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Monday Overreactions: Michigan’s elite, Jay Wright on the hotseat, and weekly awards

Morgan State v Villanova

VILLANOVA, PA - NOVEMBER 06: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats looks on against the Morgan State Bears at Finneran Pavilion on November 6, 2018 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: LaGerald Vick, Kansas

No one in college basketball shot the ball the way that Vick did last week. He went for 32 points in a win over Vermont and set a record by hitting all eight of the threes that he shot. Making that performance all-the-more impressive is that he also made two jumpers with his toes on the three-point line; he was six inches away from going 10-for-10 from three.

Vick then followed that up with a 33 point performance in a win over Louisiana, leading the Jayhawks back from a 12 point first half deficit with another seven threes. This time, however, he shot just 7-for-12. He finished the week 15-for-20 from beyond the arc.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Michigan Wolverines

What else is there to say about the Wolverines at this point?

They are an elite defense, absolutely dominant at times, that can play big -- with Jon Teske at the five -- and matchup with teams that want to play small -- using Iggy Brazdeikis and Isaiah Livers at the four and the five. There are still some kinks they are going to have to work out on the offensive end of the floor, as they ended the week ranked 149th in raw offensively efficiency, according to KenPom, but if there is anyone that can figure out how to make an OK team capable of scoring, it’s John Beilein.

MONDAY’S OVERREACTIONS

1. THE BIG TEN IS THE DEEPEST CONFERENCE IN THE COUNTRY

It’s hard to overstate just how good the Big Ten, as a whole, has been this season, which is a stark contrast from the way that we viewed this league entering the year.

Through the first two weeks of the season, the conference has suffered a grand total of just six losses. That’s the same number as the ACC. The Big 12, which has four fewer teams and has not yet played their conference challenge, has four total losses. Three of the Big Ten’s six losses have come against teams that are all-but destined to finish at the bottom of the conference. Michigan State lost to then-No. 1 Kansas in the Champions Classic, Purdue lost to No. 16 Virginia Tech in the finals of the Charleston Classic and Indiana lost by a point at Arkansas in a game where they missed two layups in the final five seconds that could have won the game.

As of today, there are eight teams that are in the mix for a spot in the top 25 and two more that could end up being tournament teams by the time it is all said and done.

The Spartans are just as good as advertised, while Michigan has climbed to the top of every Big Ten power ranking after their tremendous start to the season. Ohio State has won at Cincinnati and at Creighton. Wisconsin won at Xavier as Ethan Happ suddenly looks like the dominant force we have expected him to be all year long. Indiana blew out Marquette at home before the Arkansas loss. Purdue has looked better than expected even with the loss to Virginia Tech. Nebraska blew out Seton Hall. Iowa rolled over both Oregon and UConn in the 2K Classic.

Even Maryland and Minnesota have looked good through the first two weeks.

Who predicted that the Big Ten could end up with more NCAA tournament bids than any other league in the sport?

Michigan v Villanova

VILLANOVA, PA - NOVEMBER 14: Charles Matthews #1 of the Michigan Wolverines reacts in the first half against the Villanova Wildcats at Finneran Pavilion on November 14, 2018 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

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2. THERE IS NOT A TOP 25 TEAM IN THE BIG EAST

As good as the Big Ten has been, the Big East has been just as bad.

What’s the best win that a team in the league has this season? Is it Butler’s home win over Ole Miss? Providence beating South Carolina in Uncasville? St. John’s winning at Rutgers? Georgetown winning at Illinois? Or beating South Florida in Jamaica? What about DePaul’s home win over Penn State? Might that be it?

I haven’t even gotten to the losses yet. The reason Georgetown played South Florida in Jamaica was because they lost to Loyola Marymount in the opening of a four-team tournament. Providence already has losses to Wichita State and Michigan, who man-handled the Friars. Those same Wolverines humiliated Villanova in Finneran Pavilion just three days before the Wildcats lost in the same building to Furman. They went just 3-7 in the Gavitt Games, and that didn’t include Seton Hall’s home loss to Saint Louis.

The league has certainly had better starts.

3. JAY WRIGHT IS ON THE HOT SEAT

I do not know if that ails Villanova right now is entirely fixable this year. I’ve talked about this over and over again, but the fact of the matter is that Villanova is a program that relies on their culture. They bring in good players and let them marinate a year or two within the culture that Jay Wright has built before unleashing them on the unsuspecting world of college basketball.

But since Wright worked his magic too quickly with Donte DiVincenzo and Omari Spellman, he’s left himself with too many youngsters and not enough veterans to plug those holes. After getting mollywhopped by Michigan, Wright did not play five-star freshman Jahvon Quinerly for a single second in a home loss to Furman. Brandon Slater did not play, either, while Saddiq Bey and Cole Swider combined for 17 minutes in the overtime loss.

It is far from uncommon for Wright to limit the minutes of freshmen that don’t understand what he is asking from them, but I can’t help but wonder if maybe this year -- in a season where he needs that youth to be experienced as quickly as humanly possible -- he might be better off throwing them to the wolves early and often.

Hell, it’s not like things can be worse than a 27 point home loss to Michigan or an overtime loss to Furman, right?

And for the record, Jay Wright isn’t actually on the hot seat. He’ll never be on the hot seat at Villanova, not before holograms are living creatures and I can write this column while vacationing on the moon.

4. VIRGINIA TECH IS REAL FINAL FOUR THREAT

The Hokies are not going to go anywhere this season, as it looks like Buzz Williams has the most talented group he’s had to date in Blacksburg. Nickeil Alexander-Walker was absolutely sensational during their run to the Charleston Classic title, and Justin Robinson and Ahmed Hill were just as impressive as they were last season.

The top of the ACC is no joke. Duke is Duke, Virginia looks like a juggernaut once against and North Carolina is impressively underrated. I don’t think Virginia Tech is in that group just yet, but they aren’t all that far away.

5. BOL BOL AND MOSES BROWN ARE THE MOST UNDERRATED FRESHMEN IN THE COUNTRY

Bol Bol and Moses Brown are two of the most polarizing prospects in the Class of 2018, and they also happen to be the two-best seven-footers in the class.

Those question marks are a product of the same root problem: motor. Bol Bol’s motor runs hot and cold. There are times where he is, unquestionably, the best player on the floor, a 7-foot-2 unicorn with length, perimeter skill and a soft touch that belies his size. He can be an utterly dominant defensive force when he wants to be. Last week, we saw it, as he went for 26 points, nine boards and four blocks against Syracuse.

Moses Brown has some of the same question marks, and his production has been elite through three games: 19.7 points, 13.7 boards and 4.0 blocks. It will be worth tracking them as the season moves on, but the early returns have been impressive.