If, and this is a reluctant if, if Villanova is an NCAA tournament team again in 2016, then losing at home to the Wildcats on Saturday evening is not that big of a deal. The Wildcats occupy the #49 slot in the NCAA’s freshly released RPI (Marquette is #44, Creighton is #29), so at least for now, their postseason future remains cloudy.
If Villanova is not an NCAA tournament team, then Marquette wasted a prime opportunity to stay as close to Creighton as possible in the league standings. The Jays are riding high on the league table at 4-0, and if the Big East tournament started today, Marquette would be left out in the cold, as they’re currently in a three way tie for fifth place.