Villanova gets to stay home, draws American in NCAA first round

IT WAS ABOUT 30 minutes after Villanova's name had been put up on the old CBS board, as the No. 3 seed in the NCAA's East Regional. Coach Jay Wright had answered a bunch of the same questions, to wave after relentless wave of the media that had descended upon the Connelly Center for the party.

He had answered just about all there was to ask, until someone pointed out that his Wildcats (26-7) had been placed in the same quarter of the bracket as top-seeded Pittsburgh. Any reaction?

"Really?" Wright said. "I didn't realize that. So for us to get to the Final Four, we might have to beat UCLA [in the second round], Duke and Pitt? Wow."

But first things first. The Selection Committee, as anticipated, at least allowed them to stay at home for their first and perhaps second games. The Wildcats drew No. 14 American (24-7), the Patriot League champ, on Thursday at the Wachovia Center, where they went 1-2 this season (beating Syracuse, losing to Louisville and Georgetown).

In 2006, as a No. 1 seed, they won their first two games there, over Monmouth and Arizona, en route to the Final Eight.

Not having to get on a plane is always a good thing, right?

"There are plusses and minuses, but the plusses do outweigh [them]," said Wright, whose team lost to eventual champ Louisville on Friday night in the Big East semifinals in New York. "It's an advantage. You get to stay home an extra day, keep some normalcy. It's a building you're familiar with, your fans can come, that's all great. But we learned a couple of years ago that there's also a lot of distractions. We went in so wide-eyed, like 'Oh, this is awesome.' Then we're playing Monmouth and the crowd started chanting for them. But, I'm not sure we win that Arizona game if we're not there . . .

"We have four seniors who were a part of that. I want them to learn from that, and enjoy this. Just play like we always play, hard and have fun."

Unlike last March, when the Wildcats barely got into the field and then made it to the second weekend for the third time in 4 years, there are expections.

Especially when you get to play so close to campus.

"For us, it feels good to be playing in Philly," said junior guard Scottie Reynolds. "But if we were going somewhere else, we'd feel the same way. It's just good to be in this position. We're going to keep on doing what we've been doing, since September, and hope that's good enough and it all works out.

"At this point it's about the game, not seeding. When we step out on that court, none of that matters. You can be the 50th seed or a No. 1. You've got to perform. Regardless of who you're playing, or where."

For whatever it's worth, the last time Villanova was a No. 3 was 1996. It beat Portland, by 34 in Milwaukee, then lost to No. 6 Louisville (68-64). The Wildcats also had been seeded third the previous year, coming off their lone Big East Tournament title. But they went down in the first round to Old Dominion, in triple overtime, in Albany, N.Y.

Villanova and American have met eight times, going back to 1932. The last game was 1993, at the Pavilion. The Wildcats have won all eight.

There are no guarantees in the Madness. Many times, it comes down to matchups. Since 1985, when they went to the 64-team field, No. 3s have beaten 14s 81 out of 96 times. The last time it did not happen was 2006, when Northwestern State took out Iowa. The only time Villanova has lost a first-round game under Wright, or even a first-weekend game, when it dropped an 8-9 matchup to Kentucky in Chicago.

"It's always great to play in front of family and friends and Nova Nation," said junior guard Reggie Redding, a St. Joseph's Prep product. "It's good for them, to pay them back. You just hope there's not too many distractions. But we've got a lot of juniors and seniors, so I don't think it'll be a problem.

"I'm just excited to have the opportunity to play in another NCAA. We want to make another run. We just have to take care of business. We've been pretty good at that all year. I don't think it'll be any different now." *