NCAA Basketball: Xavier, Villanova only of 11 Catholic colleges to advance to Sweet 16

(Catholic Online) - And then there were two. That's how many Catholic college teams are still standing after the first weekend of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

The biggest surprise is that one of them is not Georgetown, which began their bracket at #2 before being knocked off in the round of 32 by giant-killer #10 Davidson on Easter Sunday. (We might as well call Davidson a Catholic-killer, too, since they sent #7 Gonzaga home in a first-round upset two days earlier.)

Xavier University, a #3 seed in the West Regionals whom we predicted had a very good chance at making the Final Four, defeated #14 Georgia and #6 Purdue to make the Sweet 16. They will take on #7 West Virginia, a team that upset #2 Duke over the weekend.

Also extending their season for another weekend is #12 Villanova. They upset #5 Clemson in the first round to enter a showdown with #13 Siena, another Catholic college, which had routed #4 Vanderbilt in another major upset. Somebody had to lose, and Villanova made sure it was Siena. Villanova will go on to play #1 Kansas in the Midwest Regional semifinals.

What is intriguing is that in a tournament whose opening rounds featured a large number of upsets, the three biggest upsets were pulled off by Catholic college teams. Villanova, Siena, and San Diego all began their runs by outscoring teams seeded much higher. Of course, Catholic teams were on the losing end of such surprises, as in the case of the early exits of Gonzaga, Georgetown and Notre Dame from their regional brackets.

Here's a rundown on how each of the 11 Catholic teams fared, followed by our own predictions for the second weekend of the tournament:

#5 Notre Dame (East Regional): Defeated #12 George Mason in first round; lost in second round to #4 Washington St.

#11 St. Joseph's(East Regional): Lost in first round to #6 Oklahoma.

#16 Mount St. Mary's (East Regional): Defeated Coppin State in the play-in game; lost in first round to #1 North Carolina.

#2 Georgetown (Midwest Regional): Defeated #15 Maryland-Baltimore County in first round; lost to #10 Davidson in second round.

#7 Gonzaga (Midwest Regional): Lost in first round to #10 Davidson.

#12 Villanova (Midwest Regional): Defeated #5 Clemson in first round; defeated #13 Siena in second round.

#13 Siena (Midwest Regional): Defeated #4 Vanderbilt in first round; lost to #12 Villanova in second round.

#6 Marquette (South Regional): Defeated #11 Kentucky in first round; lost to #3 Stanford in second round.

#3 Xavier (West Regional): Defeated #14 Georgia in first round; defeated #6 Purdue in second round.

#10 St. Mary's (Calif.) (South Regional): Lost to Miami in first round.

#13 San Diego (West Regional): Defeated #4 Connecticut in first round; lost to #12 Western Kentucky in second round.

Looking ahead

Xavier ought to be able to beat West Virginia, which likely would put them into an Elite 8 game against powerhouse UCLA. Their season may end there, but it will be a good game to see. Xavier can keep up with UCLA, so don't count them out; the NCAA does not give out #3 seedings lightly. They will be competitive.

Villanova has perhaps a tougher road. Kansas will most likely send Villanova home. They're just too strong and balanced of a team to be surprised by a school with a double-digit seed. If Villanova somehow slips past Kansas, it doesn't get much better: They will play the winner of the #3 Wisconsin vs. #10 Davidson (as in Catholic-killer Davidson).

In summary: Expect Villanova to be sent packing by Kansas, but give Xavier about 50-50 chance of reaching the Final Four.

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