Villanova was in the top 10 of basically everybody's preseason rankings, even though it lost the top four scorers from last season's title-winning team, largely because of the return of Eric Paschall and Phil Booth — plus the enrollment of a top-10 recruiting class highlighted by Jahvon Quinerly.
But did everybody underestimate the impact of those losses?
On Wednesday night, at least, it sure seemed so — because Michigan went to Villanova, jumped the Wildcats early and recorded a 73-46 victory that was arguably even more impressive than Duke's 34-point destruction of Kentucky considering Michigan was a 6.5-point underdog that won by 27 in a true road environment. And now it's fair to wonder just how good Villanova is in its current state because, again, the Wildcats are a team that lost its top four scorers — and the recruiting class, save Saddiq Bay, has had little impact so far. Quinerly, for instance, only played eight minutes against Michigan.
To be clear, Villanova should be fine … in time. But the Wildcats are still obviously trying to figure out life without Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Omari Spellman and Donte DiVincenzo. So I dropped them to 21st in Thursday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1. And Michigan is now No. 8 because John Beilein is a wizard.
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Zion Williamson scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds in Wednesday's win over Eastern Michigan. He's taken 39 shots this season and made 32 of them. | -- | 3-1 |
| 2 |  | Udoka Azubuike got 23 points and 11 rebounds in Monday's win over Vermont. He's averaging 20.0 points and 7.0 rebounds through two games. | -- | 5-0 |
| 3 |  | Grant Williams scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Tuesday's win over Georgia Tech. The Vols are 3-0 for the second consecutive season. | -- | 4-0 |
| 4 |  | San Jose State transfer Brandon Clarke got 19 points and 13 rebounds in Saturday's win over Texas Southern. He's averaging 17.0 points and 11.0 rebounds through two games. | -- | 4-0 |
| 5 |  | Caleb Martin got 22 points, five rebounds and three assists in Friday's win over Pacific. Jordan Caroline added 16 points. | -- | 4-0 |
| 6 |  | Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome each scored 20 in Sunday's win over George Washington. The Cavaliers shot 54.5 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from 3-point range. | -- | 3-0 |
| 7 |  | Luke Maye got 16 points and eight rebounds in Monday's win over Stanford. Nassir Little added eight points and five rebounds off the bench. | -- | 2-1 |
| 8 |  | Charles Matthews finished with 19 points and four rebounds in Wednesday's win at Villanova. The Wolverines shot 50.9 percent from the field. | 12 | 3-1 |
| 9 |  | PJ Washington scored 25 points on 13 shots in Wednesday's win over North Dakota. He was 4-of-5 from 3-point range. | -- | 4-0 |
| 10 |  | Austin Wiley scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench in Wednesday's win over Mississippi College. Horace Spencer added 14 points and 17 rebounds. | -- | 4-0 |
| 11 |  | Cassius Winston finished with 23 points, five rebounds and four steals in Wednesday's win over Louisiana-Monroe. Xavier Tillman added 11 points off the bench. | -- | 4-1 |
| 12 |  | Dean Wade finished with 12 points and 16 rebounds in Monday's win over Denver. The Wildcats won despite going 6-of-27 from 3-point range. | -- | 3-1 |
| 13 |  | Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Isaiah Wilkins each scored 21 points in Friday's win over Gardner-Webb. The Hokies shot 50.8 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from 3-point range. | -- | 3-1 |
| 14 |  | Terance Mann finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds in Sunday's win at Tulane. The Seminoles shots 48.3 percent from the field. | -- | 4-1 |
| 15 |  | Quinndary Weatherspoon finished with 22 points in Sunday's win over Hartford. Tyson Carter added 14 points off the bench. | -- | 4-0 |
| 16 |  | Bol Bol finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in Friday's win over Eastern Washington. Payton Pritchard added 10 points and eight assists. | -- | 4-0 |
| 17 |  | Kris Wilkes got 17 points in Friday's win over Long Beach State. He's averaging 22.0 points and 7.0 rebounds through two games. | -- | 3-1 |
| 18 |  | Skylar Mays finished with a team-high 19 points in Tuesday's win over Memphis. Emmitt Williams added 11 points and 10 rebounds. | -- | 4-0 |
| 19 |  | Desmond Bane got 22 points and five assists in Sunday's win over Oral Roberts. He's averaging 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists through two games. | -- | 4-1 |
| 20 |  | Tyus Battle finished with 23 points, three rebounds and three assists in Saturday's win over Morehead State. The 6-6 junior was 9-of-10 from the free throw line. | 1 | 3-0 |
| 21 |  | The Wildcats only shot 31.8 percent in Wednesday's loss to Michigan. Eric Paschall was 3-of-14 from the field. | 13 | 3-3 |
| 22 |  | Bruno Fernando finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds in Monday's win over North Carolina AT&T. Aaron Wiggins added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists off the bench. | -- | 4-1 |
| 23 |  | Marcquise Reed finished with 26 points, five rebounds and three assists in Wednesday's win over Sam Houston State. The Tigers shot 53.1 percent from the field. | -- | 3-1 |
| 24 |  | Romeo Langford finished with 22 points, five rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks in Wednesday's win over Marquette. Fellow freshman Rob Phinisee added 12 points and eight assists. | -- | 3-0 |
| 25 |  | James Palmer scored 29 points in Wednesday's win over Seton Hall. Isaac Copeland added 18 points and 10 rebounds. | -- | 3-1 |
| 26 |  | Carsen Edwards got a game-high 23 points, five rebounds and five assists in Saturday's win over Ball State. He's averaging 26.5 points through two games. | -- | 4-1 |
