Look at who Villanova played. UCLA, Purdue, Tennessee, Baylor and Xavier were all ranked. 3 Top 5 and a Top 20 plus Xavier at 23. How many wins would we have with that schedule?
As a side note, it’s kinda sad to see the NEWBIE fan boys all excited to have 4 teams in the top 25 when none are in the top 10 and 3 are below 20. In Big East days, folks would be asking what’s wrong with the Big East?
Your side note is more of a reflection on the AP voters who clearly are not paying much attention than it is a reflection on the Big East. Look at the resumes of Houston, Auburn, Kansas, USC, UCLA, and some others and tell me how they're better than any of the Big East's ranked teams. They play easy schedules and have minimal good wins (less than our Big East teams).
USC's best win is Washington st. Texas is ranked higher than all but one Big East team despite their best win being STANFORD!
I mean, come on... Providence has more top 50 NET wins than Houston, USC, UCLA, Auburn, and Kansas COMBINED.