Sorry for the following overused boxing analogy, but it fits: Siena punched Vanderbilt in the mouth as soon as the bell rang on Friday, and the Commodores wilted.
Villanova is the kind of team that won't respond like that, which is why I'm picking the Wildcats to beat Siena in the second round tomorrow.
If the Saints win, I won't be surprised.
It's easy to say you belong in a tournament, but Siena truly believed it, and showed it.
Villanova plays the same game as Siena, working an opponent's defense with driving guard play.
It's easy to say you never quit, but the Wildcats truly mean that, as they showed by coming back from an 18-point deficit to beat Clemson.
Earlier in the season, Villanova came back from a 21-point deficit to beat LSU. The only time the Wildcats led the entire game was with 5.9 seconds left. They're not scared of anything.
After all the excitment on Friday - four upsets, a huge crowd, a boisterous fan festival under the sun outside the arena - it was weird walking into the St. Pete Times Forum today under gray skies. A ghost town.
The Saints were cracking up over the way Digger Phelps butchered their names. This team is as loose as when they came here, they're not afraid of Villanova and they have some inside knowledge through assistant Andrew Francis, who coached under Villanova's Jay Wright the last three years. He
knows their players and how they play.
Also, head coach Fran McCaffery is a Philly guy, and assistant Mitch Buonaguro was Rollie Massimino's assistant for eight years, including 1985, when the Wildcats upset Georgetown for the national championship.
Oh yeah, final score: Villanova 75, Siena 70.