'Nova Nation, There Is No Need To Panic

As a whole, Saturday was a GREAT DAY for Villanova Wildcats supporters all over the world. College GameDay was unbelievable. I've never been more proud of the students, who I've definitely given a hard time before. You guys killed it. It was amazing to watch.

The loss against Pitt, while heartbreaking in many ways, isn't the end of the world like some are making it out to be. Is Villanova a Final 4 team right now? Absolutely not. Are they still a good team? Very much so. We learned a lot about Pittsburgh this weekend: they're very good. Even without Ashton Gibbs they played a great game. And 'Nova, without Corey Stokes and relying on Dominic Cheek and James Bell to step up, nearly won that game. (box score)

So why are so many taking the sky is falling approach? Not quite sure to be honest. Jason King penned a great story about just how tough this conference is - and he's dead on. The BEAST is brutal - which makes what Pitt is accomplishing all the more incredible. 'Nova has a 'soft' portion of the schedule coming up where they should be able to right the ship and get some confidence back.

So let's not act like the season is over. The real hardware is played for in March. This team will be there in March, and they are going to be a nightmare for any team that draws them in the tournament. They'll be underrated wherever they land, which right now is still in the 3 or 4 seed range. And maybe, if we're lucky, everything will come together behind 4 strong seniors for a deep run like in 2009.

I'm not ready to give up on this team, and the rest of 'Nova Nation shouldn't either.