Breaking Down the Final Four - (3) Villanova Wildcats

Villanova is off to its first Final Four since the 1985 team that made its stunning run to the NCAA championship. The 2-point underdog Wildcats clawed its way to a 78-76 victory over top-seeded Pittsburgh to claim the East Region trophy, becoming the first club in this year's dance to oust a No. 1. It was also their third cover in its four Big Dance outings. The only non-cover victory came as a 15-point Round 1 favorite against No. 13 American, who fell 80-63. In the second round, they downed UCLA then put away Duke by 23 points, the worst loss for the Blue Devils in NCAA play in 19 years. Prior to Pittsburgh scoring 76 points, no other dancers reached the 70-point mark.

The Wildcats started the regular season strong at 12-1 SU, beaten only by Texas 67-58 during the span. Villanova finished third in the Big East at 13-5 SU and 11-7 ATS, posting a consecutive eight-game ATS winning streak from Jan. 18 - Feb. 10. In the Big East Tournament, they were eliminated 69-55 as the 4½-point underdogs in the semifinals versus Louisville.

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Forward Dante Cunningham is the team's leading scorer with 15.6 points per game and is crucial to Villanova's game; he is their most skilled inside threat and there isn’t much depth behind him on the bench. Cunningham can't afford to have a bad outing at this point against superior competition, because if he gets in foul trouble or is contained, the team will have a hard time making up for his absence or limited scoring. The other two Wildcats that average double-digits in scoring are guards Scottie Reynolds (15.2) and Corey Fisher (10.7). Corey Stokes and Dwayne Anderson are close behind with just under ten points per game.

Keys to advancing: Villanova will face North Carolina on Saturday, April 4, in Detroit (8:47pm EST) as the BetUS NCAA basketball odds 7½-point sports wagering underdogs. To reach the title game, the Wildcats must keep playing with focus and intensity, yet play within itself. They are good enough to compete with either of the three in the Final Four, but if they pitch a game like the one it did in the opening round against American, at this level competition they'll get inhaled.

They must also continue to bark as dogs, as they play role of puppies SU better than anybody else in the history of the NCAA Tournament. Villanova has generated a record 15 victories as a lower seed. The Wildcats won the national title as a No. 8 seed in 1985, which is remains the lowest seed ever to win the Big Dance.