City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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It’s conference tournament week in college basketball, and the Big 5 could end up with three teams in the NCAA Tournament.

Villanova is assured a spot in the field of 68, it’s just a matter of if the Wildcats be a No. 1 seed and will they do it in the East region? For St. Joe’s and Temple, meanwhile, the next few days could make or break their hopes of dancing.

We take a look at the scenarios for all three of the teams entering their respective conference tournaments, as well as where some bracket experts have each team slated less than a week until Selection Sunday.

St. Joseph’s Hawks (24-7, 13-5 Atlantic 10)
Résumé breakdown
Best win: vs. Dayton, 79-70, Feb. 17
Worst loss: vs. Duquesne, 78-70, March 5
RPI: 31
Record vs. RPI top 100: 5-6
Conference Tournament: No. 4 seed; First game - Friday vs. TBA (2:30 p.m.)
Bracket projections: -- ESPN’s Joe Lunardi – No. 9 seed, East region
                                        -- CBS’ Jerry Palm – No. 9 seed, South region

St. Joe’s has exceeded outsiders' expectations all season – well, right up until last week. The Hawks, who looked like a lock for the NCAA Tournament six days ago, suffered two losses in four days. It was their first two-game skid of the season.

In both games, an opposing guard went off for a big night as St. Bonaventure’s Marcus Posley dropped 47 points on St. Joe’s before Micah Mason of Duquesne hit five triples on his way to a 28-point showing.

The Duquesne loss was the worst of the season for the Hawks, who had beaten the teams they were supposed to beat all year up until Saturday. The Hawks might still make it to the Big Dance even if they fall in their first game of the conference tournament – which won’t be a gimme.

With the two losses, St. Joe’s fell to the No. 4 seed in Brooklyn and the team could face George Washington in the quarterfinals. The Colonials will be fighting for their own NCAA Tournament lives at the Barclays Center, and if that matchup comes to fruition, it could be one of the most important bubble games of next week.

One win in the Big Apple should put fans of St. Joe’s at ease when Selection Sunday rolls around. And the Hawks proved they are capable of beating anyone in their conference, so it’s very possible they could make a run at their second tournament title in three years. They just need to use the two-game skid as a wakeup call.

“We just have to identify these Achilles heels and we have to clean them up sooner rather than later, because there aren’t a lot of laters left,” coach Phil Martelli said after the Duquesne loss.

Temple Owls (20-10, 14-4 American)
Résumé breakdown
Best win: vs. SMU, 89-80, Jan. 24
Worst loss: at East Carolina, 64-61, Jan. 27
RPI: 57
Record vs. RPI top 100: 7-8
Conference Tournament: No. 1 seed; First game - Friday vs. TBA (12:00 p.m.)
Bracket projections: -- ESPN’s Joe Lunardi – No. 11 seed, Midwest region
                                        -- CBS’ Jerry Palm – No. 10 seed, West region

The Owls completely revitalized their season with an impressive run through the American Athletic Conference.

Picked sixth in the preseason, Temple finished with an outright conference title, going a perfect 5-0 against Cincinnati, Connecticut and SMU. Six of the Owls’ 10 losses came to teams with RPIs in the top 50 thanks to a challenging non-conference slate that had the team 6-6 heading into AAC play.

Temple would likely be in the NCAA field if the season ended today, but the team will need to handle business in the American Tournament, held in Orlando. Temple can hurt itself much more than it can help itself in its first game of the tournament, as it will face either No. 8 seed East Carolina – which it lost to once earlier this year – or ninth-seeded South Florida.

A win in that game would boost the Owls’ Tournament chances slightly, and two wins in the conference tournament would basically punch their ticket to the dance.

Villanova Wildcats (27-4, 16-2 Big East)
Résumé breakdown
Best win: vs. Xavier, 95-64, Dec. 31
Worst loss: vs. Providence, 82-76, Jan. 24
RPI: 3
Record vs. RPI top 100: 14-4
Conference Tournament: No. 1 seed; First game - Thursday vs. TBA (12:00 p.m.)
Bracket projections: -- ESPN’s Joe Lunardi – No. 1 seed, East region
                                        -- CBS’ Jerry Palm – No. 1 seed, East region

Villanova capped another campaign of regular season dominance on Saturday with an 84-71 win over Georgetown at the Wells Fargo Center.

Afterward, the Wildcats were presented the Big East regular season championship trophy. But fans don’t want it to be the last time Villanova celebrates on that court this season.

The East region finals will take place at the WFC, and if everything goes right for Villanova this week at Madison Square Garden, the team will be the top seed in that region. Having the chance for bona fide home games in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 is certainly something every team would want. But after the last two seasons of first weekend failures, Wildcats coach Jay Wright doesn’t want to get caught looking too far ahead.

“I don’t look at this stuff until after the Big East Tournament,” Wright said after beating the Hoyas on Saturday. “But I’m sure there are a lot of things that have to happen for us to be seeded like that. And then we have to win games. We have to win a lot of games. So we don’t think about that yet.”

A loss in the Big East Tournament could drop Villanova to the No. 2 seed line, though if the team got to the championship against Xavier, it’s possible both teams could end up with No. 1 seeds. However, the fans hoping to see their Wildcats again in South Philly know the best route would be five consecutive wins to earn a trip back home.