VILLANOVA, Pa. – It wasn't long after the final buzzer sounded on Villanova's 90-63 victory over Penn sounded before head coach Kevin Willard was asked about what looms next for his Wildcats, winners of seven straight (7-1).
 
A postgame question to Willard from the Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff Neiburg referenced the coach "knowing what you're looking at" as the Wildcats have been at work over the past month.
 
"I know what I'm looking at," Willard said, "I'm looking at Michigan. I don't think anybody wants to look at Michigan right now, to be perfectly honest with you."
 
The 8-0 Wolverines have constructed as good a start to the 2025-26 season as any team in America. Michigan has a 28 points per game average margin of victory, including a 101-60 triumph in its Big Ten opener Saturday against Rutgers. At the Players Era event in Las Vegas prior to Thanksgiving, it posted wins over San Diego State (94-54), No. 21 Auburn (102-72) and No. 12 Gonzaga 101-61 on the way to the tournament title.
 
"We have a big test Tuesday," Willard stated. "They are playing by far the best basketball in the country."
 
Villanova holds a 4-2 series advantage over the Wolverines. Five of the six prior meetings have taken place on a neutral court, including three in the NCAA Tournament (1985, 2018 and 2022). Three of Villanova's trips to the NCAA Final Four have included a matchup with Michigan.
 
This will be the Wildcats' first appearance at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, which sits in the shadow of Michigan Stadium, a.k.a. "the Big House". Jason Benetti and Bill Raftery will have the call on FS1. Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby will be on site to describe the action on the Villanova Sports Radio Network on IHeart (Sirius XM channel 380).
 
Villanova has used the five weeks since its most recent encounter with a Top 10 squad – a 71-66 loss to BYU in the season opener in Las Vegas – to get healthy and allow a first year coach and multiple new roster pieces to build chemistry.
 
"We'll definitely set the schedule up a little bit differently next year," Willard said. "We'll just have a little bit more balance on it.
 
"I think being at home has been good for this team. We've been able to get a little bit of rhythm practice-wise. We were at La Salle and played Penn (at Xfinity Mobile Arena). Not traveling gives you some extra time."
 
Renewed health over the last few weeks has helped. Center Duke Brennan suffered a right ankle sprain in the win over La Salle on Nov. 19 and missed the following contest, vs. Old Dominion. He was back in the starting lineup against Temple last Monday night and on Saturday was named Most Valuable Player of the Big Five Classic after posting a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds).
 
On Monday he was named to the BIG EAST weekly honor roll and Big Five Player of the Week.
 
Graduate transfer guard Devin Askew has rounded into form after missing most of September and October with a sprained knee. A Sacramento, Cal., native, he supplied 17 points off the bench in the win over the Quakers. That highlighted a 30-point effort from the Wildcats' reserves in that game.
 
Three games, including this one, remain on Villanova's non-conference slate. On Saturday the Wildcats host former BIG EAST rival Pittsburgh at 4:30 p.m. at Finneran Pavilion (TNT, TruTV, Villanova Sports Radio Network on IHeart). On Dec. 19, they'll battle another Big Ten team in its home state when they meet Wisconsin in Milwaukee (8 p.m., Fox and the Villanova Sports Radio Network).
 
The Wildcats open BIG EAST play on Dec. 23 at Seton Hall.