College basketball rankings: Villanova moves up to No. 22 in AP poll

After closing out strong against the ranked Xavier Musketeers to get back on track in their lone game of the week, the Villanova Wildcats received a slight bump up in the newest AP college basketball rankings.

Villanova moved one spot up to No. 22 in the newest AP poll released Monday afternoon.

The Wildcats have a busier week ahead, as they finish Big 5 play against Temple at home on Wednesday, followed by a weekend trip to Newark to play Seton Hall. The Pirates, who were recently put on a COVID pause, are still slated to play the ‘Cats, but their previously scheduled games against Big East foes St. John’s and DePaul were postponed and a non-conference game with Iona was canceled.

The same four Big East teams are ranked, but they’ve moved around a bit. Seton Hall holds as the highest-ranked team in the conference, remaining at No. 15. Providence (21) and Villanova (22) each moved up a slot, but Xavier fell to No. 23 after losing to the ‘Cats.

UConn and Creighton are still receiving votes.

Outside of the conference, the AP top five stayed exactly the same for another week. There was some movement within the top 10, after Arizona took its first loss of the season to Tennessee. However, it wasn’t hit as hard as Alabama, who got upset by Davidson and dropped to No. 19.