Does it change the perception of Villanova's season . . .

[billyjack]

AT THE TIME, it looked like a bad loss for Villanova. Most people expected UConn to go out in the next round to Iowa State. All the talk was about how Wichita State got screwed having to play Kentucky in the round of 32, that it was unfair for WSU to get stuck with a team that was really much better than an 8-seed.

IN RETROSPECT, UConn was even better than Kentucky, and it was equally "unfair" for a 2-seed to get stuck with playing them in the round of 32.

GOING FORWARD, I think that season ending loss won't look so bad as people evaluate teams for next year. CBS has ranked Villanova #11 and ESPN has them ranked #13 in their respective "way too early" preseason rankings. I think that Villanova may fair even better when time to put this in perspective has set in. So, I'm guessing they'll be ranked even higher when the polls come out next fall.

BTW, ESPN also has Georgetown in their top 40.

Well said, Bill M...
Plus the Villanova-UConn game was a tight one the whole game.

[stever20]

AT THE TIME, it looked like a bad loss for Villanova. Most people expected UConn to go out in the next round to Iowa State. All the talk was about how Wichita State got screwed having to play Kentucky in the round of 32, that it was unfair for WSU to get stuck with a team that was really much better than an 8-seed.

IN RETROSPECT, UConn was even better than Kentucky, and it was equally "unfair" for a 2-seed to get stuck with playing them in the round of 32.

GOING FORWARD, I think that season ending loss won't look so bad as people evaluate teams for next year. CBS has ranked Villanova #11 and ESPN has them ranked #13 in their respective "way too early" preseason rankings. I think that Villanova may fair even better when time to put this in perspective has set in. So, I'm guessing they'll be ranked even higher when the polls come out next fall.

BTW, ESPN also has Georgetown in their top 40.

As a fan of a team that has gone out plenty in the early rounds no it doesn't change the perception at all. It didn't change the perception when Georgetown lost to Davidson in North Carolina in the 2nd round even though they made it to the elite 8 and almost beat eventual nation champ Kansas. It didn't change perception when Georgetown lost to VCU in the first round despite the fact they made it to the Final 4. Nor did it matter that FGCU made the Sweet 16. They're all still lumped together as bad losses.

Um, no. Our loss to especially VCU didn't hurt anywhere near as much because VCU did make the final 4. Especially long term- folks don't look at that loss and say it's an awful loss. The ones that we've had that were really awful were Ohio and FGCU.

A 2/7 game I'm sorry now is just not a bad loss.

[hoyahooligan]

AT THE TIME, it looked like a bad loss for Villanova. Most people expected UConn to go out in the next round to Iowa State. All the talk was about how Wichita State got screwed having to play Kentucky in the round of 32, that it was unfair for WSU to get stuck with a team that was really much better than an 8-seed.

IN RETROSPECT, UConn was even better than Kentucky, and it was equally "unfair" for a 2-seed to get stuck with playing them in the round of 32.

GOING FORWARD, I think that season ending loss won't look so bad as people evaluate teams for next year. CBS has ranked Villanova #11 and ESPN has them ranked #13 in their respective "way too early" preseason rankings. I think that Villanova may fair even better when time to put this in perspective has set in. So, I'm guessing they'll be ranked even higher when the polls come out next fall.

BTW, ESPN also has Georgetown in their top 40.

As a fan of a team that has gone out plenty in the early rounds no it doesn't change the perception at all. It didn't change the perception when Georgetown lost to Davidson in North Carolina in the 2nd round even though they made it to the elite 8 and almost beat eventual nation champ Kansas. It didn't change perception when Georgetown lost to VCU in the first round despite the fact they made it to the Final 4. Nor did it matter that FGCU made the Sweet 16. They're all still lumped together as bad losses.

UConn is not Davidson, or VCU, or Florida Gulf Coast. And they didn't lose in the Sweet 16, or the Elite 8, or the Final 4. In fact, they didn't lose at all.

Just shades of gray. Point is it doesn't matter. They lost and it doesn't matter how good the team that beat you does. Villanova was supposed to beat Uconn based on the seeding they were upset. They underachieved. All people will remember is Nova got knocked out before they should have based on their regular season. Any realistic person realizes that of course it actually matters but in terms of perception and general sports fans no it doesn't matter. What people see is this is how Villanova's last 5 seasons have gone: 2nd round, 1st round, NIT, 1st round, 2nd round. Unfortunately the bottom line is all that matters.