VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova is set to play its first NCAA Tournament game since it fell to Kansas in the 2022 NCAA Final Four. The No. 8 seed Wildcats (24-8 overall, 15-5 BIG EAST) will face No. 9 seed Utah State (28-6 overall, 15-5 Mountain West) at 4:10 p.m. eastern time on Friday at Viejas Arena in San Diego.
 
TNT will carry the national television broadcast with the crew of Kevin Harlan, Robbie Hummel, Stan Van Gundy and sideline reporter Lauren Shehadi. Wildcats' fans can hear the tandem of Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby via the Villanova Sports Radio Network (Fox Sports Radio Philadelphia, IHeart app, Sirius XM channel 203 and the Tunein app).
 
This marks the second all-time meeting between the programs. The first came in the 1960 National Invitation Tournament. The Aggies prevailed 73-72 in overtime at the third iteration of Madison Square Garden (the current MSG is the fourth version of the 'World's Most Famous Arena'.)
 
The Aggies are No. 30 nationally in the advanced metrics of Ken Pomeroy at kenpom.com (+20.76) while Nova checks in at No. 33 (+19.97). Led by coach Jerrod Calhoun, Utah State most recently downed UNLV, Nevada and San Diego State in Las Vegas to claim the Mountain West tournament title.
 
MJ Collins Jr. (17.6 points per game) and Mason Falsley (16.1 ppg) lead the potent Utah State attack (82.47 ppg).
 
Villanova head coach Kevin Willard, meanwhile, has spent a good chunk of his week studying the Aggies' game tapes.
 
"This is an experienced team with physical guards," Willard said prior to a Villanova practice this week. "They play a lot of guys. It's a unique defense. It's like what we try to play but they have experienced guys who have been in it so they are really good at it. It's a very good basketball team."
 
Utah State brings size and converts a shade under 50 percent of its field goal attempts (.498).
 
"I think what's unique about them is that they're really good at getting into the paint," Willard stated. "That's why they shoot the basketball so well. We're going to have to do a good job of keeping them out of the paint. They have big, physical guards that get downhill."
 
Willard is grateful that his team will play Friday afternoon rather than in Thursday's opening round.
 
"Playing on Friday is an advantage," he said. "I think it's always a little bit tougher on the teams that play on Thursday."
 
To Willard, the approach in March is straightforward.
 
"This time of year," he stated, "I think the focus is just to play your hardest. The only two things you can focus on this time of year are defense and rebounding. The other night (against Georgetown in the Big East Tournament quarterfinal), if we had rebounded the basketball, we could have been up 13 or 14 points. We didn't rebound and that affected our offense.
 
"All we're talking about with these guys this time of year is 'let's enjoy it' and 'let's play some defense without turning the basketball over'."
 
In looking back at a 2025-26 campaign that has already produced 24 victories – the most ever by a first-year head coach in program history – Willard likes a lot of what he has seen. A balanced offensive attack includes five players who averaged between 13.7 ppg (Tyler Perkins) and 10.0 ppg (Devin Askew).
 
"It was really important to me this year to get this team back into the NCAA Tournament," Willard said.
 
Friday afternoon the Nova Nation will have its gaze upon Viejas Arena on the campus of San Diego State as the Wildcats return to one of America's most revered sporting events.