One for Penn or four for 'Nova?

My morning at the Big 5 Coaches vs. Cancer breakfast was cut short by Professor Brownlee's Modern Architecture class, but I still got some good material out of it.

The most striking thing was how little love the Quakers were getting in their home gym. As a fairly good number of the coaches and pundits predicted a Villanova trip to the Final Four, Penn was seen as roadkill on Texas A&M's path to Atlanta.

To his credit, Glen Miller did a fine job remaining composed as Howard Eskin of WIP said he didn't give Penn much of a chance from across the podium.

But it got me thinking. Which is more likely: A Villanova run to the Final Four or a Penn win over A&M? Pinnaclesports.com now lists Penn as 10-1 to beat A&M. Villanova, a pick-em to get out of the first round against Kentucky, is 36-1 to reach the Final Four and would likely have to beat Kansas and Southern Illinois or Virginia Tech and Pitt, UCLA or Duke to get there.

I'm with Vegas (or should I say, offshore) on this one. We've all seen an upset or even two. But to say that Villanova, which has been known to disappear on offense for long spans, is more likely to reach the Final Four than Penn is to the Round of 32 sound ridiculous. Especially with Kansas looming in the second round.

The best quote of the morning comes from Phil Martelli, who tried to protect Jay Wright from an uncomfortable shot from Eskin.

Eskin, waking up the rumors that Wright is a candidate for the Sixers job, asked who Larry Brown would be rooting for in a Kansas/Nova game. For background, Brown, now a Sixers adviser, led KU to the title in 1988, but has been seen courtside at multiple Villanova games.

As for why Brown has been hanging out at the Pavilion rather than with the Sixers, now winners of seven straight, here's Martelli.

Seven in a row? What kind of a league is this? They couldn't win seven in a row in the Big East.