The Villanova Wildcats had to claw their way through their conference to get a bid to the Tournament.
This explains their unusually low 12 seed.
However, what some people fail to realize is that the Big East is easily the deepest basketball conference around this year. They have the most teams in the tournament this year at eight, which is half of the total teams in the conference.
The Wildcats went 20-12 this season with nine of their losses coming from Big East opponents, but also had key wins against teams such as West Virginia, Connecticut, Syracuse, and a controversial loss to Georgetown earlier in February.
The problem for Nova is their first round match up with Clemson Tigers, who are currently on fire coming out of the ACC tournament with a decent loss to the No. 1 seeded Tarheels.
However, Villanova's balanced guard attack presents something that Clemson did not meet in the ACC.
The Tigers were used to running some of their bigger opponents up and down the floor.
Unfortunately for Clemson, the Wildcats can run with the best of them, and they can do it all game because bench players like Stokes, Grant, and Redding come off as reserves averaging near five points a game.
The Wildcats will most likely next face Vanderbilt, which is a very inconsistent team.
The Commodores were riding high after beating No. 1 Tennessee, but later were shut down early in the SEC Tournament.
Also, Vanderbilt is becoming a one-man team behind Senior Shane Foster late in this regular season. Although as most people understand come tournament time "one-man" shows don't work out to well.
You need a team to pull together in tough games and the Wildcats have a great balanced team and are flexible to play the way needed to win. Coach Jay Wright gives the players freedom on offense in expense for tough, tight defense.
Villanova can very well make it past the first two teams, but if they meet Kansas in the Sweet 16, then it will take an untold effort to win.
The Jayhawks can run with the Cats and are plainly a great team. However, I do believe Villanova can make it there and will. I also think that they'll be the only 6-16 seeded team there.
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6 months ago
Very True, Villanova will have to bring its A game against Clemson... You must remember Clemson is one of the worst free throw shooting teams in the country!!
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