Villanova Jumps Up AP Ballots After Light Week

Villanova Men’s Basketball played just one game last week, an 87-73 home win over the banged up Providence Friars, but they still made a substantial gain in the Associated Press top 25 poll voting nonetheless.
The women’s team continued to go unrecognized, falling to No. 40 in their NET rankings despite winning both of their games. Star point guard Jasmine Bascoe landed on the Big East honor roll, however, after averaging 24.5 points and 5.5 assists in a pair of wins.

After picking up just two points in last week’s poll, good for the No. 36 spot, the men’s team (16-5, 7-3 Big East) acquired 15 points in the poll published on Monday, Feb. 2, good for No. 31. They currently hold the No 33 spot in the NET rankings, even after their home loss to Creighton fell into Quadrant 3 as a result of the Blue Jays recent struggles; KenPom places the Wildcats at No. 28.

While the climb toward the top 25 becomes harder the closer Villanova gets — they spent several weeks on the cusp of the rankings in late December and early January — their next five games provide an excellent opportunity to stack wins and solidify their place as one of the nation’s premier teams. Three of those games will come against a team that currently holds a losing record in Big East play. Creighton and Seton Hall aren’t much better, both checking in at 6-5.

Winning the games they’re supposed to win has been one of Villanova’s biggest improvements under Kevin Willard. If they do that over the next two weeks, they’ll have a tournament bid all but locked up.