On October 28, the Villanova Athletic Department released a segment of the men’s basketball schedule for the 2020-21 season. The released games are as follows:

November 25 – Empire Classic

November 26 – Empire Classic

November 30 – vs. Saint Joseph

December 3 – vs. Temple

December 11 – at Georgetown

December 14 – vs. DePaul

December 16 – vs. Butler

December 19 – vs. Virginia

December 23 – vs. Marquette

The schedule opens up with the 2K Empire Classic, which after some switching around and replacements, will include Villanova, Baylor, Boston College and Arizona State. The last two teams on the list were originally North Carolina State and Michigan, but those programs have opted out of the tournament. The Empire Classic games will be played on a neutral sight, Mohegan Sun in southeastern Connecticut. 

Villanova then gets into familiar territory with Philadelphia rivals St. Joe’s and Temple, who are usually easy victories for head coach Jay Wright’s squad. Following that is the deep dive into three consecutive games of conference play with Georgetown, DePaul and Butler. Those games should be relatively uncompetitive for the ’Cats, as none of those three teams placed in NCAA correspondent Andy Katz’ Power 36 Preseason rankings.

On the Dec. 19, the Wildcats will have their projected toughest opponent of the year up to that point – Virginia. UVA sits four spots behind Villanova (3) on the Power 36 at 7, and are (as many have forgotten) the defending national champions. The Wildcats will play the Cavaliers at neutral sight Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The available schedule rounds out with a matchup against Marquette, just before Christmas. 

The Athletic Department has also announced that it will be have limited numbers of student spectators at games; specific numbers are said to be out soon.

The remainder of the schedule will also be released in that time.