Villanova returns to Pittsburgh for NCAA Tournament

Villanova coach Jay Wright was a frequent visitor to Pittsburgh when Pitt was a member of the Big East.

Since then, someone in the NCAA office apparently decided that if the first- and second-round games of the NCAA Tournament come to Pittsburgh, Wright’s Wildcats must be included.

Villanova will be in Pittsburgh, specifically PPG Paints Arena, for a first-round game Friday against No. 15 seed Delaware (22-12), the champion of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament. That will mark three consecutive Pittsburgh appearances for the Wildcats.

Villanova was a No. 1 seed in both of its most recent NCAA appearances in Pittsburgh (2015 and ‘18) but with different results.

The Wildcats were eliminated by N.C. State in a second-round game in ‘15 but won the national championship in ‘18 after decisive 87-61 and 81-58 victories in Pittsburgh against Radford and Alabama.

This time, Villanova, champion of the Big East Tournament, earned a No. 2 seed with its 26-7 record. The Wildcats ran through the conference tournament at Madison Square Garden with one-, three- and six-point victories against St. John’s, UConn and Creighton.

Villanova will make its 17th appearance in the NCAA Tournament after winning its fourth Big East championship since 2017.

Wright, whose team survived the electrifying MSG atmosphere last week, is pleased that the NCAA Tournament will be played in front of fans for the first time since 2019. The 2020 tournament was canceled at the outset of the pandemic, and last year’s event was staged in mostly empty arenas.

“I think we’ve all realized how much we’ve missed it,” Wright said on CBS-TV on Sunday.

Delaware, the No. 5 seed in the CAA Tournament, upset No. 1 Towson and No. 2 UNC Wilmington to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014.

The other three games — all in the South Region — also will be contested Friday.

• Houston (29-5 and a No. 5 seed) will play No. 12 Alabama Birmingham (27-7), which is in the tournament for the first time since 2015.

• Illinois (27-6) takes a No. 4 seed into its game against No. 13 Chattanooga (27-7). Chattanooga coach Lamont Paris served as an assistant at IUP from 2001-04 and under Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot at Akron from 2005-10.

• The Illini will be joined by fellow Big Ten member Ohio State (19-11), a No. 7 seed that will be matched against No. 10 Loyola Chicago (25-7) and its famous chaplain, 102-year-old Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt.

Sister Jean became the most beloved figure in the 2018 NCAA Tournament during Loyola Chicago’s run to the Final Four. It is unclear if Sister Jean, who joined Loyola Chicago in last year’s NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis (without fans), will accompany the Ramblers to Pittsburgh. The Ramblers reached the Sweet 16 last season after defeating Georgia Tech and No. 1 seed Illinois before losing to Oregon State.

Loyola Chicago’s Drew Valentine was hired last year at the age of 29 as the youngest coach in Division I basketball.

This won’t be Loyola Chicago’s last visit to Pittsburgh. The Ramblers will join Duquesne in the Atlantic 10 next season.

Ohio State, one of nine Big Ten teams to earn a berth this season, has been part of the NCAA Tournament field in all four years under coach Chris Holtmann. But the Buckeyes haven’t advanced to the Sweet 16 since 2013. Holtmann led Butler to the Sweet 16 in 2017.

The winners of the four games will play Sunday, also at PPG Paints Arena, in two games with Sweet 16 berths at stake.