seed. In the Tournament, they defeated
UNC Asheville,
Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
,
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, and overall #1 seed
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
to earn a trip to the Final Four, the fifth in school history (although the
1971 Final Four season was vacated by the NCAA). In the Final Four, the Wildcats routed No. 2 seed
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
by the largest margin in Final Four history to face No. 1 seeded
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
for the national championship. Led by
Final Four MOP,
Ryan Arcidiacono, the Wildcats won the
National Championship 77–74 on a three-point shot by
Kris Jenkins, assisted by Arcidiacano, as time expired. The Wildcats won the school's second national title, having previously won the
1985 NCAA tournament.
Their 35 wins were the most in school history, breaking a record of 33 wins set the
previous season. In beating No. 3 seed Miami (AP No. 10), No. 1 seed Kansas (AP No. 1), No. 2 seed Oklahoma (AP No. 7) and No. 1 seed UNC (AP No. 3), Villanova became the first school in 31 years — since the
1985 Villanova Wildcats — to not only beat four top-three seeds on the way to a national title but to also beat four straight opponents ranked in the AP top 10, in addition to beating AP ranked Iowa in the Round of 32, by an average victory margin of 19 points per game. Villanova's run included two of the ten most offensively efficient games in the analytics era (2002–present), beating Miami and Oklahoma by scoring 1.56 and 1.51 points per possession in the Sweet Sixteen and Final Four, respectively. It has been called perhaps the most dominant tournament championship run of all time, and the most dominant of the analytics era by a wide margin.
Previous season
The
Wildcats finished the
2014–15 season 33–3, 16–2 in
Big East play to win the Big East regular season championship. They defeated
Marquette,
Providence, and
Xavier to become champions of the
Big East tournament. They received the conference's automatic bid to the
NCAA tournament as a No.1 seed where they defeated
Lafayette in the Second Round before losing in the Third Round to
NC State.
With their 31st win of the season, a 63–61 win over
Providence in the semifinals of the Big East tournament, the Wildcats set a single season record for wins, which would eventually finish at 33.
Offseason
Departures
Incoming transfers
Incoming recruits
2017 recruiting class
Roster
Schedule and results
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!colspan=9 style="background:#013974; color:white;", Exhibition
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!colspan=9 style="background:#013974; color:white;", Regular season
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!colspan=9 style="background:#013974; color:white;",
Big East tournament
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!colspan=9 style="background:#013974; color:#white;",
NCAA tournament
Local Radio
Rankings
On February 8, the Wildcats became the first
Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
The Villanova Wildcats men's basketball program represent Villanova University in men's college basketball and competes in the Big East Conference of NCAA Division I. Their first season was the 1920–21 season. Named the Wildcats, Villanova is a ...
team to reach number one in the
AP Poll.
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings
References
External links
2015–16 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team at ESPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:2015-16 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team
Villanova Wildcats
Villanova Wildcats men's basketball seasons
Villanova
NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons
NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship seasons