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For 88 years, the Wildcats of Villanova University have fielded a men’s basketball team in the NCAA and have come away with four Final Four appearances and one National Championship in 1985.

This season, Jay Wright, in his 7th year as Head Coach, has the respect of not only his team but his peers. Coming off last year’s Final Four appearance plus the return of Senior Guards Redding and Reynolds (and Junior Corey Stokes), the Wildcats are now picked to finish number 1 in the Big East Conference in the most recent coaches poll.

Last season’s Final Four matchup against the eventual Champion North Carolina Tar Heels was the fourth time in five years that the Wildcats were beaten out by the eventual National Champion. Nevertheless, the team broke records for most victories in a season (30) and with four seniors on the squad, became the winningest senior class in school history.

Look for Coach Wright to try and take his team back to the “Big Dance”, which will be harder this season with the loss of four seniors last season.

A SHORT HISTORY

The Villanova Wildcats rank 20th in All Time Winning Percentage (.637) among all NCAA Division I and have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 29 times, placing them eighth in NCAA History. They have appeared in the NIT 17 times, winning it in 1994.

Back in 1920, Michael Saxe began the basketball program and coached for six seasons compiling a winning record of 64-30 but it wasn’t until Alexander Severance signed on to coach the Wildcats in 1936 that the program rose to prominence. Severance posted a 413-201 record and he led them to their first ever NCAA Tournament game and Final Four. He would take them to three more NCAA Tournaments and two NIT Bids. One of the most famous players in Wildcat history was Paul Arizin, who is credited with inventing the Jump Shot and for scoring the most points in Villanova history (85).

The Wildcats have won the NCAA Tournament one time, (1985) and made it into the NCAA Final Four four times (1939, 1971, 1985 & 2009) and the Tournament Elite Eight twelve times. They have made the Sweet Sixteen eighteen times and have made the thirty times.