Big East Basketball Rankings: Villanova rising, Creighton struggling

VILLANOVA, PA - NOVEMBER 06: Jermaine Samuels #23, Phil Booth #5, Eric Paschall #4, Collin Gillespie #2, and Dylan Painter #42 of the Villanova Wildcats huddle prior to the game against the Morgan State Bears at Finneran Pavilion on November 6, 2018 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The Wildcats defeated the Bears 100-77. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

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VILLANOVA, PA – DECEMBER 05: Villanova Wildcats celebrate (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

The only undefeated team left in the conference, Villanova is starting to realize its potential as one of the best teams in the nation. Sure, the Wildcats might never reach the top-10 ranking that they had to begin the season but they recently returned to the top-25 and have emerged as one of the favorites in the conference. Since losing back-to-back road games to Penn and Kansas last month, Villanova has won five consecutive games and only two of them have been at home.

Senior leaders Phil Booth and Eric Paschall have been the clear leaders of this team but nobody should overlook the talent on the rest of the roster. Villanova’s supporting cast might not post great numbers but just about everyone can step up for a big game on any given night. Most notably, sophomore guard Collin Gillespie has emerged as a legit double-digit per game scorer in the nation.

Thanks to strong rankings in just about every predictive metric, Villanova is in great shape not only with regards to making the NCAA Tournament but also securing a reasonably high seed. The Wildcats look to be well on their way to a seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament bid and definitely look like a rising team at this point in time.

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