NCAA Tournament: Villanova remains a No. 4 seed in bracket projection amid tough Big East competition

Villanova maintained its standing Tuesday as a No. 4 NCAA Tournament seed in the latest projections by ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, while its Big East rival Seton Hall moved up to a No. 2 seed for the first time this season.

The Wildcats, winners of 12 of their last 13 games entering Tuesday night’s contest against St. John’s at Madison Square Garden, have been a 4 seed for four consecutive bracket forecasts. Lunardi said moving up to a No. 3 seed will be difficult but doable.

“I can see a path for them to move up to a 3 seed,” he said Tuesday. “That would require at least splitting with Seton Hall because Seton Hall has emerged. It’s the big dog. I’m not minimizing the games in between now and then, but they could certainly move up in the next couple of weeks with a winning streak.”

The Wildcats and Pirates will meet for the first time this season Feb. 8 at the Wells Fargo Center. Villanova will head up to the Prudential Center for the rematch on March 4.

Even though there has been some separation among the top five Big East teams and the next five in terms of their NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking, the competition will continue to be fierce, especially among teams fighting to get on to the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Lunardi’s current bracket shows Xavier (NET No. 63) and Georgetown (NET No. 52) as the second and third teams, respectively, listed among his “Next Four Out.” Villanova defeated both teams at home but still have to play them in their arenas.

The Big East has five teams in the NET’s top 26: Butler (9), Seton Hall (12), Villanova (14), Creighton (24) and Marquette (26). They are all in Lunardi’s latest bracket: Butler as a 4 seed, Creighton as a 5 and Marquette as a 7. Villanova will play Creighton on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center and travel to Butler next Wednesday.

After Marquette at 26, there is a big drop to sixth-place Georgetown at 52, and the rankings proceed to 10th-place Providence (78). No other conference besides the Big Ten has 10 teams in the top 78.

The ACC has nine teams in the top 78 but only three in the top 49. While more than five weeks remain in the regular season, the conference could be looking at only three NCAA bids — Duke, Louisville, and Florida State — in a worst-case scenario, Lunardi said.

The AAC has four teams in Lunardi’s latest projection. Unfortunately for Temple, the Owls have sunk to No. 96 in the NET, seventh among conference teams, after six losses in their last seven games. The lowest-ranked NET team in the current bracket is North Carolina State at No. 60.