Busting Brackets
Fansided

Villanova Basketball: What a Final Four run would have meant in team history

By Trevor Sinodhinos

VILLANOVA, PA - DECEMBER 04: Villanova Wildcats T-shirts are draped over chairs prior to a game against the Pennsylvania Quakers at Finneran Pavilion on December 4, 2019 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
VILLANOVA, PA - DECEMBER 04: Villanova Wildcats T-shirts are draped over chairs prior to a game against the Pennsylvania Quakers at Finneran Pavilion on December 4, 2019 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

A trip to the Final Four is not an achievement every program gets to experience. While Villanova Basketball is no stranger to experiencing the Final Four, each team to experience it holds a special place in program lore.

A Final Four run by the 2019-20 Villanova Basketball Wildcats would have been possible but not plausible. In turn, the unexpected march to Atlanta would firmly place the 2019-20 edition on the Villanova Wildcats top 10 teams in program history. Having been the winner of three National Championship, in addition to a Final Four loss in the last 40 years, it is not an easy feat to rank among the top ten Villanova teams. To be remembered in history, you need more than just winning, but how you won contributes to the legacy.

With the conclusion of the 2019-20 season, average is the best descriptor to use for the Wildcats with nothing particularly outstanding about them. That is precisely why a Final Four run would instill this season’s version of the Wildcats as memorable, for it would be unlikely, yet not unbelievable.

At the very least, this season was a precursor for the 2020-21 season, where the Wildcats will begin the pre-season ranked even higher than at the No.10 position they began this season.  Even if team scoring leader Saddiq Bey (16ppg) officially declares for the NBA, the Wildcats still have on-court leader Collin Gillespie.

The Wildcats also featured two freshmen in the starting line-up who averaged 30 minutes a game in Justin Moore and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, who both averaged over ten points. With just one senior on the playing roster, the promise of the future would swell the support for the current squad on Villanova’s campus.

Any and all noise Villanova made on its way to the Final Four would be on the back of team play, and the buy-in from a team constructed of ‘Jay Wright Guys”. Coach Jay Wright may have eight former top 100 recruits, but Bey and Gillespie are not among them. Gillespie won an NCAA championship the Villanova way, and Bey despite his lack of accolades coming out of high school made the Big East All-Freshman team.

The 2019-20 season saw Villanova win the ninth most conference games in program history while surrendering, on average, the 12th least amount of points at 66.3. With four wins versus nationally-ranked opponents, including a 56-55 win over Kansas in December, there was tempered excitement surrounding the Wildcats this season.

When the season concluded, Villanova was ranked No.10 in the Associated Press Poll and 13 in NET, any type of impressive showing in the Big East tournament would only improve their seed come selection Sunday. Having split the Big East regular-season title with Creighton and Seton Hall, as well as the winning one and losing one against both teams in the regular season, Villanova would have been a four seed at worst.

dark. Next. 2020 Tournament matchups we missed out on

The potential and place in Villanova history will never be cemented, but a Final Four run would have put them seventh in the last 40 years of the program, just ahead of the 2008-09 team led by senior Dante Cunningham who lost to North Carolina in the National Semifinal.