How sweet it is, if you’re a Villanova fan. Not so much so for those of us who were pulling for local guy Fran McCaffery.

McCaffery, brother of our own sports columnist Jack McCaffery, is the head coach of the Siena Saints. Sunday he led his No. 13 seed team onto the court in a rare second-round matchup with a No. 12 seed. That would be those Villanova Wildcats.

This one had Philly written all over it. Maybe the best thing is that regardless of who won, there would still be a strong Philly angle alive in the tourney.

It was the Wildcats’ day, as they rode the hot hand of Scottie Reynolds to an 84-72 win.

It’s worth noting just how far McCaffery has brought the program at Siena. In just three years, he’s took his third different team to the tournament (he previously made appearances with Lehigh and North Carolina Greensboro). McCaffery was back at the dance with a young team that lost 24 games just three years ago.

It was not the best of Easter Sundays for a team called the Saints. But it is the latest issue of Philly hoops excellence.

McCaffery, who went to high school at La Salle and played for Penn, no doubt saw a lot of familiar faces when he looked at the opposing bench. There sat old pal Jay Wright. That would be the same Wright who phoned McCaffery with a tip on a potential assistant, from the Wildcats’ own staff. McCaffery hired him.

Yesterday ‘Nova got off to a quick start and never looked back. The Saints closed to 10 at one point in the second half, but could get no closer.

For their reward, Wright and Villanova get a date Friday night with No. 1 seed Kansas in the Sweet 16 in Detroit.

McCaffery and his charges will be watching, and no doubt pulling for their Philly pals.

That’s the way hoops are in this area. It’s a long, proud tradition of excellence. One that Fran McCaffery will be writing new chapters on for years to come.