NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Villanova coach Jay Wright says he wasn't surprised a No. 16 seed finally knocked off a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
It almost happened to him a couple of times.
"We played Monmouth at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly (in 2006), and they made a little run at us in the second half that got it to like two or three (points), and the whole hometown crowd flipped on us," Wright told WFAN's "The Afternoon Drive" on Monday. "Everybody went for the underdog. I was like, 'Oh my God!" I was looking around, like, 'Yo, we're in Philly!'
And last season, the top-seeded Wildcats led 16th-seeded Mount St. Mary's by just one point at halftime before pulling away to win by 20.
Virginia was not so fortunate on Friday night. The Cavaliers became the first No. 1 seed ever to lose to a 16th seed in the Big Dance, 74-54 to Maryland-Baltimore County.
"It just shows how much people love it and how fired up and confident teams can get," Wright said. "And with the use of the 3 ball -- the way coaches and teams are really utilizing it -- you knew it was going to happen."
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Wright said it's difficult to keep players on a top-seeded team from taking their first-round opponents lightly.
"I think the kids hear everything on TV, and they hear, 'Oh, well, that never happened. That's not going to happen,'" said Wright, whose team is a No. 1 seed again this year.
But "now I think it's going to be easier for everybody," Wright added. "Now, I think every 1 seed now is going to be easy to prepare."
To listen to the interview with Wright, in which he also discusses the Wildcats' second-round win over Alabama and their upcoming Sweet 16 game against West Virginia, click on the audio player above.