VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Villanova Wildcats are one of four No. 1 seeds in the field for the 2024 National Invitation Tournament, it was announced Sunday night by the NCAA. The Wildcats (18-15 overall, 10-10 BIG EAST) open play on Wednesday night when they host VCU (22-13 overall) at 9 p.m. at Finneran Pavilion.
 
The winner of that contest advances to a Round of 16 game against the winner of another opening round matchup between No. 4 seed UCF and South Florida on March 23 or 24th.
 
Tickets for this opening round matchup go on sale Monday via villanova.com. Click the link at the top of this story for details or go to the Tickets drop-down box at the top of the villanova.com billboard..
 
The only prior matchup between the Rams and Wildcats came on Nov. 24, 2014 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Villanova posted a 77-53 victory in a Legends Classic semifinal. The 2023-24 VCU squad reached the Atlantic 10 Tournament final at Barclays Center, falling to Duquesne 57-51 Sunday.
 
This marks the Wildcats' 19^th appearance in the NIT. Villanova won the 1994 NIT title, downing Vanderbilt 80-73 in the championship game at New York's Madison Square Garden. The Wildcats also reached the NIT title game in 1965, falling to St. John's 55-51 at the "old" Madison Square Garden.
 
Liberty knocked off the Wildcats 62-57 in the 2023 NIT in Virginia.
 
This is Villanova's first home postseason game since it defeated Virginia 73-63 on March 20, 2004, at the Pavilion. It is 10-4 all-time as an NIT host (.714).
 
The NIT semifinals and finals will be held April 2 and April 4 at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.