NCAA Basketball: Way-too-early ranking of 2022 PK85 Invitational games

1. Iowa State vs. Villanova, PKI Bracket

A couple of years ago, Iowa State was the worst major conference team in the country. Look how far the Cyclones have come since then.

These are exciting times for the Cyclones. They burst onto the scene under T.J. Otzelberger last season and have kept collecting the victories into the offseason, despite the loss of Tyrese Hunter to a conference foe. Just recently, Iowa State brought in the highest-ranked recruit in program history.

Omaha Biliew is a year away, but Iowa State still has much to be excited about now. The roster is much different than a year ago without Hunter and Izaiah Brockington, but the transfer arrivals are strong, led by St. Bonaventure graduate transfers Osun Osunniyi and Jaren Holmes. Gabe Kalscheur is back too and there should plenty to build off of from last year.

Between these squads, Villanova is actually the one in transition. The illustrious Jay Wright era is over in Philadelphia and Kyle Neptune is tasked with keeping the train rolling, even with Collin Gillespie gone too.

The Wildcats still return a good team, one that will be expected to contend for a deep NCAA Tournament run once again. Caleb Daniels and Eric Dixon are now the veteran leaders of the squad and will be responsible for bringing along the next crop of Villanova stars, like freshman Cam Whitmore.

These two programs could be going in different directions. They could also not be. This will be the first chance to see how both of them play with altered expectations.