March 09, 2026
Kyle Ross/Imagn Images
The Wildcats will be dancing — but how much can they improve their NCAA Tournament seeding?
We're less than a week away from Selection Sunday, and two weeks from the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Philadelphia, where Friday and Sunday games will be played at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
And while it's unlikely a local team will be gifted a game on its home turf, it does appear at least one team from Philly will be playing in each of the Men's and Women's NCAA Tournaments later this month. Villanova is a shoe-in to play in both as an at-large team, while some other squads have outside shots — but they'll need to go quite deep in their respective conference tournaments.
Here's a brief runaround of where each of the Big 5 schools stand as championship week continues:
The guys finished their regular season strong, and with a 3-seed heading into the Big East tournament they have an opportunity to improve their overall seeding in this weekend's event. On Thursday evening they get a bye to the quarterfinals where they'll play the winner of DePaul vs. Georgetown at 9:30 p.m. They'll be an at-large team in the Big Dance regardless.
The Nova women earned the 2-seed in their Big East bracket and handled Providence and Seton Hall in their first two battles. Monday night they have a chance to make a monster statement facing the 1-seeded Huskies from UConn at 7 p.m. They, too, will be in their respective March Madness bracket regardless of the result Monday.
The Hawks men have an outside chance of playing in the NCAA Tournament but they'll need to stay hot in their conference tournament first. They finished the season strong to earn a double-bye, with a 3-seed in the A-10 tournament that kicks off later this week. On Friday they'll face either Davidson, Richmond or Loyola before a likely bout with 2-seed VCU in the conference semis. It's probable they'll need to get to the title game to have any chance at earning a bid.
The ladies saw their 2026 end in the A-10 quarterfinals with a 64-59 loss to 4-seeded Davidson. As the 5-seed, they did make a little noise as they handled Duquesne to start their run back on Thursday.
The Quaker men's team handled Brown to end their regular season on a good note, locking in the 3-seed in the four-team Ivy League tournament. They'll play Harvard Saturday looking to win twice to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The ladies won their season finale but cruelly lost a tiebreaker and will not be playing in their conference tournament.
By virtue of their win over Tulane last week, the slumping Owls (losers of seven of their last eight games) clinched the 9-seed in the AAC tournament, where they'll have a big uphill battle against FAU on Wednesday. They'll need a miracle run at a conference title to make the Big Dance.
The women are actually in a better spot despite having a losing regular season record. With the 7-seed in their AAC tournament the Lady Owls will have a slightly easier path at a just as improbable run, starting with Tulane Tuesday.
The Explorers split their final two games to sneak into the A-10 tournament as the 12-seed, where they'll be huge underdogs against St. Bonaventure on Wednesday morning with an 11:30 tip.
The women earned a 6-seed themselves and advanced to the quarterfinals in the already completed women's A-10 tournament. They beat Saint Louis but then lost to Davidson this past Friday.
Drexel had a strong showing as the 6-seed in the CAA tournament, beating Northeastern before falling to Monmouth in the quarterfinals.
The women, on the other hand, won an impressive 20 games and might have the second-best chance behind Nova of representing the area in the ladies bracket. A double-bye into the quarterfinals will see them play Friday against either Elon or Hampton.
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