Villanova Beats Houston, Returns To Final Four

PENNSYLVANIA — Once again, the Villanova Wildcats are on the precipice of a national championship. They defeated Houston on Saturday night, 50 to 44, to win the South bracket and advance to the NCAA March Madness Tournament's coveted Final Four.

There will now be a week break in games before Nova faces off against Kansas, a number 1 seed and the winner of the Midwest bracket, in the semifinal matchup, on Saturday, April 2.

The winner of that game will face off against the winner of Duke and North Carolina, the winners of the other two brackets.

This marks Villanova's third Final Four appearance in the last six tournaments, dating back to 2016. In both of their last two appearances, they went on to win a national title.

In 2016, they beat North Carolina 77-74 in one of the more thrilling sports championships in recent history.

In 2018, they beat Michigan, a team they knocked out earlier in this year's tournament, 79-62.

They now find themselves in elite company. Not only are the other Final Four participants this year — Duke, North Carolina, and Kansas — among the most storied programs in NCAA history, but no team has been back to the Final Four since 2016 as many times as the Wildcats.

Nova may have to go without pivotal player Justin Moore, whose leg was injured toward the close of Saturday's win over Houston. An MRI is upcoming, according to ESPN, but head coach Jay Wright reportedly does not believe the news will be good.

Tipoff time for the game against Kansas on Saturday is still to be determined.