It’s only May, but the ghost of that 9-seed loss to Utah State in 2026 is still lingering. For head coach Kevin Willard, the 2025-26 season was a resounding success — it proved the Villanova Wildcats could get back to the Big Dance — but the early exit left a what-if taste in everyone’s mouth.
Now, as the dust settles on the wildest transfer portal cycle of the Willard era, Underdog Sports’ Nick Bateman has given us our first look at the… his future. In his Way-Too-Early 2027 CBB Bracketology, Nova is slotted as a 10-seed in the East region, staring down a first-round date with the 7-seeded Clemson Tigers:
Bateman’s projection validates Willard’s aggressive, all-in approach to the portal. After seemingly losing the entire roster from last season, the staff essentially rebuilt the engine while the car was still moving.
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The foundation remains with Tyler Perkins — the reigning Big East Most Improved Player — along with Matt Hodge, but the surrounding cast is entirely new. The backcourt gets a massive boost from UIC transfer Elijah Crawford, while Cornell’s Jake Fiegen brings the kind of 41.4% threat from deep that has been missing since the Collin Gillespie days.
The frontcourt is where the 10-seed ceiling might actually be shattered. Landing 6-foot-10 former 4-star Kwame Evans Jr. (Oregon) and the 13.7 PPG scorer Devin Royal (Ohio State) gives Nova a level of modern athleticism and length we haven’t seen in years. Add in 7-foot-1 Nico Onyekwere, who withdrew from the portal in the hopes of a larger role on the Main Line, and top-60 recruit Adam Oumiddoch, and you have a team that looks significantly more balanced than the one that fell flat in the 2026 tournament.
Facing Clemson would be a true litmus test for this new-look squad. Brad Brownell’s Tigers are undergoing their own overhaul, relying on Samford transfer Dylan Faulkner and TCU flamethrower Liutauras Lelevicius, and a returning former top-75 recruit Zac Foster. It’s a matchup of two programs trying to prove their new identities. While a 10-seed might feel like a slight to some, for a team with this much turnover, it’s a sign that the national media respects Willard’s ability to reload on the fly.
Bateman has six other Big East teams making the tournament, too, suggesting Big East basketball could be back in a big way.
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For now, we just have to wait a casual 178 days to see if this way-too-early 10-seed projection is underselling or overselling everything this team did this offseason.
