Villanova Basketball Drops To #3 In The AP Poll

The Villanova Wildcats fell to #3 in the AP Poll after losing to St. John’s at home last week. The top of the polls were a bit in flux this week as the Top 3 teams all lost at home. Despite missing two starters, the St. John’s loss was apparently more egregious than Virginia’s home loss to Virginia Tech, and so the Wildcats were prevented from extending their run at #1.

Despite the drop, Villanova’s resume continues to look better as the season goes on. They now hold wins over two teams ranked in the Top 10, three teams in the Top 25, and five teams with Top 25 votes.

The Big East remains in contention to snag two #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, with Villanova and Xavier being ranked 2nd and 3rd overall in the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s preliminary rankings. In the AP Poll, Xavier moved up to #4, setting up a Top 5 showdown this weekend in a game that could end up determining the Big East Regular Season Champion. Creighton and Butler also appear in the “Others Receiving Votes” category.

Villanova will start the toughest stretch of their season on Wednesday when they head to Providence.

Others Receiving Votes: New Mexico State 66, Florida 48, Creighton 44, Butler 43, Virginia Tech 29, Middle Tennessee 26, Alabama 22, Houston 16, Nebraska 15, Missouri 14, Miami 10, Kentucky 8, TCU 8, East Tennessee State 5, Oklahoma State 4, St. Bonaventure 3, Louisville 2, Florida State 1, Vermont 1

Additional Polling Data

Some would argue these “experts” are more important than the AP Poll. Movement from last week is in parenthesis:

KenPom: Nova is #2 overall (Down 1), #1 in Adj. O (Even), and #48 in Adj. D (Down 6)

Sagarin: Nova is #1 overall (Even), ahead of #2 Virginia and #3 Purdue

Massey: Nova is #2 overall (Even), #3 in O (Even), and #42 in D (Down 15)

Kendrick: Anna Kendrick’s 3rd starring role in a movie was “Natalie Keener” in the 2009 film Up In The Air.