Wild Finish?

It hasn't been the best tournament I've ever seen, but I have to say there is one bright spot. The Villanova Wildcats. Not only have they made me money (I'll be taking them moneyline and also the 7 points against UNC), but they've been the only real excitement of the tourney, for me anyways.

From their first game, down 15 to rally back and win by 13, to Scottie Reynolds space ghost, coast to coast, game winner to break Pitt's heart. I'll say it. I'm smitten. I like these guys. And quite frankly I really believe they're gonna beat UNC. I know the consensus is they don't have a shot but that's alright. Seven point dogs, all the "experts" pick UNC, Hansbrough/Lawson=too much. Whatever. 'Nova showed some serious character being down like they were to come back and win in the 1st round. They showed they were for real dismantling UCLA by 20. Then they made Coach K's Duke squad look just plain silly. And wow, what a game versus Pitt.

Nova's a scrappy, hardworking bunch and they do all the little things well. My kind of team... and Philly's kind of team. They'll need to shoot better than 33 percent from 3-point land and they CAN DO THIS. Plus, Ty Lawson has already won, so I'm hoping he just won't show up.

Here's a history lesson:

1985: Villanova, NCAA champs. They held off No. 2 UNC as the 8 seed to advance to the Final Four,and went on to beat Georgetown in the finals.

2005: Sweet Sixteen, Villanova as a No. 5 seed, down 64-54 with 3:45 left, rallied back to cut the lead to 66-63. With :11 left, Allan Ray drives the lane and is called for a travel despite there being no discernible illegal steps. Click the link and forward to 1:15 to see what some say was one of the worst calls in NCAA Basketball history. The No.1 seed UNC wins 67-66 and goes on to win the whole mama jama. Ugh.

Hey, Rollie believes and so do I!