VILLANOVA, Pa.—For the first time in its 46-year varsity history, the Villanova softball team will begin a season as the defending BIG EAST champions. Coming off the program's first-ever conference title and NCAA Tournament appearance last Spring, head coach Bridget Orchard this week announced the Wildcats schedule for the upcoming 2022 season. Villanova begins its 53-game regular season slate on February 11 and will play its home opener exactly one month later.
 
Throughout her coaching career Orchard has believed strongly in preparing her teams to play against top competition. Her fourth season leading the Wildcats and her 25^th season overall as a collegiate head coach will be no different, as Villanova will play nearly half of its non-conference games (13 of 29) against teams that were ranked in the top 100 of the RPI last season. That includes an early-season tournament at SEC member Florida where the Wildcats will face a 2021 Super Regional team in the host Gators along with another NCAA Tournament team in ACC foe Duke.
 
Villanova will play 11 games against opponents from the Power Five conferences during the first month of the season. In addition to playing Duke at the Florida tournament, the Wildcats will also face ACC squads Boston College, Georgia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina and North Carolina State as well as playing twice against Big Ten member Maryland.
 
The season begins on Friday, February 11 when Villanova opens play in the Buzz Classic at Georgia Tech. On each of the first two days of that tournament the Wildcats will play both Marshall and the host Yellow Jackets, while the final day of the season's opening weekend features a single game against Philly rival Saint Joseph's.
 
After playing in the T-Mobile Tournament at Florida from February 18-20, Villanova heads to North Carolina during Spring Break and will play in the Pirate Invitational at East Carolina (February 25-27) as well as the Queen City Classic at Charlotte (March 4-6). The first of those tournaments features games against the host Pirates as well as Gardner-Webb and Fairleigh Dickinson, while the Charlotte tournament features the host 49ers who were ranked No. 63 in last year's final RPI along with Boston College and Maryland. In between the two tournaments, the Wildcats will play midweek road games against North Carolina State (March 1) and North Carolina (March 2).
 
Those games all take place before Villanova returns home to open its 17-game home slate as well as the BIG EAST regular season schedule on March 11, but there are other enticing non-conference matchups later in the season. The Wildcats host a doubleheader on March 19 against a Delaware team that finished last season at No. 27 in the RPI and narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. Villanova also plays single mid-week games at Princeton (No. 40), Drexel (No. 52) and Penn (No. 86).
 
A new wrinkle for 2022 will be a welcome change to the BIG EAST regular season schedule, as teams will play a three-game series against each conference opponent over three consecutive days rather than one doubleheader followed by a single game the next day. This season will be the first since 2014 in which the Wildcats do not play a home game until they begin conference play.
 
Villanova welcomes Butler to the Main Line for its first home and BIG EAST series from March 11-13. Other home opponents in conference play are St. John's (March 25-27), Georgetown (April 8-10) and Seton Hall (April 29-May 1). The road schedule in BIG EAST action takes the Wildcats to DePaul (April 1-3), Creighton (April 14-16), Providence (April 22-24) and Connecticut (May 6-8).
 
The top four teams in the regular season conference standings will play in the BIG EAST Championship in Rosemont, Ill. from May 11-14. The NCAA Tournament begins with regionals from May 19-22 and continues with the Super Regionals (May 26-29) and the NCAA Women's College World Series (June 2-8).