College basketball rankings, week 13: Villanova drops to #4 in new poll

After an up and down week that saw the Villanova Wildcats both lose and overcome 13 point margins in the final minutes of their games, the Cats have fallen a few spots to #4 in the AP Poll. They did however manage to hold on to four first place votes and remain one of the favorites for a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Gonzaga, who remains the only undefeated team in the country, jumped up to the #1 overall spot and grabbed 46 first place votes on the way. The Big 12 continued their strong showing as Baylor (6) and Kansas (9) came in at #2 and #3, both carrying first place votes as well. Arizona continued its quick rise up the polls by coming in at #5.

The Big East’s ranked teams all suffered defeats this week, and the polls reflected it. Butler fell five spots to #16, Creighton dropped six spots down to #22, and Xavier fell out of the Top 25 completely. They now reside as the lone Big East member in the “receiving votes” category.

Villanova currently holds the longest active streek of consecutive appearances in the Top 5 of the AP Poll at 12 weeks. The Wildcats should be able to continue that streek this week as they play at Providence on Wednesday and host St. John’s at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night.