VILLANOVA, Pa. – The 2018-19 Villanova Men's Basketball schedule was released in its entirety today, adding the 18 game BIG EAST Conference slate to the lineup of 13 non-conference contests announced in July. Among the highlights:
 
The 2018 NCAA national champions will face their two opponents from last spring's Final Four in the season's first five weeks. The Wildcats meet Michigan on Wednesday, Nov. 14 at the newly renovated Finneran Pavilion and visit historic Allen Field House for a game with Kansas on Saturday, Dec. 15. The Wildcats downed the Jayhawks 95-79 in San Antonio and then upended the Wolverines 79-62 to claim Villanova's second NCAA crown in the past three seasons.
 
In January, Villanova will host its first BIG EAST game on campus in 22 months, when DePaul visits the Finneran Pavilion on Wednesday, Jan. 2 to open conference play. The Wildcats defeated Creighton 79-63 on Feb. 25, 2017 in the final regular season contest played in the original building. Construction began in May of 2017 and the $60 million renovation is on schedule to be completed next month.
 
Other noteworthy games ticketed for the Finneran Pavilion in 2018-19 are meetings with St. John's (Jan. 9); Creighton (Feb. 6); Providence (Feb.13); Marquette (Feb. 27): Furman (Nov. 17), Temple (Dec. 5) and Saint Joseph's (Dec. 8).
 
For the 70^th consecutive season, the Wildcats will host regular season games in the city of Philadelphia. The Wells Fargo Center – which served as Villanova's primary home court in 2017-18 – will be the site of five games this season. VU will welcome BIG EAST rivals Xavier (Jan. 18); Seton Hall (Jan. 27); Georgetown (Feb.3) and Butler (March 2) to South Philadelphia while also hosting a non-conference clash with Quinnipiac there on Saturday, Nov. 10.
 
Additional schedule highlights include Philadelphia Big Five clashes at the historic Palestra against La Salle (Dec. 1/ESPN2) and Penn (Dec. 11/ESPN2); a Thanksgiving visit to Florida for the Advocare Invitational (Nov. 22-25); and a clash with former BIG EAST rival Connecticut in New York City three days before Christmas (Saturday, Dec. 22).
 
Villanova will again be featured often on national television with 21 appearances on the Fox networks (Fox, FS1); six on ESPN networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU); and four on CBS networks (CBS, CBS Sports Network).
 
The 2018-19 regular season gets underway on Tuesday, Nov. 6 against Morgan State at the Finneran Pavilion.
 
Villanova finished 2017-18 with a 36-4 record. Four of its key performers on that team – Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo and Omari Spellman – elected to forego their remaining college eligibility and were chosen in the first 33 picks of June's National Basketball Association Draft. Seniors Phil Booth and Eric Paschall will lead a youthful '18-19 edition.