I hope Villanova players are looking as far ahead as the people writing about them are.

That squeaking noise you hear is the door of opportunity opening wide for Villanova.

It’s all right in front of the Wildcats, a Big East Tournament championship, a first-ever No. 1 ranking, a top seed in the NCAA Tournament, and more than anything an I-95 corridor roadto the Final Four in Indianapolis.

All ‘Nova has to do is walk through.

Now, things aren’t as simple as that; there still is the rather large matter of beating Pittsburgh tonight in the Big East semifinals and then knocking off the survivor of the Georgetown-Syracuse semifinal for the conference title.

But everything is set up for the taking.

The column then spends most of the time with the “but” portion.

Naturally, Villanova is taking the, “we have to play them one game at a time” approach.

The rest of the world is looking ahead, thinking up the scenarios for Villanova now that the Wildcats live to play another day and Connecticut doesn’t.

Fans and reporters are looking at a Villanova team that suddenly finds itself staring at a Red Sea-like route to the Big East Tournament title, reveling in the Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., NCAA Tournament commute that should come the Wildcats’ way on Selection Sunday.

Not Villanova. As much as reporters begged and pleaded after the Wildcats blew the doors off Rutgers, 87-55, in a Big East Tournament quarterfinal last night, the players weren’t biting.

“That’s what the rest of the world does,” sophomore Kyle Lowry said. “We have to be different.”

Different, that’s what No. 2 Villanova, which will meet Pittsburgh in the tournament semifinals at 9 o’clock tonight, has been all season. From its four-guard lineup to its tunnel vision through a season that has seen the bandwagon fill up to overflowing, the Wildcats have done things kids their age aren’t supposed to do. They have maintained their composure and their cool, have enjoyed their newfound fame but haven’t gotten swept up in it and most important, have taken the cliche of one game at a time to heart.

Villanova is a 4.5 to 5 point favorite. In 5 of the last 6 meetings the favored team covered and won between the two teams.