Villanova basketball season preview 2024-25: Biggest games, key players to watch, predictions and more

Villanova enters the 2024–25 college basketball season determined to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time under the tenure of coach Kyle Neptune. The 39-year-old is in his third season with the Wildcats, hoping to make it to the NCAA Tournament after back-to-back seasons of settling with the NIT.

Neptune assembled a 15-man roster that will compete for the pride and honor of the three-time national champions. Here's a closer look into Villanova's upcoming campaign, including its biggest games and the players to watch out for in the 2024–25 season.

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Villanova's biggest games in the 2024–25 season

Villanova has yet to unveil its complete non-conference and Big East regular season schedule but it has announced four marquee non-conference games that Wildcats fans should mark on their calendars.

Kyle Neptune's squad will lock horns with Saint Joseph's and Penn for the initial phase of the Philadelphia Big 5 Classic. The basketball tournament brings six teams that are split into two pods of three teams, with Villanova, Saint Joseph's and Penn belonging in Pod 2, while Drexel, Temple and La Salle are in Pod 1.

The Wildcats will play Saint Joseph's on November 12 and Penn on Nov. 19. The podmates will play in a round-robin classification round, with the first placers in each pod competing for the Big 5 championship, second-placed teams facing each other for third place and the third seeds contesting fifth place on December 7 at the Wells Fargo Center.

In between the Big 5 Classic is Villanova's matchup against Virginia in the Hall of Fame Series Baltimore at the CFG Bank Arena on Nov. 15. This will be the ninth time the Wildcats are facing the Cavaliers, who lead the all-time series 5-3.

It will be a "cats" battle on December 3 as Villanova meets Cincinnati in the Big 12-Big East Battle. It'll be the 11th meeting of the Wildcats and the Bearcats with Villanova, leading their all-time duel 6-4.

The Big East will release its regular season schedule on a later date.

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Key Villanova's players to watch out for in the 2024–25 season

Villanova will have four returnees, four transfers, six freshmen and one junior player who will play college basketball for the first time this coming season. Here are the three players that Wildcats' fans should keep an eye on in the program's 2024–25 campaign.

#1. Eric Dixon

Villanova forward Eric Dixon (Image source: IMAGN)

Eric Dixon is coming off a 2023–24 season where he led Villanova's offense for the second consecutive year. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 16.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 30.5 minutes of action per game.

He shot 46.5%, including 34.6% from the 3-point line and 86.2% from the free-throw line.

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#2. Wooga Poplar

Miami transfer Wooga Poplar returns to Pennsylvania to play for Villanova (Image source: IMAGN).

The University of Miami transferee, Wooga Poplar, is coming back to his home state of Pennsylvania after playing for three seasons with the Hurricanes. The six-foot-five incoming senior had his best performance this past season, averaging 13.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest.

Poplar had his shooting numbers drop from 47.0% to 42.4% as he took more shots from the field. He had a 38.5% clip from the 3-point line and shot 86.4% from the 3-point line in the 2023–24 season.

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#3. Josiah Moseley

Josiah Moseley is a four-star high school recruit out of Stony Point and was ranked the 10th-best power forward in the 2024 class and No. 1 in Texas.

The six-foot-six Moseley chose Villanova over Georgia Tech, Texas, USC and Colorado State, giving the Wildcats an impact player who can play the two forward spots when needed.

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Villanova's predictions for the 2024–25 season

Villanova is expected to face tough competition against its Big East foes in the 2024–25 regular season. The Wildcats can win more than 20 games this season and contend in one of the 68 bids for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

Villanova has the tools to make it through the tournament but it needs to have cohesion to achieve their goal.

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Will Villanova win 20 games in the 2024–25 college basketball season? Let us know your views in the comments section.