NCAA Basketball: 3 teams that will have to make up for a ton of lost production in 2018-19

Villanova Wildcats

The good news for Villanova is that they are defending national champions, and have won two of the last three titles. It’s hard to get much better than that. But now a major challenge stands in the way of the Wildcats. They’re losing a lot of talent, including two NBA first-round picks.

Jalen Brunson was the heart and soul of the Wildcats for three seasons and will go down as one of the all-time great Villanova players. Brunson averaged at least 24 minutes a game in each season with the Wildcats, starting at point guard for the majority of his career.

Mikal Bridges is another talented player the Wildcats will have to do without. Both Bridges and Brunson are 21 years old, experienced players and leaders on this team that will be missed.

The Wildcats have three top 50 commits, but none in the top 25. They have ranked 15th in recruiting this season, according to 247sports.com. This is a strong recruiting class without a doubt, but one would think that a Jay Wright team who has recently won two titles would even do a little bit better.

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Since Villanova clearly is not adding the quality of players that they are losing, at least at the moment, others are going to need to step up for the Wildcats to have even close to the amount of success they have had the past three seasons. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating another title, but Villanova fans shouldn’t be quite as confident moving forward.