As many probably recall, I was at the Iowa State game at the Diamond Head Classic two seasons ago ('long with my homeboy, Barack!). I honestly don't think that ISU team was quite as good as the Nova squad we faced on Sunday -- not just in terms of the starting five, but the depth of the Wildcats was/is final-four material -- ISU was perhaps top-ten quality, but I think Villanova should already be somewhere around #5-8, IMHO (why are we using that??) The Cyclones had George Niang, the only remaining member still in college was probably two yrs ago already the best of the crew. He will have a good shot at the NBA. I don't think anyone else from that team is in the league. Melvin Ejim and Abdel Nader were strong wing players, but the guards were certainly not equal to Nova's -- DeAndre Kane was the only dangerous guard on their roster I think. On the other hand, VU puts Daniel Ochefu a 6-11 who can play facing or back-to-the-basket in the post -- I expect him to have an NBA career that lasst a while. And their guards -- Booth, Hart, Arcidiacono and Brunson I would put up against any team in the nation's. In fact, if there is a better freshman guard anywhere than Brunson, I can't wait to see him! I would give this year's Villanova squad a double-digit spread over the 2013 Iowa State team (which beat Akron by 22). The fact that we were able to stay as close as we did against the Cats is evidence that the Zips team has improved markedly in two years!