City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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After dismantling Xavier and topping Creighton to start the Big East season 2-0, Villanova moved up to No. 11 in this week’s AP poll, moving up five spots.

The Wildcats, which beat previously sixth-ranked Xavier by 31 on New Year’s Eve, are still one spot behind the Musketeers in the poll, however. St. Joseph’s, which improved to 11-2 in the last week, received three votes in this week’s poll, good for a tie for 35th in the country.

Villanova – which is ranked 13th in this week’s coaches poll -- is one of four Big East teams ranked in the AP top 25. The Wildcats are joined by Providence (No. 8), Xavier (No. 10) and Butler (No. 18). Jay Wright’s team has a tough week ahead as it hosts Seton Hall – which got four votes in the poll – on Wednesday and then travels to square off with Butler on Sunday.

Meanwhile, St. Joe’s received the third most votes of any Atlantic 10 team. The Hawks were behind 25th-ranked Dayton and George Washington, which had 38 votes. The full poll can be found here.