Buckle your seat belts, sports fans. This promises to be a weekend to remember.

It starts on Saturday with the Villanova Wildcats tangling with North Carolina in the Final Four for the right to advance to Monday night’s NCAA basketball championship. Tip-off time is 8:47 p.m.

You have to figure bars and restaurants on the Main Line are big fans of the Wildcats. The places are packed for every game.

If that’s not enough, squeezed in between will be the Phillies kicking off their defense of their World Series title. The Phillies and Braves will pull back the curtain on the 2009 baseball season Sunday night in a nationally telecast game from Citizens Bank Park.

Don’t look for Cole Hamels though. The ace of the staff has been scratched as the Opening Day pitcher as he works the kinks out of his cranky elbow. Hamels got banged around yesterday in throwing 69 pitches during a minor league outing in Clearwater. He is not expected to miss a turn in the rotation, but he’s not pitching the opener. Look for either Brett Myers or Joe Blanton to get the call vs. the Braves.

By the way, make sure you pick up a copy of the print edition of Thursday’s Daily Times for a special color centerspread with the Phils’ complete 2009 schedule.