Led by head coach Jay Wright in his 20th year, the Wildcats played their home games at the Finneran Pavilion on the school's campus in the Philadelphia suburb of Villanova, Pennsylvania.

However, star guard Collin Gillespie suffered a season-ending MCL tear with a single game left in the regular season and were upset in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament by Georgetown.

They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Winthrop and North Texas, despite the loss of Gillespie and Justin Moore in the first round game, to advance to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to the eventual champions Baylor.

[1] The Wildcats were picked to win the Big East Conference in the coaches' poll, receiving nine first-place votes and a total of 99 points.

[4] Villanova was considered one of the favorites to win a national title after returning most of its roster from the previous season, and was ranked third in the preseason Associated Press poll.