Being a Nova fan is legitimately the best/worst. If you’re a Nova fan, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Being a Nova fan is an emotional roller coaster. The highs & lows, the cheers & tears, the wins & losses. It’s amazing but simultaneously the worst, mostly because all of us are SO PASSIONATE about the Cats. 

I blame Jay Wright. That talk he gives at Orientation when we’re all young and impressionable changes how we look at basketball. We don’t just support Villanova Basketball. We ARE Villanova basketball. So all the triumphs and defeats we feel ten-fold.

Here’s why being a Nova fan is the best/worst.

1. When we win, we’re on cloud nine.

We’re the best team in the WORLD. Nothing can touch us! We are UNSTOPPABLE.  And don’t worry, we let every non-Nova fan know it.

2. But when we lose, we sink into a state of mourning.

I can’t even talk about the NC State game from2015. Losses are soul-crushing, and I don’t say that jokingly. I think I may have cried.

3. We take rivalries* very seriously.

*The real ones. Like Georgetown and Syracuse. Seriously, I hate those teams. And their fans. Forever & ever.

4. We all have a defining Nova Basketball memory.

(Or like 15). I will never forget  beating ‘Cuse in OT or spontaneously buying Big East Championship tickets my senior year. Oh yea, and winning the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

5. Filling out our March Madness brackets feels like a serious moral dilemma.

There’s always the question of if we make Nova go all the way. We want to. We really want to. But we also don’t want to lose our Bracket-Pool. How do we decide??

6. The First Weekend of the tournament gives us hives.

I don’t want to talk about it.

7. And every game, we’re on the verge of a heart attack(s).

Doesn’t matter if we’re up by 12 or 2, I’m at the edge of my seat like my life depends on winning this game.

8. The Bench Mob gives us life.

Seriously, love those guys. I dare to find you someone in the Nation who doesn’t.

9. Jay Wright.

*swoon*

10. We’d do anything for our team.

Including, but not limited to: traveling to PA just to see them play at home, buying Big East tickets at the last minute because they’re in the Championship and streaming the game live at work because we can’t stand missing a second of a Tournament game (much to our bosses’ dismay).

11. Win or lose, we still love our Cats.

I think we’re some of the most dedicated fans in the country. It doesn’t matter how many times we lose, we keep believing in our team. And it doesn’t matter if we’re freshmen or raising families, we will always be fans. Because Cats > everything. &.