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April 21, 2008

RICHMOND, Va. - With its victory over Towson last Friday evening, Villanova (5-8, 3-2 CAA) has clinched one of four spots in the Colonial Athletic Association championship which begins later this month. Numerous scenarios exist for how the final regular season standings can play out and the Wildcats can finish as a #2, #3 or #4 seed for the playoffs.

Villanova returns to the conference tournament after a one-year absence and is making its fifth championship appearance in seven years since joining the CAA in 2002. The Wildcats have one remaining regular season game and will host Drexel on Saturday at 7 p.m. The outcome of that game, as well as two others in the league on Saturday afternoon, will determine the final playoff seeds.

The now certain playoff spot for Villanova makes complete an impressive turnaround for the Wildcats over the second half of the season. After beginning the year with seven losses in its first eight games, Villanova has rallied to win four of its last five contests. Three of the four victories have come against conference foes, including wins over Sacred Heart, Robert Morris and Towson.

In addition to the Wildcats, both Drexel and Hofstra have clinched conference tournament berths. The final spot will go to either Delaware or Towson, based on the results of this week's games.

The CAA semifinals will be played on Wednesday, April 30 at the sites of the top two seeds in the tournament. The championship game will be played on Saturday, May 3 at the site of the highest remaining seed.

Villanova is 1-4 all-time in the CAA Championship, with its lone win coming in a 15-6 decision over Delaware in the semifinals of the 2004 tournament. That year the Wildcats were defeated 12-7 in the title game by Towson during a record-breaking 12-3 campaign for the program. In its last conference tournament appearance, Villanova fell to Hofstra 14-7 on May 3, 2006 in Hempstead, N.Y.

Below is this week's schedule of conference games and the eight scenarios for potential seeding.

SATURDAY, APRIL 26
Hofstra at Robert Morris (Noon)
Delaware at Sacred Heart (1 p.m.)
Penn at Towson (1 p.m.) Note: Not a league game
Drexel at Villanova (7 p.m.)

SEEDING SCENARIOS

1.
HOF - W	     5-1	#1
DEL - W	     4-2	#2
NOVA - W     4-2	#3
DREX - L     4-2	#4

DEL is 2-0 against NOVA/DREX, NOVA is 1-1 against DEL/DREX, DREX is 0-2 against NOVA/DEL.

2.
HOF - L		4-2	#2
DEL - L		3-3	#3
NOVA - L	3-3	#4
DREX - W	5-1	#1
TOW		3-3	OUT

DEL, NOVA, TOW are 1-1 against each other. DEL is only of the three to beat DREX (top spot in standings). NOVA beat TOW head to head (TOW eliminated).

3.
HOF - W	        5-1	#2
DEL - W	        4-2	#3
NOVA - L	3-3	#4
DREX - W	5-1	#1
TOW		3-3     OUT

DREX beat HOF head to head. NOVA beat TOW head to head (TOW eliminated).

4.
HOF - W	        5-1	#1
DEL - L		3-3     OUT
NOVA - W	4-2	#2
DREX - L	4-2	#3
TOW		3-3	#4

NOVA beat DREX head to head. TOW beat DEL head to head (DEL eliminated).

5.
HOF - L		4-2	#1
DEL - W	        4-2	#2
NOVA - W	4-2	#3
DREX - L	4-2	#4

HOF is 2-1 against DEL/NOVA/DREX, DEL is 2-1 against HOF/NOVA/DREX. NOVA is 1-2 against HOF/DEL/DREX, DREX is 1-2 against HOF/DEL/NOVA. HOF beat DEL head to head. NOVA beat DREX head to head.

6.
HOF - W	        5-1	#2
DEL - L		3-3	#3
NOVA - L	3-3	#4
DREX - W	5-1	#1
TOW		3-3     OUT

DREX beat HOF head to head. DEL, NOVA, TOW are 1-1 against each other. DEL is only of the three to beat DREX (top spot in standings). NOVA beat TOW head to head (TOW eliminated).

7.
HOF - L		4-2	#1
DEL - L		3-3     OUT
NOVA - W	4-2	#2
DREX - L	4-2	#3
TOW		3-3	#4

HOF, NOVA, DREX are 1-1 against each other. HOF is 2-0 against DEL/TOW (next spot in standings), NOVA, DREX are 1-1 against DEL/TOW (next spot in standings). NOVA beat DREX head to head. TOW beat DEL head to head (DEL eliminated).

8.
HOF - L		4-2	#2
DEL - W	        4-2	#3
NOVA - L	3-3	#4
DREX - W	5-1	#1
TOW		3-3     OUT

OF beat DEL head to head. NOVA beat TOW head to head (TOW eliminated).