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Villanova Basketball drops to #4 in this week’s AP Poll

Xavier is now on top in the polls and the Big East standings.

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NCAA Basketball: Villanova at Creighton Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

Despite picking up their 4th loss of the season, the Villanova Wildcats remain in the AP Poll’s Top 5 this week. Now #4, the Wildcats’ streak of 16 weeks in the Top 5 is more than double the next highest team on that list (Virginia, 7 weeks).

More good news, their streak of weeks in the Top 10 is not only the longest active streak, but it’s now tied for the 20th longest streak in the history of the AP Poll. The Wildcats have been ranked in the Top 10 since January 11th, 2016. No other team has maintained an active Top 10 ranking longer than just this season.

The Big East is still projecting two #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. #3 Xavier just has to win one of its final two games to clinch at least a share of its first Big East Title. Butler, Creighton, and Seton Hall are all still just shy of the Top 25, though they did receive votes.

Villanova will play Seton Hall on Wednesday before finishing the regular season at the Wells Fargo on Saturday against Georgetown.

2018 AP Poll: Week 17

Rank School (#1 Votes) Points
Rank School (#1 Votes) Points
1 Virginia (48) 1,608
2 Michigan State (17) 1,571
3 Xavier 1,422
4 Villanova 1,416
5 Duke 1,362
6 Kansas 1,272
7 Gonzaga 1,231
8 Purdue 1,178
9 North Carolina 1,140
10 Cincinnati 1,013
11 Wichita State 945
12 Texas Tech 887
13 Ohio State 791
14 Auburn 781
15 Michigan 753
16 Tennessee 564
17 Rhode Island 558
18 Clemson 499
19 Arizona 450
20 West Virginia 429
21 Nevada 386
22 Saint Mary's (Cal) 318
23 Kentucky 174
24 Middle Tennessee 144
25 Houston 45

Others Receiving Votes: TCU 41, Butler 34, St. Bonaventure 29, NC State 28, Creighton 26, Loyola-Chicago 8, USC 7, Florida State 4, Seton Hall 3, Arkansas 3, Virginia Tech 2, Florida 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 #34 in Adj. D (Up 8)

Sagarin: Nova is #3 overall (Down 2), behind of #1 Duke and #2 Virginia

Massey: Nova is #3 overall (Down 1), #2 in O (Down 1), and #52 in D (Down 9)

Kendrick: Anna Kendrick appeared in 4 of the 5 Twilight films. I’ve seen zero of them.