We're just about two weeks away from the start of the college basketball season and the first AP Poll for the 2020-21 season has been released. Villanova landed at No. 3, behind Gonzaga and Baylor. The Wildcats received 11 of 64 first-place votes.
I want to take a moment to revisit something we've been talking about a lot recently with the release of the first KenPom rankings and Matt Norlander dropping his complete Division 1 rankings now that the official AP rankings are out, and that's Villanova's schedule. Arizona State landed at No. 18, and if the 'Cats can beat ASU to open the season they will most likely get No. 2 Baylor. In addition, Texas is ranked No. 19 and Virginia is ranked No. 4. Big East foe Creighton is No. 11. So, in the non-conference, Villanova will play at least three, potentially four, top 25 opponents and will possibly play two top 5 opponents. Regardless of what the final count ends up being, it's clear that Nova has one of the best/toughest schedules in the country, and it will be interesting to see how they navigate it.
I want to take a moment to revisit something we've been talking about a lot recently with the release of the first KenPom rankings and Matt Norlander dropping his complete Division 1 rankings now that the official AP rankings are out, and that's Villanova's schedule. Arizona State landed at No. 18, and if the 'Cats can beat ASU to open the season they will most likely get No. 2 Baylor. In addition, Texas is ranked No. 19 and Virginia is ranked No. 4. Big East foe Creighton is No. 11. So, in the non-conference, Villanova will play at least three, potentially four, top 25 opponents and will possibly play two top 5 opponents. Regardless of what the final count ends up being, it's clear that Nova has one of the best/toughest schedules in the country, and it will be interesting to see how they navigate it.