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We should prepare for some of the inevitable pushback.............

we're probably gonna get for our #1 ranking from the likes of Gottlieb, Davis, Bilas etc. Some of those guys do have an agenda and a bias toward the power conferences, although obviously they're still entitled to their opinions. However when the media, the coaches and the computer (RPI) all agree that Nova right now is the #1 team in the country I think their opinions will carry much less weight since Nova was a "unanimous" choice by all the major polls. Had it been a split vote, or if the margin for the number one spot was not so large, then there would be some room for debate, but that just wasnt the case this week!
So when those comments are posted on this board, lets just roll with it, consider the source, and realize and understand that the people who really count and have a vote in the process (media and coaches) have determined that Villanova is the best team in the country "right now"--------and the RPI confirms it!!

Butler and the pre-game

The wife and I are driving down from NY for the pre-game festivities on Saturday. Haven't been to a pavilion game since UCLA in 2001. That day I was able to get two in front of the pavilion right before tip off. Is that still doable these days? Any chance I might be able to find (buy) two during the festivities as Uncle Ed had suggested? If I strike out completely, which is the best place along Lancaster to watch a game these days? Thanks.

Rutgers

The latest in the never ending saga of Rutgers athletics is that freshman Corey Sanders has been suspended for four games. Sanders, I believe, is their leading scorer and a candidate for Big Ten freshman of the year. No details on the reason for the suspension. Another freshman was suspended earlier in the season. They remain winless in the conference and Jordan's job is less than secure. As a resident of the Garden State I used to chuckle at their misfortune but now I can only say "pathetic".
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Nova's Licensing Deals - Bookstore Apparel

I was in the bookstore on Saturday and there's something I don't understand. We're a Nike school, right? Yet in addition to all the Nike gear for sale, there was quite a bit of Under Armour apparel as well. How does that work? Wouldn't Nike prohibit any competitor from producing Villanova Basketball gear for sale in the school's bookstore when they're paying them for the exclusive rights?

Not to mention Ralph Lauren, Columbia, Vineyard Vines, Champion, some other super-expensive brand I never heard of (mostly golf apparel). There must be 10 different apparel brands selling Villanova clothes in the bookstore.

Big 5

With apologies to those who don't care about the Big 5, and those who demean it, would a Temple win against us result in a 2-way tie or 3-way tie? Just a curiosity question -- I'm hoping and believing that we rule the Big 5 one more time with a win.

#1 is a good thing for our psyche

I really believe that being #1 is a great thing for this team and for mostly any Jay Wright team. Coming into this season, I think that Iand most fans have been pre-occupied with this "Round of 32" thing. I was having a hard time focusing on each game we play and the great teams around us play. The team might have been feeling some of that also - couldn't blame them.

Being #1 now certainly gets me focused on every single game we play. Every game is the Super Bowl carrying the #1 banner. Big pressure on our team every night that we play as #1. That pressure might be helpful when we go into the almighty "Round of 32" game with crazy pressure on us - because we have had national focused pressure on us for at least 4 games of the season carrying the #1 banner (last week's two and this week's two at a miniumum). Also keeps our guys focused on "the next game" even as the "bigger games" are coming. Jay must like this...

Defense wins championships

So last year's Nova team was generally looked at as balanced, with solid stats on both sides of the ball. We were 4th in the country in "adjusted" offensive efficiency at 120, and 13th in "adjusted" defense at 92.8. Looks good right? But if you look at the raw conference #'s, we were still a very impressive 118 in raw offense, and only 98.5 on defense. Both were good for 1st in the conference, but that is really not a good defensive #, especially in our league where there is not a ton of great offense to defend. Looking even DEEPER, we had 5 conference games (not BET) of better than 90 defensive PPP (28% of games) but 9 games of above 100. Of those 9, 4 were above 110 (22% of all BE games). Our biggest red flag was giving up over 31% of possible offensive rebounds. NC State took advantage, grabbing 39% of O-boards.

Looking at this year though, thru 13 conference games we are averaging a raw 92.1 defensive PPP. 6 of our games (46%) have held teams to under 90 PPP, with only 3 above 100, and 1 above 110. We are also only giving up offensive boards at a rate of 25.3%. These are all dramatic improvements over last year.

Our offensive efficiency is obviously significantly lower verses a year ago due to the 3-point shooting, but if defense truly wins championships, we are certainly better set-up this year than we were a year ago. Given who we lost and added, that is an amazing thing to say.

Just more food for thought on a slow Monday.....

Living In Philly area

Get ready for a ton oh hype with our Temple game. I believe it will be the first Big 5 game with #1 team since we played Temple in 88. Even though the local media will be rooting against us, I think it's pretty cool that this game is being played this late in the year. I have a feeling Jay will have the team well prepared and St John's was just us looking last a horrible opponent. We played out D game and the end result was never in doubt.
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