College Basketball Rankings, Week 15: AP Top 25 includes 3 BIG EAST teams, Villanova still tops the poll

The Villanova Wildcats are still the top cats in this week's AP Top 25.

'Nova finished the week with 44 first-place votes, besting the soaring Kansas Jayhawks who received 21 of their own this week. The Wildcats will now enter their second week ever as the No. 1 team in the AP poll, continuing on a terrific 2015-16 campaign.

Down past the Oklahoma Sooners, Iowa Hawkeyes, North Carolina Tar Heels, Maryland Terrapins and Virginia Cavaliers are the Xavier Musketeers. The Musketeers, following a 1-1 performance last week with a loss to Creighton and a win over Butler, slip down to the No. 8 spot after being at No. 5 last week. X shares the No. 8 spot with the Michigan State Spartans of the Big Ten Conference.

The Providence Friars meanwhile are skating on some thin ice. Losers of four of their last six, including a loss to Marquette this past week the Friars fell to No. 23 in the Top 25. Providence was able to salvage their week, like Xavier, with a victory on Saturday against the Georgetown Hoyas but trouble is certainly looming for them.

AP Top 25