As our men's basketball team takes on the Villanova University Wildcats tonight in the first round of the NCAA tournament, I thought it would be fair to check out the comparisons between the two teams. Yeah, they might have a better seed and are essentially playing on their home court. However, when you look closer at the two squads, the pendulum seems to favor the Eagles. I now bring you an in-depth look at the game inside the game.
2009 Record:
AU: 24-7 (13-1 in Patriot League), PL Regular Season and Tournament Champs
Villanova: 26-7 (14-6 in Big East)
Advantage: AU. Anytime you earn your way into the tournament rather than have to sweat out an hour of CBS' Selection Show, you have to have the upper hand.
2009 Winning Streak:
AU: 13 (second-longest in the nation behind University of Memphis' 25)
Villanova: None
Advantage: AU. Generally you need to win at least one game to have a "winning" streak.
Conference Titles:
AU: 2 (2008, 2009)
Villanova: 3 (1978, 1980, 1995)
Advantage: Push. Generally having more titles makes you win the category. However, Villanova hasn't won in the last 14 seasons.
NCAA National Titles:
AU: None
Villanova: 1 (1985)
Advantage: AU. The longer you wait, the better it will be in the end.
Leading Scorer:
AU: Garrison Carr, 17.8 ppg
Villanova: Dante Cunningham, 16.0 ppg
Advantage: AU. The more points you score, the more games you win.
Basketball Alumni:
AU: Kermit Washington
Villanova: Kerry Kittles, Allen Ray
Advantage: AU. All that matters is that you are remembered. Granted, Kermit is known for punching Rudy Tomjanovich, but who is really counting.
City Status:
AU: Washington, D.C., capital of the United States
Villanova: Philadelphia, former capital of the United States
Advantage: AU. D.C. won this fight a while ago ... in 1800.
Year School Founded:
AU: 1893
Villanova: 1842
Advantage: AU. In the United States, youth is always rewarded.
Tuition:
AU: $32,816
Villanova: $34,320
Advantage: AU. In this economy, we are getting more and spending less.
Undergrad Population:
AU: 5,818
Villanova: 6,335
Advantage: AU. The less people walking around, the better chance that you get to be friends with all of them.
So there you have it, a great breakdown on the categories most vital to the success of the men's basketball team against Villanova. While the rest of the experts around the country are looking at such things as offense, defense and coaching to prove Villanova will win the game, it is clear that based off of the evidence above, the AU Eagles will be ready to shock the world tomorrow night.
You can reach this staff writer at jhall@theeagleonline.com.
