The State of the Nova Nation podcast

The Villanova Wildcats are headed to their second Final Four in three years--third trip over the last decade. It's a good time to be a Wildcat, after they took care of business at the TD Garden in Boston, taking down the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Jalen Brunson was named the East Region's Most Outstanding Player. Aside from talking about this past weekend's action,...

The second weekend of the NCAA Tournament is here! The Villanova Wildcats are safely in Boston, after a few mishaps with snow on Wednesday. The stage is set for the Sweet 16, where the 'Cats will play the West Virginia Mountaineers on Friday night. From there, if they advance, they'll take on the winner of the game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Learn more about yo...

There might have been a lot of chaos and carnage throughout the opening weekend of the 2018 NCAA Tournament, but the Villanova Wildcats were able to avoid the madness. They enjoyed convincing wins over the Radford Highlanders and the Alabama Crimson Tide. Now, the 'Cats are headed for their second Sweet 16 in three years. Unfortunately, there won't be any other Big East teams joining them this yea...

The opening round is finally here and both then men's and women's Villanova Wildcats basketball teams will be participating in the madness. This episode is shorter than usual and dives into the opponents both teams may face. The No. 1-seeded men's team will take on the Radford Highlanders to begin tourney play. After that, they'll go up against the winner between an 8/9 matchup of the Virginia Tec...

The NCAA Tournament Field of 68 is set. The madness before the madness is here, with brackets being filled out left and right. The Villanova Wildcats are the top-seed in the East region, and they will begin their journey in Pittsburgh--against the winner of First Four play-in game between Radford and LIU Brooklyn. Do they have the best draw out of the other one seeds? Any cause for concern in the...

The women's basketball team was bounced out of the quarterfinals by those pesky Georgetown Hoyas. The Wildcats will wait in anticipation for the Selection Show, where they will find out their fate. As for the men's team, the Villanova Wildcats wrapped up their regular season with a one-sided win against Georgetown. As we wrap up the regular season and prepare for the Big East Tournament, the days...

It wasn't pretty, and it needed overtime, but the Villanova Wildcats were able to survive the relentless Seton Hall Pirates at the Prudential Center on Wednesday. Defense, Mikal Bridges, and a Jalen Brunson--that finally showed up for the final nine minutes of action--saved the day. Now the 'Cats will prepare for one last regular season game before beginning post-season play. Meanwhile, the women'...

The Villanova Wildcats lost for the third time in six games. Is this rut something that can be left behind in February? Is there cause for concern after the Creighton Bluejays took one in the closing minutes of the game and eventually in overtime? Women's basketball finished up its regular season, taking down Providence and Creighton in a crucial game for the three-seed in the Big East Tournament....

The Villanova Wildcats celebrated their Senior Night with a lopsided win over the DePaul Blue Demons. Mikal Bridges has a standout performance to lead a bunch of 'Cats in double figures. Tom Leibig hits a stepback J on two defenders, the Bench Mob is celebrated, and Phil Booth returns. He looked solid in his first game back since fracturing his hand, tallying 14 points. The men's basketball team h...

The Villanova Wildcats were sizzling hot in Cincinnati, where they took on the Xavier Musketeers for the second time this season. Donte DiVincenzo lit up the Cintas Center with a near-triple double performance. The Wildcats left little doubt (outside of a second half Xavier run) in a dominant performance on the road. Meanwhile, the Lady 'Cats completed their final road trip of the season, going ag...

Five-star Class of 2018 point guard Jahvon Quinerly has committed to the Villanova Wildcats. It was quite the ride for both parties getting to this point, but it's official that a member of #JellyFam is coming to the Main Line. With the Quinerly news to start off things on Wednesday, unfortunately for the 'Cats things took a bad turn at the Dunkin Donuts Center. The Providence Friars upset the 'Ca...

State of the Nova Nation is back and a lot of has happened while Eugene was sick--like the St. John's Red Storm pulling off an upset at the Wells Fargo Center, the Villanova Wildcats finally conquer the Butler Bulldogs, and the committee released its February look at a hypothetical bracket. (Spoiler alert: 'Nova looked pretty good.) In women's basketball, Harry Perretta's squad hit the 20-win mark...

The Villanova Wildcats are off to a blazing 22-1 start and sit atop college basketball with a No. 1 ranking for the fifth straight week in a row. Villanova got two solid wins against the Creighton Bluejays and the Seton Hall Pirates. However, those victories were overshadowed by the Philadelphia Eagles' first Super Bowl title ever. Unfortunately, Jay Wright couldn't make it to Minneapolis for the...

It's probably more like 40 minutes long and not an hour, but putting the "Big Game" aside, there are three Villanova basketball games this weekend. The men's team has two of those, as the Villanova Wildcats prepare for the Creighton Bluejays(Thursday) and Seton Hall Pirates (Sunday)--two teams they have yet to play against this season. Meanwhile, the women's team prepares for a rematch against Geo...

For the fourth straight week and the seventh overall for the season, the Villanova Wildcats sit atop the AP and Coaches' Polls with a No. 1 ranking. They are now just one week away from tying some personal records set last season. This past weekend, men's basketball saw a monstrous 31-point performance by Jalen Brunson, leading the way to victory in Milwaukee (with a nice closing minute-and-a-half...

The Villanova Wildcats overcame a slow start to beat the Providence Friars by 20. Along the way, Phil Booth went down with a fractured right hand and will be out 4-6 weeks, becoming the THIRD (what are the odds?) Wildcat to have a hand injury. How will his loss impact the 'Cats, and what does it mean moving forward? Women's hoops is back in action with a pair of road games. They've gotten their re...

The Villanova Wildcats put an end to conference play, with their game against the Connecticut Huskies--which was also the start of a three-year series. The Wildcats dominated, and they will now focus on a game with the Providence Friars. But first, we respond to Phil Mushnick's points that criticize Jay Wright for not playing the walk-ons enough--the guys who are the "true student-athletes." Women...

The Villanova Wildcats shot 60%+ on the floor in Patrick Ewing's reintroduction to the Villanova-Georgetown rivalry, just as it did the last time he participated in it--as a player back in 1985. The Hoyas might have ducked and dropped out of the PK80, but the Wildcats' dominant performance down in D.C. might have them wishing they could duck the 'Cats, too. The Villanova women's basketball team go...

Donte DiVincenzo lights up Madison Square Garden and lifts the Villanova Wildcats to victory with another career performance against the St. John's Red Storm. He was unfazed by the Johnnies' defense and was locked in against them. Now, the men's basketball team prepares for another classic Big East squad in rival Georgetown Hoyas. It'll be the first time Patrick Ewing goes up against the 'Cats--as...

In a top-10 matchup against the Xavier Musketeers, the Villanova Wildcats successfully defended home court once again from the Musketeers and triumphed on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, the women's basketball team held off a late Georgetown rally in D.C. Now, they gear up for a slate of weekend games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just in time for the epic showdown between the Villanova Wildcats and the Xavier Musketeers, the Wildcats have reclaimed the top-spot in all of college basketball, the No. 1 ranking. This will be their 15th week there, the most time spent as No. 1 for any school over the last three years. The 'Cats returned to their winning ways by taking down the Marquette Golden Eagles and will now gear up for a...

After a break for the holidays and a bout of technical difficulties, the State of the Nova Nation is back! Some crazy things happened in our absence, like the Villanova Wildcats giving up 101 points to the Butler Bulldogs in a shooting performance that could be explained by Hinkle Magic. Butler shot 68.2 percent from long range in the upset win over 'Nova, surpassing the traumatic Creighton Blueja...

A dozen new 'Cats will be hitting the gridiron next season after taking advantage of the new early signing period. The Villanova women's basketball team came back after a 9-day break with a massive blowout of Big 5 rival La Salle. As for the men's team, Jay Wright is taking his Villanova Wildcats to Long Island on Friday night to face off against his former team, the Hofstra Pride. It'll be the la...

And then there was one! The Florida State Seminoles men’s and women’s basketball team both saw their undefeated records come to an end over the weekend, leaving the Villanova Wildcats as the only ones with unbeaten men’s and women’s basketball teams in the country. After a busy finals week, Harry Perretta’s squad is back in action Wednesday afternoon vs. La Salle. There’s a loaded mailbox in this...

The Villanova Wildcats won their fifth-straight outright Big 5 title and their 26th overall. The Wildcats had a wire-to-wire finish at the Liacouras Center, which Jalen Brunson offered a great petition for a name change to 'the Brunson Center'--after another career performance at the Temple Owls' arena. He wasn't the only one cooking on offense, as Omari Spellman had his best game of the season. E...