PHILADELPHIA -- Still blinded by the dirt kicked in his team's face after an 89-61 loss to Villanova, Providence coach Ed Cooley grabbed hold of his rose-colored glasses to make a case that his good friend, Jay Wright, and his Wildcats team deserve a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

"Y'all are missing the boat," the Providence coach said. "There are lot of Stevie Wonders and Ray Charles out there who don't appreciate what they're seeing. You can say it's a lack of star power, but what I saw was 15 stars on the other bench. It's a total lack of respect. ... Villanova is easily, in my eyes, the second No. 1 seed overall."

That might not just be Big East Kool-Aid talking. Cooley could have a very good point.

Going out on a limb, we're going to concede Kentucky as the overall No. 1 seed.

After that, you've got essentially six teams -- Villanova, Duke, Gonzaga, Wisconsin, Arizona and Virginia -- trying to fill three spots, and résumé on résumé, the Wildcats stack up pretty well.

"We have a chance to," Wright said, albeit reluctantly. "There's a lot of basketball left to play to do that, but we may have a chance to do it."

Here's why: Start with the computers. They love Villanova and the Big East. The RPI might be flawed, but it's still a tool in the selection committee room, and the RPI says Villanova is fifth and the Big East is the No. 2 conference in the nation, behind just the Big 12.

Plus, their schedule ranks 41st. Duke's is the highest of the six, at No. 6, followed by Virginia (12), Wisconsin (32), Arizona (42) and Gonzaga (92).

So in the SOS department, Villanova beats Arizona and Gonzaga.

They've lost twice: once badly to Georgetown and once not so badly to Seton Hall, but that loss looks worse and worse as the Pirates tumble further and further into the abyss.

But Wisconsin will see that lousy loss to a New Jersey-based school and raise it with Rutgers. Arizona antes in with Oregon State, and Duke calls with a 16-point drubbing from Miami.

In the bad loss category, then, Villanova is at least a push with the Badgers, the West Coast Wildcats and the Blue Devils.

There are essentially 10 regular-season days plus Championship Week left to sort this thing out, but that's where Villanova might really have the edge.

The war of attrition works in the Wildcats' favor.

Consider Wisconsin, which lost to Maryland while Villanova was pasting Providence, still has to face Michigan State at home and Ohio State on the road.

Arizona plays at Utah on Saturday and hosts Stanford to close the season.

In the ACC, Duke is still waiting for dates with Syracuse and at North Carolina, and let's not entirely overlook Clemson and Wake Forest. A depleted Virginia team* has to go to both Syracuse and Louisville ... and potentially contend with Duke in the ACC tournament.

Meanwhile, Villanova will go to Xavier, a team they've already beaten by 13, and Creighton, a team with three Big East wins, and close at home against St. John's. The Wildcats will certainly be favored in all three and then head to the Big East tournament favored to win it all there too.

That could add up to a 32-2 record and a 15-game win streak to finish the regular season.

That's not too shabby.

Maybe even No. 1 seed-worthy.

*The selection committee will give the Cavaliers injury dispensation.