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2008 Villanova Basketball Picks & Predictions

Written by Luke Knight

Jay Wright’s squad was 22-13 overall last season and 9-9 in the Big East, but then squeaked into the NCAA Tournament and defeated Clemson and Siena before losing to Kansas in the Sweet 16. Virtually all of Villanova’s contributors return from 2007-2008, but those contributors only led the Wildcats to perhaps the 65th team in last year’s NCAA field, as Villanova was the lowest-seeded at-large team in the field last season. This season the Wildcats will likely need to play tougher defense, because Villanova just doesn’t have enough to continually and consistently outscore the better teams on their schedule. Keep reading our NCAA basketball predictions to see if we think Villanova will make its 5th straight NCAA Tournament appearance this season to go along with the past four that produced two Sweet 16 teams and an Elite Eight team. Head over to BetUS where the Villanova Wildcats are 9-to-1 odds to win the Big East conference this season.

The frontcourt for the Wildcats has all sorts of options this season. Dante Cunningham, who averaged 10.4 points per game last season and was the only double-digit scorer other than Scottie Reynolds, will be on the court most for the Wildcats as he helps on both ends. Shane Clark and Dwayne Anderson are options if Wright wants to go with smaller and quicker forwards. Antonio Pena, like Cunningham, is more of a power forward, while Casiem Drummond can bang with the biggest players in the post. Anderson was expected to transfer before last season but made clear he like Villanova and would stay even if he was a benchwarmer. He eventually worked his way into the rotation and played 40 minutes in a crucial win at Providence to end the regular season.

Villanova has a nice collection of talent in the backcourt, but not all of them fit conventional position descriptions. Scottie Reynolds isn’t a true point guard, but can take over a game and is best with the ball in his hands. He is a streaky 3-point shooter and can go on streaks that produce victories, but he only averaged 3.2 assists per game with 3.1 turnovers to go with his 15.9 points. Reynolds moved to shooting guard last season when point guard recruits Corey Fisher and Malcolm Grant showed up. Fisher averaged 9.1 points per game put hit only .354 from the field and .331 from beyond the arc. Grant transferred to Miami following the season so Fisher will have to improve his shot. Reggie Redding will get minutes because of his defense. Corey Stokes was a pure outside shooter in high school and came along late scoring double figures in five of the final seven regular-season games, then had a season high 18 points against Syracuse in a key win in the Big East tournament. Stokes then scored 20 points in the NCAA tournament’ second round game against Siena.

Final Analysis

For Villanova to compete in this loaded Big East conference, things would really have to come together. The fact that this Sweet 16 team is returning pretty much all of their contributors from last season though makes it likely that they will once again get an NCAA tournament bid. The Wildcats have plenty of perimeter fire power, but needs to get more production from the frontcourt. If the frontcourt comes along, then Villanova very well could be playing in the second weekend of the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. With our college basketball picks we have Villanova finishing in the middle of the Big East pack, which would likely garner an NCAA bid. Like last season, they will be a dangerous team when March rolls around. BetUS has the Wildcats at +5000 odds to win the NCAA championship this season.

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