Villanova rises in polls after Cincy win

Villanova used a furious second-half effort to soundly defeat Cincinnati on Sunday, and the Wildcats were rewarded with a boost in the national top-25 polls.

The new ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll rates Villanova at #16, and the updated AP poll ranks the 'Cats at #17.

Next up for Villanova is a road game with a hot Providence team on Wednesday.

Ha, ha, ha: AP ranks 'Nova #23

And the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll ranks Villanova at #22.

Both these rankings come after a week when the Wildcats needed overtime to beat a bad Seton Hall team and then lost at home to Louisville, which shot 3-25 from the three-point line.

I guess the AP voters and coaches are also not subtracting much for the residual effect of Marquette's complete domination of Villanova last week, dropping Villanova's record in the last three games to 1-2.

Villanova remains without a win over a likely NCAA tournament team, and now is 0-3 against any team with a pulse.

The Wildcats do have some talent, but there is no way this team is top-25 right now. I would predict this is the last week Villanova will be ranked, but the only game this week is at the Pavilion against St. John's.

Even I am not delusional enough to think that Jay Wright could lose at home to St. John's.

Could he?

'Nova climbs in the polls

The new AP and ESPN/coaches' polls are out, and Villanova's ranking rose in both.

The Associated Press voters slotted Villanova as the 20th best team in the country, up from #23.

ESPN and USA Today's poll of college basketball coaches saw Villanova rise from #23 to 22nd in the nation.

Let's Go Nova uses the AP poll for its rankings.

Villanova will play 0-2 Monmouth tomorrow in a game that should have little impact on the polls, unless Monmouth pulls off the upset of the year.

Poll: Hoops Mania

Villanova's annual Hoops Mania pep rally is set for Oct. 24 at the Pavilion. If you've never experienced this Villanova basketball tradition, check out last year's coverage of Hoops Mania 2007.

This year, Let's Go Nova will be doing some live micro-blogging from the Pavilion for the rally and the intra-squad scrimmage. Until then, we just have the anticipation of the year's most boisterous Villanova love-fest.

This week's poll asks for your favorite aspect of Hoops Mania. You may vote in the Flash poll below, or in the Javascript sidebar on any Let's Go Nova page.

Friday poll: starting lineup

This week's poll asks you to pick your preferred starting lineup for 2008-2009. Please choose exactly five players in the poll below. At the end of the week, we will list the top five vote-getters. This is not exactly scientific, but enjoy.

Friday poll: game attendance

This week's poll asks how many Villanova games (home and away) you plan to attend this upcoming season.

You may vote in the Flash poll below, or in the right sidebar on any Let's Go Nova page.

Friday poll: Who don't you like?

If you're at this site, Villanova might be your favorite college basketball team. This week's poll asks which team you like the least.

Do you dislike one of Villanova's Big East rivals like Georgetown, Syracuse, or Pitt? Maybe you can't stand Coach K's Duke or John Calipari's Memphis. Or maybe you reserve your bile and vitriol for the Holy War against St. Joseph's in the Big 5.

Whichever team you dislike the most, vote in the Flash poll below or in the right sidebar on any Let's Go Nova page. Feel free to explain your choice in the comments section of this thread.

Last week's poll dealt with reader demographics. The largest voting group in this poll were people who attended Villanova in the 2000s, at 27 percent. The second biggest group (24 percent) attended Villanova in the 1980s or earlier, so apparently there is now Internet access at the old folks home. One in five voters is currently a Villanova student, and 14 percent of voters didn't attend Villanova.



Check back next Friday for this week's results and a new question.

Friday poll: who are you?

Who the heck are you people? I'm not sure I want to know.

This week's poll asks about your Villanova background. If your Villanova attendance spans two decades, just pick the decade you liked best.

You may vote in the Flash poll below, or in the right sidebar on any Let's Go Nova page.

Last week's poll asked you to predict how far Villanova will advance in the 2008-2009 postseason. After 111 votes, everyone agreed that Villanova would be playing after the season, and 99.1 percent of voters believed it would be in the NCAA tournament.



109 of the 111 voters thought Villanova would win at least one game in the NCAAs this season. The plurality (41 percent) said Villanova would win three games before bowing out in the Elite Eight. A Sweet Sixteen exit came in second with 34 percent.

Friday poll: 2008-2009 postseason

With everyone back except the transferred Malcolm Grant, the Villanova Wildcats look primed to make a run at the top 25 this season.

In this week's edition of the Let's Go Nova Friday poll, we ask just how far Villanova will advance in the 2008-2009 postseason.

You may vote in the Flash poll below, or in the right sidebar on any Let's Go Nova page.

Last week's poll asked about your favorite player on the team for the upcoming season. After 184 votes, Scottie Reynolds emerged the winner by the narrowest of margins, edging Dante Cunningham by a tally of 38 to 37. Sharpshooter Corey Stokes was third with 30 votes.



As always, you may comment on the poll in this thread, and check back next Friday for the results and a new question.

Friday poll: favorite player

Three cheers for the groundbreaking new feature here at Let's Go Nova, a new poll every Friday. Each week, we will give you a new poll question, and mention the previous week's poll results.

Please vote in the poll on the right sidebar on any Let's Go Nova page or in the flash poll below.

Feel free to discuss this week's poll or last week's results in this thread.

July 11 poll: Who is your favorite player on the team this upcoming season?

Last week's poll asked which Big East home game you were most excited about for next year. As expected, Villanova's top rival Georgetown ran away with the contest, notching 39 of 64 votes for a filibuster-proof 61 percent. Louisville and Pitt tied for second with 8 votes each, and Syracuse was the fourth-most-anticipated home game.



Check back next Friday for this week's results and the next poll.

Villanova drops from rankings

Villanova fell completely out of the college basketball top 25 rankings this week in both the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll and the Associated Press media poll.

The Wildcats had been ranked #18 in both polls last week.

I was wrong when I predicted Villanova would not receive any votes. Villanova finished the equivalent of 36th in the AP poll and 32nd in the coaches' survey.

'Nova up to #18 in both polls

Villanova gained significant ground in both major college basketball top 25 polls this week.

After notching wins over DePaul and Syracuse, Villanova is now ranked #18 in both the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll and the Associated Press writers' poll.

Villanova moved up three spots in the coaches' survey, from #21 to #18.

The Wildcats got an even bigger jump in the media poll, rising all the way to #18 from #25. Villanova is tied with #12 Texas for the largest leap in this week's poll, seven spots.

Several teams in the top 25 lost this week, including previous #1 North Carolina and previous #4 UCLA. Memphis is now atop both polls, with undefeated Kansas at number two.

'Nova still ranked after loss

Even after going 0-1 last week with a defeat to a Cincinnati team with a losing record, Villanova did not fall out of the national college basketball top 25 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll.

Villanova fell to #21 in the coaches' poll, down from #17 last week.

The rankings from the Associated Press poll of sportswriters are not yet available, but that didn't stop CBS SportsLine from incorrectly publishing last week's poll as current. (Note the misleading update time of "01/14/2008" at 13:01 EST.")

Update: As GreyCat mentioned in the comments, Villanova dropped all the way to #25 in the AP poll.

I know every year people speak of parity in college sports, but this season there seems to be a large class of teams who are good but not great. Villanova appears to fall in this group.

Other than the dominating Memphis, UNC, Kansas, and UCLA teams, the college basketball pecking order seems especially up for grabs this season after the first two weeks of conference play.

'Nova remains in top 20

There was a lot of speculation yesterday and this morning as to where Villanova would be ranked in the two major college basketball polls.

Last week, Villanova went 1-1, with a bad loss at DePaul, a team with a losing record, and a solid home win over a top-15 team in Pittsburgh.

The Wildcats have basically treaded water in both polls. In the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll, Villanova checks in at #17, down one spot from #16 last week.

Villanova has secured the #19 spot in the AP media poll, down from #17 last week.

Without the win against Pitt, Villanova would likely have fallen out of the top 25 entirely.

Only Georgetown and Marquette rank ahead of the Wildcats in the polls. Pitt is one spot behind Villanova in each poll. No other Big East team is represented in either top 25.

Villanova rises in polls

I haven't spent a lot of time this year worrying about Villanova's rank in the ESPN/ USA Today coaches' poll and Associated Press poll, mainly because early-season rankings are fairly meaningless.

With conference play fast approaching, however, and fall-semester finals underway, now seems as good a time as any to take notice of the rankings.

The new ESPN/ USA Today coaches' poll ranks Villanova 16th. Villanova is at the 20th spot in the updated AP media poll.

Fellow Big East members Georgetown, Pitt, and Marquette are ahead of the Wildcats in both polls.

Should Villanova win its next four games (Columbia, La Salle, Depaul, and Pitt), the Wildcats will easily crack the top 10 or higher.