NCAA Basketball: Michigan rises, Villanova disappears in latest AP poll

3. No more ‘Nova

It’s been awhile since we’ve seen such a crushing week for the defending national champs.

Villanova entered the week ranked No. 8 in the AP poll, rolling early in the season despite undergoing substantial changes from last year’s title-winning squad.

The house of cards came crashing down in just a few short days.

First, the Wildcats played host to last year’s runner-up, the Wolverines. Villanova treated them like mincemeat last April, but Michigan had the last laugh in the rematch, trouncing Villanova by 27 points. It was the worst loss for the Wildcats in almost five years.

That alone might’ve been enough to knock Villanova out of the Top 25.

Then Furman came to town and upset the Wildcats in overtime, handing them a second consecutive loss. Suddenly, the reopened William B. Finneran Pavilion was looking like a haunted house, rather than a hallowed home for Villanova.

Furman is not a bad team. They’ve already defeated Loyola-Chicago and garnered significant support to make the Top 25 this week.

In fact, there was a miscarriage of justice when the Wildcats received three more votes in the poll than the Paladins, who just defeated their hosts convincingly.

Nevertheless, Villanova can’t be losing those games at home.

The Wildcats are only a few spots out of the rankings and could sneak back in there as soon as next week, pending a good performance in the AdvoCare Invitational.

But these are not your older brother’s Wildcats. That much is perfectly clear.