Vote for Villanova Basketball in “Team of the Decade” Tournament: 2nd Round

Happy TGIF Nova Nation! Despite a first round matchup with the only 16 seed to ever win in the NCAA Tournament, #1 Villanova defeated #16 UMBC in the first round of the @MarchMadness “Team of the Decade” Tournament. Now the Wildcats are facing the Tennessee Volunteers in the 2nd Round with a chance to advance to the Sweet 16.

As of last night, with over 18,000 votes cast, Villanova held a slim lead over the Vols with 53% of the vote. Today is the last day to vote for the matchup, so be sure to spread this around the Nova Nation and ensure a Wildcat Win!

Now that the promo is out of the way, I do have a bone to pick with this team selection. I’m not saying I know who I’d replace, but it doesn’t seem right that neither of Villanova’s Final Four Most Outstanding Players were included on this squad. Ryan Arcidiacono had the greatest assist in tournament history, and Donte DiVincenzo had the best bench performance for a National Champion since... well, Phil Booth.

Who would you have on your all decade team? How far will Nova advance in this thing? Oh, and just because there’s no other way to close out this week...

In other news, Villanova’s non-conference opponents are releasing their schedules, lots of ‘other’ college basketball news, and Team USA (ft. Jay Wright) takes on Spain today. Enjoy!

Villanova Basketball

Ranking OSU basketball's nonconference opponents for 2019-20 | Bucknuts
We look at Ohio State's 11 nonconference opponents for 2019-20 in men's basketball.

Men's Basketball: Ohio releases 2019 non conference schedule | The Post
The Bobcats will play four teams from the NCAA Tournament last season, including Villanova.

Big 5

Basketball recruiting: IMG star Mikeal Brown-Jones, a Philly native, lists Temple, St. Joe’s among final five | The Inquirer
The three-star recruit, who led Girard College to the state finals in 2017, also lists Virginia Commonwealth, New Mexico and South Florida among his top choices.

NBA Wildcats

A contract extension for Kyle Lowry with the Raptors is tough to picture | The Athletic
Kyle Lowry becomes an unrestricted free agent after the upcoming season and that's where his future gets murky.

U.S. men’s basketball team hopes to find form Friday vs. Spain | OlympicTalk
The U.S. men's basketball team heads into a World Cup warmup vs. Spain on the heels of a definitive scrimmage loss to a group of players culled mostly from the G-League.

Villanova Adjacent

Olympics: Triathletes DQ'd for crossing finish line together | Yahoo! Entertainment
The two runners left the pack behind on a sweltering hot and humid day in Tokyo. Former Villanova swimmer and cross-country runner Summer Rappaport qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a high enough finish before the qualifications.

College Basketball

Michael Avenatti files motion alleging Nike arranged payments for Zion Williamson, Romeo Langford and others | CBSSports.com
An explosive motion to dismiss extortion charges against Stormy Daniels' former lawyer was filed Wednesday

Seth Davis’ Mailbag, Phone-A-Friend edition: Chris Beard, Tony Bennett and others answer your questions | The Athletic
Seth Davis reached out to both national title game coaches and others for this edition of his mailbag.

Top five coaches, a Big Ten deep dive, and the best guards of the era: Eamonn Brennan’s college basketball mailbag, Part II – The Athletic
How good can these Big Ten and Pac-12 teams be and who are the best guard rotations of all time?