Know Your Foe: Villanova Wildcats
With a new top 10 ranking and in the midst of their best start to a season since 2006-07, the Missouri Tigers’ mens basketball team heads to New York City for a game in The World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden. They are matched up with the Villanova Wildcats in the 16th edition of the Jimmy V Classic. It is the Tigers’ first game outside the state of Missouri since last year’s NCAA Tournament loss to Cincinnati.
Villanova is likely a more recognizable name for Tiger fans, given the recent success of the program, but it never hurts to know a little about the school itself.
Villanova University was founded in 1842 in what is today Radnor Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, PA. Radnor has a population of 31,531, according to the 2010 Census, and was officially founded in 1682.
Villanova’s campus is located approximately 12 miles from Philadelphia, which gives students the combined experience of living in a historic college town and having easy access to a major city like Philadelphia.
Philadelphia has a considerable place in American history, being the largest port city in the original 13 colonies, and serving as a capital of the United States during the Revolutionary War. It has many historical sites and landmarks, such as Independence Hall, the building where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed, and the famous Liberty Bell.
Villanova University has the unique benefit of having a major city easily at its disposal, while giving its students a quieter, more rural setting to attend school. Villanova has a total enrollment of 10,467, including 6,352 undergraduate students. Despite its relatively small size, VU boasts a wide variety of majors in schools that include liberal arts and sciences, business, engineering, nursing, and law. It was ranked the top regional university in the north by US News and World Report’s annual college rankings.
Villanova was founded by the Augustinian Order, which means VU has a strong religious association to go along with a top of the line education. According to the school’s website, VU is “inspired by the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, [and] the University is grounded in the wisdom of the Catholic intellectual tradition and advances a deeper relationship between faith and reason.”
VU has the balance that just about every university strives for: great academics and a solid athletic program. It offers 24 varsity sports, the most noticeable and successful has been its mens basketball team. However, its most recent national championship came from its football team. The Wildcats’ football team plays in the Colonial Athletic Association, in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision. In 2009, they defeated the Montana Grizzlies 23-21 to claim their first ever football national championship. There has been discussion about inviting the team to join the Big East, which VU is already a member of in other sports, but it would require expansion of their stadium, which only holds 12,500 people, as well as other upgrades to programs.
The Wildcats’ bread and butter, however, is their mens basketball team. They have made 30 trips to the NCAA Tournament, including four trips to the Final Four, most recently in 2009, and one national championship in 1985. Their national championship victory over Patrick Ewing’s heavily favored and No. 1 seed Georgetown Hoyas is considered one of the biggest upsets in college history. Villanova, an eighth seed beat Dayton, top seeded Michigan, Maryland, second seeded North Carolina, and Memphis State, another two seed, to reach the title game against the Hoyas. Georgetown had already beaten Villanova twice during the regular season, but the Wildcats shot an unbelievable 78.6 percent in the championship game, and missed only one shot in the second half. They managed to hang on to a 66-64 victory, and are the lowest seeded team to win a national championship.
This year’s Villanova squad, coming off a first round loss to George Mason in last year’s NCAA Tournament is a young, but talented team. They have three players averaging double figures in points per game. Junior guards Maalik Wayns (18.7 PPG) and Dominic Cheek (12.9 PPG), and junior forward Mouphtaou Yarou (16.0 PPG, 8.4 RPG) and) have led the Wildcats in rebuilding with no seniors and five freshmen surrounding them on the roster. They have amounted a 5-2 record, with losses to Saint Louis and Santa Clara in the 76 Classic in Anaheim. They have bounced back since then with a 73-65 victory over in-state rival Penn.
Tonight’s game in The Garden will provide both teams a good test to see where they stand in the national picture. Can Missouri justify their new top 10 ranking, or will Villanova take a big step, in front what is likely to be a pro-Wildcat crowd based on location of the schools, toward turning their season around? Missouri fared poorly away from Mizzou Arena last year, going just 3-8 away from home in the regular season. This will be a great test on the national stage to see if Mizzou can turn around their road woes from last year.