The 2008–09 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

in the

2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 10, 2008, and ended with the 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 6, 2009, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The season saw six ...

. They were led by Jay Wright in his eighth year as head coach of the Wildcats. The Wildcats played their home games at The Pavilion on the school's campus as members of the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

. They finished the season 30–8, 13–5 in Big East play to finish in fourth place. They lost in the semifinals of the Big East tournament to

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

. The Wildcats received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 3 seed in the East region. They defeated American,

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

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, and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

to advance to the Final Four. In the Final Four they were defeated by the eventual national champion for the second straight year,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2007–08 season 22–13, 9–9 in Big East play to finish in a tie for eighth place. The Wildcats lost in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament to Georgetown. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Clemson and

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. There they lost to the eventual national champions,

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Offseason

Recruiting class of 2008

Source , - , colspan="7" style="padding-left:10px;" , Overall Recruiting Rankings:

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Roster

Season

Before the season began, on October 22, 2008, the Wildcats were selected to finish fifth among the 16

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

Conference teams in the annual preseason coaches' poll at Madison Square Garden. As part of recent tradition, the 2008 Hoopsmania (an on-campus kickoff of the Villanova Basketball season), included a performance by hip-hop artist T-Pain. Previous artists have included 50 Cent, Tony Yayo and MIMS. The Villanova-Pitt game on January 28, 2009 was the last game to be held at the Wachovia Spectrum which drew a crowd of 17,449. The Wildcats finished perfect the year at the Pavilion. Villanova's 25 regular-season wins tied a school record. It had been done three times before, but not since 1950–51. During the 2009 Big East Awards Ceremony, head coach Jay Wright was named the 2009 Big East Coach of the Year. He won the award twice in the previous four years. Villanova senior forward Dante Cunningham was named the Big East's Most Improved Player, and sophomore guard Corey Fisher won the Sixth Man Award. Cunningham, a senior forward, won second-team honors on the all-Big East team, while junior guard Scottie Reynolds took honorable mention.http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/homepage/20090310_Villanovas_Jay_Wright_named_Big_East_Coach_of_the_Year.html Jay Wright Big East Coach of the Year . Accessed 2009-03-12.
Archived
2009-06-06.

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=9 style=, Non-conference regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Big East regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Big East tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 Villanova Wildcats Men's Basketball Team Villanova Villanova Wildcats men's basketball seasons Villanova NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons