Whether they’re blue-bloods or not, there’s no arguing Villanova are the best college basketball programme in the country.
The Wildcats capped one of the most dominant stretches in the sport’s history by capturing their second national championship in three years with the 79-62 victory over Michigan on Monday.
While, historically speaking, they may not be in the same tier as blue-blood programmes like Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and North Carolina, Villanova’s recent success has earned them the level of respect that those powerhouses command.
Just look at what the school have accomplished over a five-year span: 165 wins to tie an all-time record, four Big East titles and two national championships.
And Villanova don’t just deserve credit for how much they’ve won, but how they’ve done it. Since the NCAA Tournament expanded in 1985, the Wildcats are only the fourth team to win each game by at least 10 points and the first to do so for all of March since UCLA in 1967.
Their offence, which was stellar all season and on full display in the tournament, made them the first team since North Carolina in 2005 to lead Division I in scoring and win the title in the same year.
Duke, Florida and Kentucky are the only other programmes to capture two titles in three years since 1985.
“We don’t really judge ourselves on being called elite,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “We judge ourselves on how the guys do in school, how they grow as men, how we play night in and night out. But when the media calls you a blue-blood, we’re not turning it down. We’ll take it.”
VILLANOVA IS A BLUE BLOOD PROGRAM
— Josh Hart (@joshhart) April 3, 2018
There’s no reason to believe Villanova can’t keep their run going either, with next season’s team expected to be strong again.
While their two best players – National Player of the Year Jalen Brunson and junior wing Mikal Bridges – are expected to leave for the NBA, sixth man Donte DiVincenzo, the hero from the title game, should return in a more featured role.
Omari Spellman and Eric Paschall will also likely be back to keep Villanova’s frontcourt intact, while their recruiting class will be headlined by five-star point guard Jahvon Quinerly.
What Villanova have working in their favour, unlike many top-level schools, is their ability to first draw players who stay longer than a single season and, secondly, develop them into big-time contributors.
National rankings of Villanova recruiting classes past five years per 247sports:
— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) April 1, 2018
36th
48th
29th
45th
28th
“So many young men are in a hurry to get out of the best years of their life. That doesn’t make sense sometimes,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “And Villanova has done a great job of getting the right kid who probably values that.”
It may be too early to start talking about a ‘dynasty’, but even if another national championship isn’t on the way, Villanova can no longer be considered anything less than a premier powerhouse.
