SAN ANTONIO – Jay Wright used to be Tony Bennett. Not literally, though that would be a hell of a story. But Wright’s story then was Bennett’s story now. Wright won a lot of games, made NCAA tournaments, and made Final Fours in Most Handsome Coach brackets but not in the real thing. Nobody looked better shaking the opponent’s hand after losing in March.
Villanova lost in the second round as a No. 2 seed —twice. The Wildcats also lost in the second round as a No. 1 seed. They made one Final Four, in 2009, but for a solid decade, one of the first rules of bracket-picking was: Stay away from Villanova.