With the announcement on May 20 that Kansas and Villanova will begin a home-and-home this year in Lawrence, KS, the Wildcats are now up to a guaranteed eight out of conference games. Those games include:
Nov. 1 vs Notre Dame – Eternal City Tip-Off in Rome, Italy. 9:30 a.m. ET on FOX
Nov 27 at Kansas – True road game at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, KS
Vs Michigan – True home game at Fineran Pavilion in Villanova, PA
At Pittsburgh – True road game at the Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA
vs Wisconsin
– “Neutral site” game at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, PA
Three Big-5 games – one road, one home and one “placement” game at a neutral site
This past year, Villanova played 11 out-of-conference games. This would leave the Wildcats with three remaining slots, at least two of which I would assume would be “buy games.” A year ago, those games came in the form of the Villanova Challenge, which consisted of Queens NC, Duquesne and Sacred Heart, as well as a home game against Old Dominion.
The two scheduled Big-5 games were at LaSalle and vs Temple, with Villanova taking down Penn in the Big-5 Championship. The two scheduled games this year should come against two of these schools: Drexel, Penn, Saint Joseph’s. The last time Villanova played Saint Joseph’s was in 2024-25, whereas the most recent Drexel matchup was in 2023-24. The Wildcats have lost the last two games against the Hawks, with the last victory coming in 2022. Villanova also lost in the last meeting against the Dragons, so some payback would be welcome against both opponents.
So the question is: How does Kevin Willard finish the schedule? With the Big East projected to be much improved next season, and Villanova hoping to follow suit, it would make sense to finish it off with three buy games. That said, if one more home-and-home or the like could be scheduled, there would be merit to that as well. The only agreement that would go into the 2027-28 season would be the one with Bill Self and Kansas.
