NEW YORK – Villanova University could advance to the Final Four without ever getting on an airplane.
Should the Wildcats win the Big East Tournament on Saturday, it would likely be the No. 1 seed in the East Region, playing two games at Barclays Center in Brooklyn before heading to the East Regional, which is coincidentally being played at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Thursday afternoon’s 81-67 Big East Tournament quarterfinal win over Georgetown was another step towards securing that No. 1 seed on Selection Sunday, but the way coach Jay Wright tells it, his team isn’t looking ahead to the NCAA Tournament, or even to Sunday.
“I know people are hearing this, but we really do not care about the seeds, we don’t think about the seeds, we just concentrate on enjoying this moment,” the Wildcats’ head coach said. “I know that sounds corny, but it’s just what we do. We love being here right now, we love that game and we’re fired up about playing tomorrow.
“We’re gonna have plenty of time when this is over to sit around and do nothing except listen to everyone talk about seeds. We’ll do it then.”
Villanova is 48-6 over the past three seasons in Big East regular-season play, winning the league’s regular-season title each time. The Wildcats won last year’s Big East Tournament and are favored again this weekend, but the major point of emphasis when talking about the Wildcats has been their lack of NCAA Tournament success.
The Wildcats were the East Region’s No. 1 seed, assigned to Pittsburgh for its first two games. They blew out Lafayette in the round of 64, then fell to eighth-seeded North Carolina State in the round of 32 to finish 33-3 overall.
“We definitely let down the Big East last year,” Wright said. “We were good enough team to advance, we didn’t do it. We take responsibility for that, really, but our guys played hard in that game against N.C. State. We do take that responsibility seriously, and I would like us to get to a Final Four for the Big East, and for these guys.
“We love this league, and we want this league to get respect, but if we don’t do it, we would love Xavier, or Butler, or Providence. I’d love them to do it, I really would.”
Half of the league’s 10 teams, Villanova, Xavier, Butler, Providence and Seton Hall are expected to make the NCAA Tournament.
Villanova hasn’t been to the second weekend of the Big Dance since it went to the 2009 Final Four. In the 14 previous seasons under Wright, the Wildcats have advanced to the Sweet 16 just four times.
With seemingly no dominant team in college basketball and with a largely-veteran cast at its disposal, is this the year Villanova finally gets back over the hump?
“There’s a lot of pressure from the outside on this team to get to the second weekend,” Wright said. “We just take it one game at a time. If we don’t get there, it’s not gonna kill us. We’ll be really disappointed. If we’re playing to get there, we’ll be in good shape and we’ll take it as it comes.”
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