Are the Villanova Wildcats the Most Overlooked Top 5 School Ever?

After crushing Rutgers by 26 points in Piscataway, NJ last night, the Villanova Wildcats improved to17-1 overall and 6-0 in the Big East, taking over sole possession of first place thanks to Georgetown’s win at Pittsburgh.  While the meaty part of the schedule is still a few weeks away, the Wildcats continue to be impressive on the court, led by potential Big East Player of the Year Scottie Reynolds.

Villanova is the highest scoring team in the Big East, averaging 85.2 points per game and has five players averaging double-figures.  They are the best free throw shooting team in the Conference and have given up more than 75 points only five times this season.  And yet, when anyone talks about the best team in the Big East, the Wildcats seem to be pushed aside for the Syracuse Orange.  Joe Lunardi has the Orange firmly planted as a #1 seed in his Bracketology prediction, while relegating the Wildcats to a #2 seed.  While Villanova’s strength of schedule has been mediocre, at best, that hardly diminishes the product that is on the floor night-in and night-out.

Speaking of strength of schedule, many people point out that Syracuse has wins over four Top-25 teams this year, beating then-#13 Cal-Berkeley at Madison Square Garden, followed by a win on the same court a night later against then-#6 North Carolina.  However, time has shown that neither of these teams were worthy of that ranking, as Cal-Berkeley has completely dropped from the Top-25 and North Carolina isn’t far behind, losers of its last three games (and four of its last five).  Syracuse also traveled down to the University of Florida and came away with a win against the then-#10 team in the country.  How did Florida respond?  By losing five games, including home losses to Richmond and South Alabama, and dropping out of the Top-25 as well.

Syracuse did get a big road win when it beat West Virginia in Morgantown on January 16th, a 72-71 victory that saw the Orange nearly blow a ten-point lead.  But is that enough to overlook their ten-point home loss to Pittsburgh on January 2nd?

I digress…this post is not about Syracuse.

Did you know that the Villanova Wildcats are one of only five teams to be ranked in the Top-10 in every AP and ESPN/USA Today poll this season?  Kansas, Texas, Kentucky, Villanova and Duke are the only schools that can claim that statistic and with Duke’s home loss to N.C. State last night, the list could be down to four by Monday.  In addition, those four schools are the only ones who have been ranked #3 or higher this entire season.

I must mention that Kansas, Texas and Kentucky are perceived to be on a separate level from the rest of college basketball this season.  Whether this is true or not will become clearer as the weeks go on, but Villanova has proven, in the eyes of the voters at least, that it deserves to be right next to the three powerhouses.

The Wildcats still have plenty to prove this season.  The toughest part of their schedule is ahead of them and not behind, with road games at Georgetown (Saturday, February 6th), West Virginia (Monday, February 8th), Pittsburgh (Sunday, February 21st) and Syracuse (Saturday, February 27th), with scattered home games against Notre Dame, Connecticut and West Virginia throughout.  But despite its 17-1 overall record and current #4 ranking, the Wildcats might be getting better.  Senior guard/forward Reggie Redding, an integral part of last year’s Final Four team, was suspended for the first ten games of the season following a marijuana incident in the off-season and has played only eight games since returning.

Speaking of missing games, Villanova freshman big man Mouphtaou Yarou, the top-rated player within Villanova’s highly ranked freshmen class, missed eleven straight games after being diagnosed with Hepatitis B.  After initially being ruled out for the remainder of the season, Yarou was able to return and has appeared in Villanova’s last five games.  It is clear that Yarou is not in the same shape as the rest of the team, but more play this season will only improve that.  The Wildcats are constantly being derided for how guard-centric the team is, but Yarou gives them a force on the inside that will help clog the middle and allow the guards to be more aggressive on the wings.

One freshman who continues to have an impact on every game?  Point guard Maalik Wayns, who is clearly in position to become another name on the long list of prolific guards at Villanova under head coach Jay Wright.  Not to be outdone, fellow freshman Dominic Cheek is making sure people know his name, dropping 17 points in 17 minutes on Wednesday night against Rutgers.

Duke-transfer Taylor King, who sat in the front row of Villanova’s Elite Eight win against Pittsburgh last season because he was not allowed to travel with the team, has been a huge lift for the Wildcats this year, providing needed rebounding help and dagger three-pointers, including four in a 20 point outing against St. Joseph’s in a classic Big-Five game on December 9th.

And remember the jump that Dante Cunningham made last season after relative obscurity in his first three seasons?  The same thing is happening to Antonio Pena, but a year early.  Watch out for him this season and next.

Former Big East Freshman of the Year and last year’s Sixth Man Award winner Corey Fisher also continues to step up for the Wildcats, averaging 12.8 points, 4.3 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game.  With Fisher setting the table and Reynolds dominating on the offensive end, this team will continue to be a force and hopefully can gain some attention that seems to be lacking for a team that has been in the Top-5 for seven of the ten polls this year.