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?
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?
