VILLANOVA, PA - JANUARY 13: Ryan Arcidiacono #15 of the Villanova Wildcats drives past Traci Carter #21 of the Marquette Golden Eagles on January 13, 2016 at the Pavilion in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
On Saturday, top ranked Oklahoma lost last week at Kansas State and second-ranked North Carolina lost to Notre Dame. Those games allowed the Villaova Wildcats to claim the top spot in the AP Poll for the first time in its history and the 57th team to ever be ranked number 1. “There’s still a lot of basketball left to be played and handling this will be another challenge for our team,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “We look forward to it.”
The Wildcats won against Creighton and on the road against Providence this week to finally make the jump into the top slot. Nova has been ranked second in the county seven times, with the most recent coming in last year’s final AP poll behind national champions Duke.
Villanova is led by junior guard Josh Hart, who averages 15.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, and senior guard Ryan Arcidiacono, who averages 12.5 points and 4 assists per game.
Villanova will look to avoid becoming the sixth top ranked team to lose its ranking when it travels to Chicago to face DePaul and comes back hom to face off with
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