Villanova ranked 22nd in preseason men’s basketball poll

The Wildcats have added four players from the transfer portal and are expected to be a top-tier team this season.

Justin Moore is back to lead a deep Villanova men's basketball team.Read moreCharles Fox / Staff Photographer

by Colin Beazley

Published Oct. 16, 2023, 12:34 p.m. ET

Villanova was ranked 22nd in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 for men’s college basketball on Monday. The Wildcats open the season in the Top 25 for the 10th consecutive time.

The Wildcats are one of four Big East teams in the preseason Top 25, joining Marquette (fifth), UConn (sixth), and Creighton (eighth). Kansas was the top-ranked team, receiving 46 of 63 first-place votes.

Villanova is ranked despite a disappointing 2022-23 season. The Wildcats were ranked 16th in the 2022 preseason poll but dropped out of the poll after a first-week loss to Temple. Battling injuries and inexperience, they finished 17-17 and lost in the first round of the NIT.

The Wildcats added four players from the transfer portal: forward Tyler Burton from Richmond, guard TJ Bamba from Washington State, guard Hakim Hart from Maryland, and forward Lance Ware from Kentucky.

They also return two of their leading scorers, forward Eric Dixon and guard Justin Moore. Moore missed the first 20 games of the 2022-23 season recovering from a torn Achilles tendon.

The Wildcats open the season at home against American University on Nov. 6.