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The Villanova Wildcats held at #3 in today’s AP Poll after an up and down week in the Big East. The Wildcats recovered from an upset loss at Providence by sweeping their home and home series with Xavier at the Cintas Center over the weekend. They still trail behind #1 Virginia and #2 Michigan State, and will likely need those teams to lose in order to move back up the poll.
In the Big East, Xavier also remained at #4. It’s a sign of respect to both the Musketeers and Villanova by the voting members. Now if they could only find a way to move some other deserving Big East schools up the ladder. Creighton and Butler remain in the “Others Receiving Votes” category.
Villanova next plays on Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center against DePaul.
2018 AP Poll: Week 16
| Rank | School (#1 Votes) | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Rank | School (#1 Votes) | Points |
| 1 | Virginia (42) | 1,601 |
| 2 | Michigan State (19) | 1,565 |
| 3 | Villanova (4) | 1,509 |
| 4 | Xavier | 1,398 |
| 5 | Duke | 1,292 |
| 6 | Texas Tech | 1,206 |
| 6 | Gonzaga | 1,206 |
| 8 | Kansas | 1,166 |
| 9 | Purdue | 1,130 |
| 10 | North Carolina | 1,074 |
| 11 | Cincinnati | 954 |
| 12 | Auburn | 873 |
| 13 | Wichita State | 870 |
| 14 | Arizona | 831 |
| 15 | Clemson | 683 |
| 16 | Ohio State | 680 |
| 17 | Michigan | 615 |
| 18 | Rhode Island | 455 |
| 19 | Tennessee | 427 |
| 20 | Nevada | 330 |
| 21 | West Virginia | 329 |
| 22 | Saint Mary's (Cal) | 291 |
| 23 | Houston | 263 |
| 24 | Middle Tennessee | 87 |
| 25 | Florida State | 63 |
Others Receiving Votes: Baylor 52, Kentucky 33, Arizona State 32, Arkansas 23, UCLA 20, St. Bonaventure 13, Virginia Tech 12, Creighton 10, Penn State 6, Missouri 5, Kansas State 5, Texas A&M 4, TCU 4, Loyola-Chicago 2, Butler 2, East Tennessee State 1, Alabama 1, Boise State 1, Oklahoma 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 (Even), #1 in Adj. O (Even), and #42 in Adj. D (Up 6)
Sagarin: Nova is #1 overall (Even), ahead of #2 Duke and #3 Virginia
Massey: Nova is #2 overall (Even), #1 in O (Up 2), and #43 in D (Down 1)
Kendrick: I watched Scott Pilgrim vs. The World for the 3rd time this month over the weekend. Anna Kendrick plays the sister of the titular character.