Villanova 2008-2009 Season Preview - Part 1

The Villanova 2008-2009 Season Preview will be rolled out in 5 parts, one day at a time this week, leading up to the season opener against Albany on Friday.

Rankings Reaction (11/10)

Villanova is ranked # 23 in the AP poll and # 25 in the Coaches Poll. What's interesting about this is the dispersion of the team's ranking among voters. A few voters have Nova as high as # 13, while several others have the Cats un-ranked altogether. What creates this disparity is the fact that some see a Sweet 16 team with everybody coming back, while others remember that this team lost 13 games last year and barely made the tournament. Given the two varying perceptions, you end up somewhere in the middle, which is why the Cats are ranked in the high 20's. So which is the more accurate perception? Call me a homer, but I think the team is slightly underrated. Its not that I think that Nova is a Top 10 team, its just that I don't see two dozen better teams out there. After UNC at # 1, there is not much difference between # 2 and # 25. Do the coaches really expect us to believe that UConn and Pitt are 20 spots better than Nova this year when the Cats beat both of those teams last year AND have everybody back?! I can understand Kansas getting respect given that they just won a National Championship, but that won't last long as they just lost 5 of their top 6 players. But Arizona St, Wake Forest, and Florida? All are young talented teams with everybody back just like Nova. The only difference? Nova is the only one that has tournament experience, as the other 3 teams went to the NIT last season. All of that said, I kinda like the fact that Nova is underrated to begin the season - it gives the team an opportunity to rack up some early wins out of the spotlight before being thrown on the main stage December 9th against # 7 Texas at Madison Square Garden.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/rankings