CSNPhilly.com's printable bracket.
Brackets: East | Midwest | South | West
VILLANOVA, Pa. — There were no big cheers. No jumping up and down. No fist bumps and hugs.
For the Villanova basketball players, seeing their team name pop up on the TV during Selection Sunday is something they’ve gotten quite used to — and something they naturally knew would happen after another wildly successful regular season.
If anything, there was an air of apprehension inside the Connelly Center during Villanova’s Selection Sunday party as the Wildcats got a tough NCAA Tournament draw as the No. 2 seed in the South Region, meaning they won’t get a chance to play in Philadelphia in the regional semifinals and finals (see story).
At the same time, Villanova head coach Jay Wright insisted it was a fair seeding following the Wildcats’ loss to Seton Hall in the Big East title game Saturday night (see game story).
“I’m sure a lot of fans are probably disappointed,” Wright said. “Everyone here is [part of] our Philly contingent and they were probably anticipating being in Philly. But we had our chance in that. We would have to win the game last night. And we didn’t do it. And we have to move on and take on the new challenge.”
News
The new challenge will be steep, as it usually is. Villanova’s first-round opponent, 15-seed UNC Asheville, will be overmatched when the two teams collide Friday at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. But the Bulldogs do have an upset win against a team 'Nova knows quite well — Georgetown — on its résumé this season.
And then the potential second-round matchups are both intriguing and daunting as seventh-seeded Iowa, coached by Philly native Fran McCaffery, goes up against Fran Dunphy’s Temple squad, which survived the bubble to earn the 10 seed in the South.
Before losing six of its last eight, Iowa was viewed as one of the nation’s best teams. And although 'Nova hammered Temple in February, the Owls would present a unique challenge as a rare matchup between Big 5 teams in the Big Dance.
Your thoughts on possibly playing a city rival in the Round of 32, Coach?
“Right now, I’d be happy to be in the second game, honestly,” Wright said with a laugh. “Two Philly guys going at it, Iowa and Temple, that’s pretty cool.”
No matter the opponent, Villanova knows what has to be done to quiet the incessant chatter about the its first-weekend troubles in recent years. And now is the time the Wildcats can finally quiet the critics and make it to the Sweet 16 or beyond for the first time since 2009.
“People were talking about it all year, but we couldn’t do anything about it,” Wright said. “We had to get to the tournament. Now we’re getting closer to having that opportunity. But we still have to concentrate on UNC Asheville.”
The Wildcats have avoided suffering massive first-round upsets the last two years, routing 16th-seeded Lafayette last year and 15th-seeded Milwaukee two years ago. Their second games have been where they ran into trouble as losses to NC State in the 2015 tourney and eventual national champion UConn in '14 (not to mention to Saint Mary’s in 2010) prematurely ended the seasons of very good teams with Final Four aspirations.
Last year’s loss was especially gut-wrenching as Villanova came into the tourney as the second overall seed (behind only Kentucky) before getting bounced in its second game — with the lasting image becoming a piccolo player in Villanova’s band crying after the loss to NC State.
“I haven’t really thought about her all year,” Arcidiacono said with a laugh when asked about the crying piccolo girl. “We definitely would like to [erase that memory]. It’s definitely something all the fans would appreciate and stop getting on us. But we can’t take anything for granted in this tournament.”
Along with senior classmate Daniel Ochefu, Arcidiacono is the big reason why the Wildcats will be playing in their fourth straight NCAA Tournament following a rough postseason-less campaign in 2011-12.
And while he’s certainly proud of all of the team’s accomplishments during his college tenure, including a whopping 89 wins over the last three seasons along with three straight Big East regular-season titles, he knows there’s still some unfinished business in the NCAAs.
“We definitely enjoy playing every single day, every single game,” Arcidiacono said. “Once you get to the NCAA Tournament, it’s definitely something you embrace. You want to get the elephant out of the room.”
Arcidiacono admitted he was surprised that the Wildcats weren’t placed in the East Region, which would have given them the opportunity to play in Philly in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. Instead, they’ll have to travel to Louisville for those games if they make it out of the first weekend.
But it’s not all bad news when it comes to game locations as the Wildcats will return to New York City (where they always draw lots of fans for the Big East Tournament) to a Barclays Center gym that they’ve had success in (they’re 4-0 all-time).
“We definitely wanted to play in Philly,” Arcidiacono said. “It’s as close to home as you can be. But they picked it and we’re in the South [Region]. We’re still pretty close in Brooklyn and we’re comfortable in that gym.”
“We’d definitely rather be in Philly,” Wright added. “But we have done that before and there are a lot of distractions. It’s almost overwhelming.”
Perhaps being put into a tougher situation away from the friendly confines of home will take some pressure off Villanova with Ochefu going as far as calling it a “blessing in disguise.” Either way, he and Arcidiacono know the time is now to finally make some noise in the Big Dance.
“There’s a lot of hunger,” Ochefu said. “Knowing it’s our last shot, guys have to seize the moment.”