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Nova Positioned Well in First NET Rankings

The first edition of the NCAA's NET rankings has been released, and Villanova is in solid position. The Wildcats came in at No. 5 in the metric, which plays a significant role in NCAA tournament selection/seeding. The Cats trail only Purdue, LSU, Arizona and Houston. Baylor, who Villanova plays on Sunday, is right behind the Cats at No. 6. Tennessee, which represents Villanova's best victory so far this season, is No. 11.

Some notable Big East teams include UConn (No. 13), Seton Hall (No. 21), Xavier (No. 30) and Providence (No. 37).

Bryan Antoine Update

More accurately, no Bryan Antoine update, as Jay Wright said Friday that Antoine is still "weeks" away. “Bryan seems still a ways away from getting back," Wright said. "Bringing him back gradually. He’s doing some shooting right now. Weeks at least away from getting on the court to practice."

Antoine's original timeline was supposed to about six weeks, and we were told that the ailment was not season ending, but we're at or just past that mark now and he still hasn't even returned to practice as a full participant. Something clearly seems off here, which is concerning. As is the fact that the last update on Antoine, a few weeks ago, was also "weeks away." Antoine said at media day on November 1 that that was his first day getting back on the court to do shooting, and based on today's update it appears that no progress has been made in the month that has passed.

Wright did attempt to put an optimistic note on things, saying that because Antoine is much more familiar with the Villanova system at this point, he should be able to return to game action more quickly following his return to practice than he has with previous injuries. "The good thing is he knows what we’re doing now, in the past he was coming on the court to start practice and hadn’t even done anything, at least he’s played now, he knows what we’re doing," Wright said.

Regardless, this is a disappointing and concerning update and it's fair to wonder if Antoine is looking at another lost season.
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