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CBS Sports Graphic

Villanova won 16 of its first 20 games last season, spent November, December, January and most of February ranked in the top 10 at KenPom, and ended up winning yet another Big East regular-season title by multiple games.

They were humming along pretty well. It was impressive stuff.

But then, on March 3 against Creighton, Collin Gillespie suffered a torn MCL that ended his season and effectively removed Villanova from the list of legitimate national title contenders. After Gillespie went down, the Wildcats lost their regular-season finale to Providence and their Big East Tournament opener to Georgetown. They then got a 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament and beat two mid-majors to advance to the Sweet 16, where they lost to Baylor 62-51.

That was that.

Simply put, the injury to Gillespie derailed everything -- and now Villanova is dealing with another injury to its leading scorer. It's not season-ending or nearly as bad, but the fifth-year point guard did suffer what Villanova coach Jay Wright has called a "severe sprain" of his right ankle in Saturday's 85-74 win over UConn. He hasn't practiced since, and Wright indicated Monday that it's possible neither Gillespie nor second-leading scorer Justin Moore, who is also dealing with an ankle injury, will play Tuesday night when the Wildcats visit St. John's.

The point spread reflects this reality. Even though KenPom projects Villanova to win the game 77-69, the Wildcats are only listed as 4-point favorites over a St. John's team that's 5-6 in the Big East.

Villanova is No. 17 in Tuesday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Auburn remains No. 1 for the 28th consecutive day. Bruce Pearl's Tigers are two-point favorites at Arkansas on Tuesday night.

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Top 25 And 1 rankings

Biggest Movers
1 Houston
4 Duke
Rk
Teams
 
Chg
Rcrd
1 Auburn Auburn is 12-1 in the first two quadrants and on a 19-game winning streak. The Tigers' next game is Tuesday at Arkansas. -- 27-8
2 Gonzaga Gonzaga has won 12 straight games by double-digits since losing to Alabama. The Zags' next game is Thursday against Pacific. -- 27-7
3 Kentucky Kentucky is 7-4 in the first two quadrants with all four losses coming in Quadrant 1 games away from home. The Wildcats' next game is Tuesday at South Carolina. -- 23-10
4 Arizona Arizona is 7-2 in the first two quadrants with the losses coming at Tennessee and at UCLA. The Wildcats' next game is Thursday at Washington State. -- 27-9
5 Houston Houston's 12-game winning streak features 10 double-digit victories - among them a 22-point Quadrant 1 win at Cincinnati. The Cougars' next game is Wednesday at SMU. 1 32-4
6 Purdue Purdue is 10-3 in the first two quadrants with wins over Villanova, Ohio State and Illinois. The Boilermakers' next game is Tuesday against Illinois. 1 31-4
7 Kansas Kansas is 12-4 in the first two quadrants with the losses coming to Kentucky, Texas Tech, Texas and Dayton. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday against Oklahoma. 2 23-11
8 Baylor Baylor is 11-4 in the first two quadrants but just 4-4 in its past eight games with a 24-point loss at Kansas. The Bears' next game is Wednesday at Kansas State. 1 24-11
9 Texas Tech Texas Tech is 9-5 in the first two quadrants with all five losses coming in Quadrant 1. The Red Raiders' next game is Wednesday at Oklahoma. 1 23-11
10 Providence Providence is 10-2 in the first two quadrants with wins over Texas Tech and Wisconsin and losses to Virginia and Marquette. The Friars' next game is Saturday against DePaul. 1 21-14
11 Illinois Illinois' 9-5 record in the first two quadrants includes two losses in which All-American Kofi Cockburn did not play. The Illini's next game is Tuesday at Purdue. 1 28-8
12 Duke Duke is 7-3 in the first two quadrants with an additional loss to Virginia falling in Quadrant 3. The Blue Devils' next game is Thursday at Clemson. 4 26-8
13 UCLA UCLA is 6-3 in the first two quadrants with an additional loss to Arizona State falling in Quadrant 3. The Bruins' next game is Tuesday at Stanford. -- 16-17
14 Marquette Marquette is 8-1 in its past nine contests with two wins over Villanova. The Golden Eagles' next game is Tuesday at UConn. -- 27-9
15 Wisconsin Wisconsin is 10-4 in the first two quadrants with wins over Purdue, Houston, Ohio State and Marquette. The Badgers' next game is Tuesday at Michigan State. -- 22-14
16 Michigan St. Michigan State is 9-5 in the first two quadrants but just 3-3 in its past six games with a 21-point loss at Rutgers. The Spartans' next game is Tuesday against Wisconsin. -- 20-15
17 Villanova Villanova is 8-6 in the first two quadrants with all six losses coming in Quadrant 1. The Wildcats' next game is Tuesday at St. John's. -- 18-16
18 Texas Texas is 9-6 in the first two quadrants with wins over Kansas, Tennessee and Iowa State. The Longhorns' next game is Saturday at Baylor. 1 21-13
19 Ohio St. Ohio State is 6-5 in the first two quadrants with all five losses coming in Quadrant 1 games away from home. The Buckeyes' next game is Wednesday at Rutgers. 1 22-14
20 Tennessee Tennessee is 8-6 in the first two quadrants with all six losses coming in Quadrant 1 games away from home. The Vols' next game is Wednesday at Mississippi State. -- 26-8
21 Saint Mary's Saint Mary's is 6-4 in the first two quadrants with zero losses outside of Quadrant 1. The Gaels' next game is Tuesday at Santa Clara. -- 26-8
22 Wyoming Wyoming is 6-3 in the first two quadrants and 10-1 in its past 11 games. The Cowboys' next game is Tuesday against Utah State. -- 15-17
23 Iowa St. Iowa State is 7-7 in the first two quadrants with wins over Texas Tech, Xavier and Texas. The Cyclones' next game is Tuesday at West Virginia. -- 29-7
24 Davidson Davidson is 18-1 in its past 19 games with a win over Alabama. The Wildcats' next game is Wednesday against St. Joseph's. -- 15-17
25 Xavier Xavier is 9-5 in the first two quadrants with an additional loss to DePaul falling in Quadrant 3. The Musketeers' next game is Wednesday at Seton Hall. -- 16-18
26 UConn UConn is 5-6 in the first two quadrants with five of the six losses coming in Quadrant 1. The Huskies' next game is Tuesday against Marquette. -- 34-3