Penn in the Tourney. Well, sort of...

 

I was surprised that Villanova made the NCAA Tournament, let alone won two games. The comeback against Clemson, a team that I though had Final 4 potential, was astounding. Then, the Wildcats certainly made Siena look like a mid-major in the second round, using good guard play to gain the lead, and an inside presence (14 after halftime from Dante Cunningham) to seal the deal.

Still, there are some other interesting Penn connections having success in the Tournament that you might not know about.

First, No. 13 Siena coach Fran McCaffery not only played for Penn in the early 80s, but was an assistant under current Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage a year later.

As a player, he let the Quakers to two Ivy titles and one NIT berth. He led the Ivies in steals in the 1981-82 season, and earned the coveted MIP, which, of course, translates to Most Inspirational Player. Don't ask me what that actually means.

Also, Stanford's Josh Owens, who had narrowed down his choices to Penn, Vanderbilt and the Cardinal, sees his club in the Sweet 16. In addition, Owens scored seven points in the rout of Cornell.

Owens has, in fact, been a monster against Ivy teams. In 75 minutes against everyone else, he's scored 11 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. but in only 29 minutes against the Ancient Eight (Harvard and Cornell, he didn't get minutes in the 11-point win over Yale) he scored 19 points on 62 percent shooting and corralled nine boards.

And finally, this isn't exactly a connection, but a record that could be broken. Penn is the only team to have ever beaten North Carolina in the state of North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament - in 1979 the year the 9th-seeded Quakers went to the Final 4. This season, the Tar Heels won two games at North Carolina State, and now play Washington State and potentially the winner of Louisville-Tennessee in the Sweet 16 in Charlotte.

After beating Iona by four, the '79 Quakers went into Raleigh and knocked off No. 1 UNC, 72-71, as first-team all-East regional players Tony Price and Tim Smith carried the Quakers to the Final 4 in Salt Lake City.

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