NCAA Tournament scenarios for City Six men’s and women’s basketball teams

The Villanova women's team is on the bubble. The Drexel women's team, and the Penn and Temple men's teams can play their way in this weekend.

Drexel is the CAA's top seed and favored to win the women's tournament.Read moreMONICA HERNDON / Staff Photographer

by Sam Cohn, For The Inquirer

Updated March 10, 2022, 4:30 p.m. ET

Published March 10, 2022, 4:27 p.m. ET

College basketball’s conference tournaments on the men’s and women’s sides are simultaneously kicking off and wrapping up as Selection Sunday approaches.

With Big Five teams fighting to keep their seasons alive, here is how a few of those programs can find themselves earning a spot in the Big Dance.

Women

Villanova Women (23-8, 15-4 Big East)

ESPN’s bracketology projects Villanova, led by Maddie Siegrist, to be fourth among the last four teams into the NCAA tournament.

The Wildcats, winners of 15 of their last 17 games, earned a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament. Convincing wins over St. John’s and Seton Hall earned Villanova a chance at a league title and an automatic bid, but UConn won handily, securing a Big East title and leaving the Wildcats’ fate in the hands of the selection committee.

Drexel (24-4, 16-2 CAA)

A historic 24-win season, good for first in the Colonial Athletic Association, has Drexel primed for a second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Dragons face the Hofstra-UNC Wilmington winner on Friday at the Daskalakis Center. The semifinals are Saturday, and the final is Sunday.

Drexel likely needs to win the tournament to earn a bid.

ESPN’s bracketology projects Drexel as an automatic qualifier and a 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Men

Temple (17-11, 10-7 AAC)

It’s going to take three wins over three days in the American Athletic Conference tournament for Temple to punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament. After earning a first-round bye, the No. 4 seed Owls are set to face No. 5 seed Tulane on Friday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The two teams have previously faced off twice, each grabbing a win on their home courts.

If Temple gets through Tulane, it will face the winner of No. 8 Cincinnati and No. 1 Houston on Saturday at 3 pm.

Villanova (23-7, 16-4 Big East)

Villanova finished the regular season ranked eighth nationally by the Associated Press and finished second in the Big East standings. How the No. 2 seed Wildcats finish in the conference standings won’t bear any weight as to whether they go dancing.

They face St. John’s in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. If they win the tournament, they will have a strong chance of being seeded in the East, where the Regional will be played in South Philly at the Wells Fargo Center. If Providence wins the tournament, Villanova could be seeded in the East, but it’s far less likely.

Penn (12-15, 9-5 Ivy League)

Penn earned the No. 3 seed in the Ivy League Tournament, and will play No. 2 seed Yale in the semifinals at Lavietes Pavilion in Boston on Saturday. The final is Sunday at noon, and Penn would have to win it to earn an NCAA bid.