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The Villanova Wildcats continue to rise back up the polls this week as their eight game winning streak has earned them the #14 spot in the AP Poll. This is Nova’s sixth consecutive season rattling off eight straight wins. It’s also the fourth time in five seasons that Jay Wright’s team has won seven consecutive Big East games. The record for the most wins to start Big East play under Jay Wright is ten back in 2006.
Villanova’s eight game winning streak is the 4th longest among the major conferences, behind Tennessee (14), LSU (9), and Washington (9). That streak could reach double digits as Villanova will be favored in both of their games this week. KenPom.com is currently giving the Wildcats a 61% chance to go 2-0 this week and stretch the streak to 10 wins.
Marquette remains ahead of the Wildcats in the rankings at #10 and are the only other ranked Big East team. In fact, no other Big East team is receiving votes. Of note though, Hofstra is up to 9 Points in the latest poll which ranks them “33rd”.
Villanova next plays at DePaul on Wednesday at 8:00 PM ET.
2018-19 AP Poll: Week 13
| RK | Team (#1 Votes) | PTS |
|---|---|---|
| RK | Team (#1 Votes) | PTS |
| 1 | Tennessee (48) | 1575 |
| 2 | Duke (12) | 1527 |
| 3 | Virginia (4) | 1473 |
| 4 | Gonzaga | 1382 |
| 5 | Michigan | 1381 |
| 6 | Michigan State | 1235 |
| 7 | Kentucky | 1226 |
| 8 | Nevada | 1158 |
| 9 | North Carolina | 1065 |
| 10 | Marquette | 973 |
| 11 | Kansas | 972 |
| 12 | Virginia Tech | 858 |
| 13 | Houston | 795 |
| 14 | Villanova | 734 |
| 15 | Louisville | 658 |
| 16 | Texas Tech | 561 |
| 17 | Purdue | 532 |
| 18 | Buffalo | 468 |
| 19 | LSU | 435 |
| 20 | Iowa State | 327 |
| 21 | Maryland | 280 |
| 22 | Mississippi State | 236 |
| 23 | NC State | 203 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | 179 |
| 25 | Florida State | 141 |
Others Receiving Votes: Auburn 85, Cincinnati 76, Washington 75, Kansas State 73, Oklahoma 41, Iowa 28, Wofford 10, Hofstra 9, TCU 7, Ole Miss 7, Nebraska 6, Davidson 5, Syracuse 3, Minnesota 1
Polling History
Some interesting Villanova AP Poll facts from College Poll Archive and College Poll Tracker:
- It’s Villanova’s 377th ranking in the AP Poll (18th All-Time, 1 behind #17 Notre Dame)
- It’s Villanova’s 3rd consecutive week in the AP Poll (Tied for 18th longest active streak)
- The only AP voter to rank Villanova all season has been Jeff Call
Additional Polling Data
Some would argue these “experts” are more relevant than the AP Poll.
KenPom: Nova is 20th overall, 9th in Adj. Offense, and 81st in Adj. Defense
Sagarin: Nova is 12th overall, 12th in Predictive, 10th in Golden Mean, and 9th in Recent
Massey: Nova is 13th overall, 15th in Power Rating, 39th in Offense, and 16th in Defense
NET: Nova is 21st overall, previously 23rd.
Kendrick: Here are #14 of Anna Kendrick’s funniest tweets. Girl’s hilarious.
And if you’re looking for another set of rankings to care about, try reading Rankings 101.