Villanova is the new No. 1 in the CBS Sports Top 25 (and one). That's the result of the reigning national champions improving to 8-0 Saturday while the previous No. 1, Kentucky, suffered a 97-92 loss at home to UCLA.

Now let me explain some things.

Before you ask, yes, it's reasonable to go with UCLA or Baylor at No. 1, at this point, based on the strengths of their resumes and perfect records. But I chose to instead elevate Jay Wright's Wildcats to the top, and here's why:

1. Villanova is a preseason top-four team that's still undefeated and in possession of a great win at Purdue. The Wildcats look like legitimate threats to repeat.

2. Resumes alone aren't the best way to evaluate teams in early December, if only because not every team has had similar opportunities to notch big wins.

So Villanova is No. 1.

But I do have UCLA and Baylor second and third.

Why UCLA ahead Baylor?

My simple answer is that I had UCLA ahead of Baylor in Saturday's Top 25 (and one), and the only things that have happened since then are UCLA's 97-92 win at Kentucky and Baylor's 76-61 win over Xavier. Both results were impressive, clearly. But beating Kentucky at Kentucky is better than beating Xavier at home. So it wouldn't make much sense for me to jump Baylor ahead of UCLA now.

Does Baylor have more good wins than UCLA?

Yes.

But UCLA has the best win.

So, for now, I'll stick with UCLA ahead of Baylor - though there's nothing crazy about somebody else going with Baylor ahead of UCLA. Or even Baylor ahead of everybody. Scott Drew's Bears have been terrific all season. Ranking them No. 1 is completely justifiable. I'm not doing it. But I reasonably could.

Also worth noting: UCLA and Baylor bouncing into the top three pushed Kansas, Duke and North Carolina down a slot, no fault of their own. So please don't ask why Kansas, Duke and North Carolina dropped even though they didn't lose. It's a numbers thing, plain and simple. There was no way to get UCLA and Baylor into the top three without Kansas, Duke and North Carolina dropping.

Got it?

Good.

The complete Top 25 (and one) is below.

(PS: I'm getting lots of questions about why I dropped Xavier 12 spots after a loss at Baylor. It's a perfectly reasonable thing to ask. Here's my answer: speaking candidly, I think I've had the Musketeers a little too high for a couple of weeks, but I refused to drop them because they kept winning. So this 76-61 loss provided a nice opportunity to adjust and put Xavier in a spot that, in my opinion, more accurately reflects how the Musketeers have actually performed this season. They've been in surprisingly tight games with Lehigh and Missouri, both of which are sub-100 KenPom teams. They've played one top-35 KenPom team and lost that game by 15 points. Bottom line, I still like Xavier and will not be surprised if Chris Mack's team ultimately challenges Villanova for the Big East crown. But, right now, No. 18 seems closer to right than wrong. Beyond that, I'm compelled to point out that Xavier is also No. 18 at KenPom. And the Musketeers are No. 23 in Jeff Sagarin's ratings. So take that for whatever you think it's worth. And have a nice afternoon!)