Way-too-early Top 25's have become somewhat of a tradition in the college basketball world and this year we are getting them a few weeks earlier than usual as the coronavirus crisis has put a stop to actual games.

These early rankings should be taken with a grain of salt as much can change between now and November, but for sports fans desperate for any kind of interaction with the games they love, these rankings provide a welcome outlet. Based on early returns, Villanova fans will be especially pleased with what they see.

We've started to see these way-too-early rankings pop up on social media, and we'll discuss what we've seen from some of those in just a bit, but on Monday we got the first rankings from a big, major outlet: ESPN.

And Jeff Borzello, who put together the rankings for ESPN, has put your Villanova Wildcats at the very top of the rankings.

"If things fall right for Jay Wright's program, a third national championship in six years isn't out of the question," Borzello writes to open up the section on the Wildcats. He also notes a potential breakout campaign for Justin Moore, who had a fantastic freshman season for 'Nova, Bryan Antoine as a wildcard, and the under the radar addition of Caleb Daniels who sat out 2019-20 per NCAA transfer rules.

Interestingly, Borzello accounts for the potential loss of Saddiq Bey to the NBA in his assessment of the 'Cats. Bey's future is the biggest question facing Villanova this offseason, and the authors of the too-early top 25's that we've seen have taken one of two approaches to the question. But Borzello is the first one to account for the loss of Bey and still rank the Wildcats number 1.

Generally, these authors either take rosters as they currently stand, removing only seniors or players who have already announced NBA or transfer plans, or they have projected expected additions and departures and factored those into their rankings.

For those who took the first approach, Villanova has typically landed anywhere from 1-4 in the rankings. For those who tried to project roster changes (and who consequently assumed Bey would head to the NBA), Villanova typically landed about No. 6.

Now we have evidence of an analyst who thinks the Wildcats can be the top team in the country regardless of what Bey decides to do.

The bottom line is that the Wildcats should be quite formidable in 2020-21 and will likely enter the season as a Final Four favorite with or without Bey. Should Bey return, they will be among the handful of national title favorites.

Next season is shaping up to be a fun one on the Main Line. We will continue to monitor these way-too-early rankings as they come out and assess Villanova's position in them. For now, we can daydream about what next season may hold.