And the Villanova Wildcats come in at...No. 21?

While it's understandable that the 'Cats would see a bit of a drop in early rankings due to the heavy personnel losses following last season's national championship, it's nearly unheard of for a defending champion to be ranked out of the top 10 and certainly out of the top 15.

The losses of Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo, and Omari Spellman will be difficult to overcome. But Villanova still has Phil Booth, who has played on two national championship teams and would have been recognized as the hero of the 2016 title had it not ended in such spectacular fashion. Eric Paschall was a key contributor to last season's title. 'Nova has been the most successful program of the last five years in terms of wins and hardware. They have a coach who is quickly building a hall of fame resume, and bring in a top 10 recruiting class and one of the better graduate transfers on the market.

Now I'm not arguing that Villanova should be ranked No.1, or even in the top 5. But all things considered, I think that a ranking in the 8-12 range would be fair, and that they've earned the benefit of the doubt and should have to be knocked from a higher ranking rather than assuming the personnel losses would be too much to overcome.

What do you think? Is No. 21 too low? Have the 'Cats been disrespected? Do you expect the Blue Ribbon ranking to accurately reflect how the rest of the college basketball world views the 2018-19 Wildcats or will they see higher rankings from other outlets?

*Our Polls our released before AP Top 25 & Coaches Polls. They seem to make the same changes!

Below are examples of College Football Today's Pi-Charts used to show who the FANS voted "IN" or who the FANS voted "OUT". We have hundreds of write ins (many duplicates) & will be posting them shortly. The images below click to the polls and our other #CollegeFBtoday Top 25 pages. As of right now, you can rank the FBS, FCS, D2, NAIA & College FB Today's 2019 All-American recruits. With over 9,000 voters in 24 hours, we will announce weekly polls every Friday.


Learn more about how economic situations plays a roll in the AP Top 25.


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https://www.collegefootballtoday.org/fbstop25.html
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College Football Today's D1-FBS Top 25 Poll Has Been Updated.


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They make some really nice gear, however the youth favor Under Armour. Numerous big East schools have already made the switch, anyone know when our contract is up?

Canceled

at what point do you ditch the Preparation H routine and get it cut out? 3 days? 5 days?

Looking for great input here since you're all assholes. #Leno

Coach Wright talked with NCAA.com's March Madenss 365 podcast and discussed the outlook for the upcoming Big East season, the addition of Joe Cremo, and how some of the young players have looked.

You can read Andy Katz's article on the interview as well as listen to it here.

A look at the schedule for the upcoming season.

https://villanova.rivals.com/news/breaking-down-the-2018-19-schedule

https://www.collegefootballtoday.org/collegefbnews/the-ohio-state-buckeyes-travel-to-take-on-the-killer-frogs-of-tcu

Rivals' Corey Evans identified five programs that should be pleased with where they stand with the 2019 class, and Nova was one of them.

This isn't surprising, as the commitment of Bryan Antoine added an elite prospect to a very sturdy foundation in Justin Moore and Eric Dixon, and the Cats still holding an open scholarship and being heavily involved with several elite players. Villanova currently holds the third-ranked 2019 class. The success on the recruiting trail is encouraging for the future of the program, and serves to further elevate Nova's standing in the college basketball world and helps to cement them as part of the "new elite" in the sport.

https://basketballrecruiting.rivals...s-week-five-programs-that-should-be-pleased-2

HOW TO GET AROUND THE ELITE SCOUTING DATABASE IN 2018/2019
(OUR 3RD RECRUITING CLASS)


https://www.scouttrout.com/breaking-news/new-scout-trout-elite-scouting-database-by-position-class


Scout Trout Updates Week Two - Part 2!

https://www.scouttrout.com/breaking-news/scout-trout-elite-prospects-update-week-two-part-2


Scout Trout Updates Week Two Part One.

https://www.scouttrout.com/breaking-news/scout-trout-elite-student-athlete-update-week-two

Our New Database is clear and concise! Just like the over 4,000 college coaches that use Scout Trout Elite want!


https://www.scouttrout.com/scouting-database.html

FBS Top 25 is almost identical to the AP Top 25 and we released ours 2 days before them this time for week 3!


https://www.collegefootballtoday.org/collegefbnews/the-ap-top-25-vs-the-college-football-today-fbs-top-25-week-2-preview

Coach Trout Coached QB Shannon Patrick is leading the way for the Walter Payton Award!


https://www.collegefootballtoday.org/walterpayton2018.html

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Per Adam Zagoria, the Wildcats may be looking to jump into the mix for five-star forward Matthew Hurt.

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The 6-9 forward from Minnesota has interest from a wide range of top programs, as evidenced by Zagoria's tweet. It's hard to imagine Nova make much inroads at this stage of the game, but the Cats are operating under a new norm on the recruiting trail and stranger things have happened, so it's something to keep an eye on.

It appears that Villanova is out of the Nico Mannion sweepstakes. The five-star point guard dropped this tweet on Friday evening...

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Based on that, it appears Mannion has cut Duke and Villanova from his final four. Mannion was expected to visit the Main Line October 11-13, and there were reports Jay Wright would conduct an in-home visit with Mannion on Sunday. It's safe to assume that won't be happening now.

Personally, I'm particularly disappointed in this development as I have fallen in love with Mannion's game and potential fit at Villanova as I've tracked him over the summer. That being said, the sting is lessened by the fact that the Cats just landed Bryan Antoine and remain in great position with some other elite prospects to round out a 2019 class that is currently ranked #3 in the nation. Expect Nova to put the full-court press on Isaiah Stewart and potentially increase their interest in players like Scottie Lewis, Cole Anthony, and Josh Green. Bud I'd have to think Stewart rises to top priority at this point.

https://www.scouttrout.com/breaking-news/college-football-todays-2019-top-300-and-position-rankings-update-1-50

How Cursory Rule Changes & Penalties Ironically Changed the Game of Football

https://www.collegefootballtoday.org/collegefbnews/how-cursory-rule-changes-penalties-ironically-changed-the-game-of-football

Every year nearly (ALL) of these players go onto to play college football the past three recruiting classes.

https://www.scouttrout.com/scouting-database.html

In a bit of an early week surprise, five-star guard Bryan Antoine decided to forego his official visits and has committed to Villanova. Antoine was on campus for an unofficial visit last week, and it appears that that was enough for him to make his decision despite having visits scheduled to Florida, Kentucky, and Duke in addition a Nova visit. In addition to those schools, the Cats also beat out Kansas for Antoine's commitment.

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A 6-4 guard currently ranked 12th in the Rivals 150, Antoine is an above average athlete with a well-developed offensive game who possesses burgeoning playmaking abilities. He also has all the tools to be a versatile, effective defender that should fit fell with what the Wildcats like to do.

Long considered a heavy Duke lean, this is a huge get for Jay Wright and the Cats and virtually ensures a top 10 class in 2019 with room to get better as Nova remains in play for five-star players like Scottie Lewis, Nico Mannion, Isaiah Stewart, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, and Cole Anthony. The Cats went toe-to-toe with some of the most elite institutions in college basketball and emerged with their guy.

Former Villanova linebacker Austin Calitro has made the Seahawks roster, per The News Tribune beat writer Gregg Bell.

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After going undrafted in 2017, Calitro bounced around between the Jets, Seahawks, 49ers, and Browns before having a solid 2018 preseason in a return to the Seahawks that was good enough to earn him a spot on the roster.

Here's Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll discussing Calitro's play this preseason.

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Congrats to Austin and best of luck this season.

Big win for Nova as they upset Temple 19-17. An impressive 4th down scramble and pass from Zack Bednarczyk to Jarrett McClenton proved to be the decisive score, while some big plays from the defense, including a pair of late interceptions, helped the lead hold up. It was Villanova's fourth win against an FBS opponent and its third against the Owls, but the first since 2009. Basketball title game hero Donte DiVincenzo and Nova legend Jalen Brunson took in the game from the sidelines. Great start to the season for Nova.

Five-star forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, whose top-five list surprised a some people when it included Villanova, has scheduled all five of his official visits.

He will start his visits next week with Notre Dame. Next, he'll be at Villanova on September 14. From there he'll hit North Carolina on September 21, Kansas September 28, and Arizona on October 12.

While Kansas remains the heavy favorite, it looks like each finalist will get one last opportunity to make a pitch. A decision ahead of the early signing period looks very possible.

NYR up 2-0 G6

Five-star 2019 PG Cole Anthony, ranked second in the class, has released a list of 12 schools, and Villanova made the cut. The Cats are joined by a who's who of college basketball powerhouses including Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, and North Carolina. Big East rival Georgetown made the cut, while Louisville, Oregon, Wake Forest, Pitt, Notre Dame, and Miami round out the list.

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While a list of 12 doesn't represent a major move, it is significant due to the fact that Anthony's recruitment has been anomalously secretive and slow. This marks the first indication of what Anthony is thinking and that the wheels are in motion. Anthony is expected to take an unofficial visit to Nova before starting his senior year at Oak Hill Academy.

2019 five-star guard Bryan Antoine is on an unofficial visit to Nova today, giving the Cats another chance to woo the elite prospect.

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This is a great, and very important, opportunity for Wright and the staff. Antoine has an official visit to Nova scheduled for Nov. 3, however three of his four scheduled visits will take place before that (Florida 9/15, Kentucky 9/22, Duke 9/29). Kentucky and Duke have a tendency to land commitments while players are on visits, regardless of what else the player has scheduled, so today provides a key chance to make an impression and at least try to ensure that the official visit happens before a decision is made.

Per his twitter page, Isaiah Stewart (ranked 6th in class of 2019) will drop his top six schools on Friday night.

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Stewart previously cut his list to 10, with Duke, Michigan State, Indiana, Louisville, Texas, Syracuse, Washington, Georgetown,and Notre Dame joining Villanova.

Duke has long been considered the favorite, but Villanova has steadily remained among a handful of teams considered to be in legitimate contention. I would be shocked if the Cats didn't make the cut.

Just for fun I'll project the list of six: Villanova, Duke, Indiana, Syracuse, Michigan State, and Notre Dame. I would consider Georgetown a wild card with a chance to sneak into the top six.

As expected, 6th ranked 2019 prospect Isaiah Stewart dropped his top six on Friday night, and as expected, Villanova made the cut. Joining Nova is Duke, Michigan State, Indiana, Syracuse, and Washington.

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With six schools still in contention, who gets visits will be especially telling and important, and we will now wait for news on when/where his visits will take place.

The trend of Nova making the final cut for elite prospects continues, and should make for a fun few months.

The 2018-19 Villanova basketball team will have an influx of new faces, and we now know what numbers the new players will be wearing as the school has officially updated the roster.

Jahvon Quinerly will wear #1.

Brandon Slater will wear #3.

Cole Swider will wear #10.

Saddiq Bey will wear #15.

And grad transfer Joe Cremo will sport #24.

You can get a look at the full roster here.

https://www.collegefootballtoday.org/collegefbnews/michigan-wolverines-seek-revenge-against-notre-dame-michigan-wolverines-2018-preview


https://www.scouttrout.com/breaking-news/college-football-todays-64-top-300-recruit-jimmy-bates-will-be-moving-up-in-the-rankings-and-is-our-key-contributor-of-the-week


https://www.scouttrout.com/breaking-news/college-football-todays-15th-ranked-top-300-class-of-2019-58182lb-all-purpose-back-seth-johnson-stcloud-hs-fl-all-american-report