VILLANOVA, Pa. – Following up the most successful season in Villanova softball history will be no easy feat as head coach Bridget Orchard announced the team's 2025 spring schedule on Friday, featuring 13 teams that finished in the top 100 of last year's final RPI.
Off the back of the third BIG EAST championship in four years and first NCAA Regional final appearance in program history, the Wildcats will challenge themselves again with each of the four non-conference tournament hosts ranking in the top 50 of the final RPI in 2024.
The season will begin in College Station, Texas, on the campus of Texas A&M for the Aggie Classic, featuring a pair of top 20 teams in the host Aggies and Baylor as well as Abilene Christian, Purdue and Utah State.
Another difficult non-conference invitational follows when the 'Cats make a second trip in three years to Florida Atlantic for the Joan Joyce Classic against FAU, Dartmouth, Louisville and Minnesota, three of those being top 100 teams to finish out 2024.
The Clemson Classic is next up as Villanova takes a trek to South Carolina for battles with Clemson, Elon and Marshall at McWhorter Stadium.
Rounding out February and opening March is the Hokie Invite hosted by Virginia Tech at Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, the opposition including the Hokies, James Madison, Radford and a fellow Keystone State representative in the Penn State Nittany Lions.
The beginning of the BIG EAST campaign provides difficulty as the Wildcats host Connecticut for the conference opening weekend from March 7-9 before a rematch with the league runner-up Creighton Bluejays comes a week later at the Villanova Softball Complex.
VU is on the road for the remainder of March at Saint Joseph's, Georgetown (March 21-23) and Seton Hall (March 28-30). Villanova returns home after that for a Wednesday bout with the Penn Quakers and then ships up to Massachusetts for April bouts against Boston College and Army.
A home series with DePaul follows a midweek Drexel contest, then VU rounds out April with weekend trips to Butler and St. John's surrounded by the final three non-conference bouts opposite Delaware, Towson and Lehigh.
The final regular season series is set for the Main Line when the Providence Friars come to town to round out the calendar.
Villanova will host this year's BIG EAST Championship at the VU Softball Complex from May 7-10 with the league's top six squads contending for a spot at NCAA Regionals and beyond.
This Year's Opponents in Top 100 of 2024 Final RPI
Texas A&M (13)
Baylor (16)
Virginia Tech (20)
Clemson (23)
Penn State (38)
Florida Atlantic (44)
Louisville (53)
James Madison (69)
Boston College (73)
Minnesota (76)
Purdue (91)
Delaware (95)
Connecticut (98)
BIG EAST Teams by 2024 Final RPI
Villanova (79)
Connecticut (98)
Creighton (105)
Providence (145)
Seton Hall (149)
St. John's (173)
Butler (224)
Georgetown (262)
DePaul (267)
