Don’t look now, but Villanova is back and they appear to be great again.

They flew to East Bumblefuck, Indiana last night to take on the Purdue BOILERMAKERS, who are ranked 15th in the country and look like they could be one of the best teams in Trump USA, and came away with a hard-fought win in a raucous environment. New thing: Every team in the country will be gunning for Villanova this year. I remember going to games as a student at Villanova when teams like UCLA, Pitt and even Boston College would come in and send us into a frenzy. Now the coin is flipped– Villanova is the draw, on the road, even for Big 10 schools that are used to seeing top 10 teams several times per season.

This was a HELL of a basketball game. The first half was fierce, with both teams absorbing mini runs and then countering with one of their own, capped by Purdue hitting a half-court buzzer beater to tie the game at the half. The second half was more a war of attrition, as Villanova, which will miss Daniel Ochefu (now mopping up for the Wizards) and McDonald’s All-American Omari Spellman, who was ruled ineligible for his freshman year because of a ludicrous NCAA violation, found itself in foul trouble and literally couldn’t stop Purdue big man Ivan Drago:

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But Villanova was able to win ugly, which is to be expected, and looks to be a contender again. Jalen Brunson will step into Ryan Arcidiacono’s role, Mikal SUSPENSION Bridges will emerge as a major player, Josh Hart is obscenely good, and Kris Jenkins looks like he lost 400 pounds, has a cool haircut, and will remind every Villanova fan of his game-winning shot every time he buries a deep three. Size could be an issue for Villanova, but they just beat the biggest team they’ll face all year, on the road.

Yes, Villanova is back, they’re 2-0, ranked third in the country, yada yada yada. #repeat