Play Like It's 1985

Can history repeat itself, Bill Conlin wonders. “Twenty three years ago, the imperfect team played a perfect game,” he writes.

 

And tucked into his reflection of that magical run and the fact that no on the current team was ALIVE back in 1985, is this interesting stat nugget: Villanova “is the team with the best record as a lower seed of any team in tournament history.”

 

My brother and I were talking, and the beauty of being a 12 seed, we agreed, is that if you can win the first game, things get easier after that. Unlike an 8-9 game where the winner gets rewarded with a matchup against a #1 seed, a 12 gets to play a 4 seed in the second round - a winnable or least competitive game. In Villanova’s case, it would be Vanderbilt. Sure Vandy’s a 4 seed, but really Clemson may be the tougher team. Beat them first and it gets slightly easier after that.

 

Kind of like Villanova in 1985. Once they upset #1 seed Michigan in the second round, they were playing lower seeds until the Final Four. Could it happen again? Only if they can shoot the 3s like they did vs. Syracuse.