Villanova, Temple, St. Joe's prepare for March Madness
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- By a stroke of luck, three local teams - Villanova University, Saint Joseph's University, and Temple University - will all open on Friday in the NCAA Tournament.
Villanova's Jay Wright, Temple's Fran Dunphy and St. Joe's Phil Martelli were all gathered at the Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania Monday morning for the Coaches vs Cancer Season Tip-Off event.
Nova, a two-seed in the South, will open against UNC-Asheville in Brooklyn, New York.
Temple, a 10-seed also in the South, will face Iowa.
Those games are on Friday afternoon.
The Hawks, meanwhile, are headed west. Their first game is Friday night against Cincinnati in Spokane, Washington.
The three coaches have been around for a long time.
They know what an accomplishment it is to make the NCAA Tournament.
"It's fun. It is really exciting. We've been fortunate enough to be able to do this year after year. I never want anyone to take this for granted. I don't want the players to take this for granted," Wright said.
"I'm delighted for them. I'm delighted for their families. This is about smiles and memories," Martelli said.
"There will be tremendous excitement, but it's a basketball game. Once we get through the opening minute jitters that we'll probably have, settle down, and let's play some basketball," Dunphy said.
With Nova and Temple being in the same region, if they both win on Friday, they would play each other on Sunday.
Online: Printable Bracket
