PHILADELPHIA — The “R” word — rebuilding — was being tossed around. The Big East was supposedly wide open. Back-to-back home losses to Michigan and Furman, followed three weeks later by another defeat in its own building to Penn, led most experts to dismiss Villanova.

It was understandable. The Wildcats saw their four top players — Mikal Bridges, Omari Spellman, Donte DiVincenzo and Jalen Brunson — leave, drafted in the first round or close to it. There was no shame in the defending national champions taking a major step back. Most programs would.

Villanova, though, is not most programs. The past six weeks are all the evidence needed. Jay Wright’s team, after Sunday’s 80-52 emasculation of Seton Hall, is undefeated in the Big East, winners of eight straight games, all alone atop the league.

It is becoming the Duke of the northeast, a program that perennially reloads, that wins no matter the departures.

“They might become better than that,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said, and that’s a scary proposition for the rest of the league.

Wright is now recruiting at an elite level — he has two McDonald’s All-Americans, Bryan Antoine and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, coming in next year — matching his program’s developmental prowess. He has two seniors, Phil Booth and Eric Paschall, who have gone from supporting pieces to stars, following in the footsteps of players like Bridges and Brunson who were able to go from role players to leading men. His young players, like Collin Gillespie, Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree and Sadiq Bey, are developing.

These 18th-ranked Wildcats, underrated nationally due to their early struggles, aren’t nearly as talented as last year’s unit, or the national champions two years prior. Booth and Paschall have to carry them. The scoring depth isn’t there, at least not yet. They lack a back-to-the-basket post-up option. But Villanova is only getting better, after some narrow victories early in the Big East season. Three of its past four wins have come by double figures.

“I’m surprised,” Wright said.

Others aren’t. When you watch this group defend, the way everyone helps each other, or share the ball, when the extra pass is always made, it’s clear why Villanova has been able to maintain its Big East dominance. Everything is done together. It is one unit, no individuals.

When Booth and Paschall discussed the strides Villanova has made, neither could go a sentence without using the words “team” and “together.” During the team’s struggles, Wright didn’t change, hammering home his unselfish, defense-first mantra. It has led to a major difference.

“Everyone that comes here buys in, buys into the program, buys into what coach preaches,” Paschall said.

It’s the Villanova way — “we” before “me.” Wright’s players usually improve significantly from year to year. This team has done it in a matter of months.

For weeks, I felt there were six teams — Michigan and Michigan State, Gonzaga and Tennessee, Duke and Virginia — that could win a national championship. I’m ready to add a sixth: Kentucky.

The Wildcats have won six straight games, three against ranked foes Mississippi State, Auburn, and Kansas as recently as Saturday. This is not the same team that lost to Seton Hall at the Garden in early December.

It features one of the best frontcourts in the nation, led by Reid Travis and P.J. Washington, a premier perimeter defender/lead guard in freshman Ashton Hagans, a prime NBA wing prospect in Keldon Johnson, and improved 3-point shooting compared to John Calipari’s recent teams. Consider this: No. 8 Kentucky beat No. 9 Kansas by eight on Saturday and shot just 39 percent from the field.

The meetings with top-ranked Tennessee, on Feb. 16 and March 3, will be appointment viewing.

No. 14 Texas Tech at No. 9 Kansas, Saturday 4 p.m.

Kansas’ run of 14 straight Big 12 titles is in jeopardy — that is, if anybody wants it enough. The undersized Jayhawks have dropped two of three games, yet still remain tied atop the conference with Kansas State at 5-2. Despite a recent poor stretch that saw it lose three of four, Texas Tech remains in range, a game behind the dual leaders. A win at Allen Fieldhouse, where Kansas is undefeated this year, would shake up the top of the league.

Seedings:
1. Duke, Virginia, Tennessee, Michigan State
2. Michigan, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Kentucky
3. Virginia Tech, N.C. State, Marquette, Houston
4. Texas Tech, Villanova, Louisville, Maryland

Up: Chris Mack
His first season at Louisville was supposed to be about creating a foundation and establishing an identity. Mack has accomplished that, but so much more. The former Xavier coach has Louisville in the top 25, and trending up, winners of five straight games — including victories over No. 11 North Carolina and No. 21 N.C. State — and tied atop the ACC with title contenders Duke and Virginia.

Up: UMBC
A rematch remains possible. UMBC, which became the first 16-seed to knock off a No. 1 when it stunned Virginia last March, is coming on. It just knocked off America East leader Vermont on the road, and now it faces the other contender, Stony Brook, Wednesday at home. The Retrievers don’t have a star like it did last year with Jairus Lyles, but plenty of depth, with seven players averaging at least 5.5 points per game.

Down: Indiana
Some believed this was a Big Ten sleeper. Others felt this was a team that could do major March damage. At this rate, Indiana may not even get to enjoy the madness. With six straight losses, four by double figures, the Hoosiers are playing themselves not only onto the bubble, but possibly on the wrong side of it. Prized freshman guard Romeo Langford is in a rut, averaging 8.3 points on 28 percent shooting over his past three games, and the absence of a consistent third scorer, after Langford and forward Juwan Morgan, has significantly lowered Indiana’s ceiling.

Down: Sean Miller
Good thing he has those big-time recruits coming in. Otherwise, the locals would be getting very restless, if they aren’t already. Barring a huge finish or a Pac-12 tournament title, Arizona will miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years. It was a brutal three days in Los Angeles for the Wildcats, who lost by a combined 45 points to USC and UCLA, and now has to visit in-state rival Arizona State, which is coming off its own dismal loss to USC.