It's safe to say that in the first week of February, most thought that if Villanova was going to reach the Sweet 16, it would be in the NIT.

A Feb. 4 loss to St. John's capped a five-game losing streak for the Wildcats, leaving the team at 3-6 in the Big East. It only got more painful, as a controversial call denied the team overtime on the road against Georgetown, with a foul called far from the basket in the final seconds leaving the team at 4-6 and worried about simply qualifying for the Big East tournament.

But the Wildcats caught fire, finishing the regular season at 9-9 in the Big East and punching their NCAA Tournament ticket with a victory over Syracuse in the opening round of the conference tournament. That got the team into the NCAAs as one of the final at-large squads with a No. 12 seed.

Like in the regular season, it looked bad for Jay Wright's crew early, as the team trailed by double-digits against Clemson in the opening round. And like in the regular season, the Wildcats caught fire at the right time, storming past the Tigers and then knocking off Siena in the second round before falling to No. 1 seed and eventual national champion Kansas.

In the Kansas game, Wright coached to the whistle, making changes even in garbage time when he was unhappy with his reserves' effort on defense. His goal was to get the team to see the game as a missed opportunity, one that it had a chance to win if not for the constant stream of mistakes.

Ultimately, however, the season has to be considered a success. A year that was certain to be challenging given the team's youth culminated with a third Sweet 16 berth in the last four seasons, and with the core of the team back in 2008-09, the Wildcats are a team to watch.

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