In the NBA, the playoffs are known as the second season. In college basketball, there are essentially two playoffs: the conference tournaments and the NCAA tournament. For the Georgetown Hoyas, the first season is over and they finished as champions. Before we look forward to the second (and third) season, let’s take a quick look back on Part I. If you don’t take even a few moments to celebrate your accomplishments, it’s really not worth earning them in the first place.

Back when the Hoyas were 5-1 in the conference, I wrote about how 1/3 of the conference season was over. At that point Georgetown was in first place in the Big East, and I said that if they went 5-1 in each of the following thirds of the season they would win the regular season title at 15-3. This just goes to prove my point that if you make enough predictions, eventually you will be correct.

Now then, about the first season. As the game against Louisville was winding down, and Georgetown trailed by one, I thought to myself, “There is no way the Hoyas are going to lose this game, not after all the close finishes, not on senior day. Jon, Roy and company have done too much this season and throughout their careers to let this final opportunity slip away.”

You can often find trends throughout a season. It’s no coincidence that teams that fail to execute in the final moments lose a lot of games in the same fashion, and it’s the same with winning close games. Congratulations to the Hoyas for their remarkable concentration and execution in the final five minutes all season. Unfortunately, that season is over, and everything starts from scratch in New York City. Well, almost everything.

The Hoyas will probably eventually lose a close game this season, but there is nothing more valuable than winning games to give confidence for winning more games. Louisville is a very good team. The fact that they were only ranked #12 re-emphasizes the point that the voters in the polls mostly just adjust their picks from the previous week and not really analyze which are the best 25 teams in the country. If the Hoyas don’t face Louisville in the Big East Tournament, they will either be lucky or eliminated before the finals. The Cardinals will be fine after the loss at Verizon Center. They’ll be hard to beat at Madison Square Garden, and they will make a strong run for the Final Four. But they’ve already missed out on one chance to lift a trophy.

As for Georgetown, they are 1 for 1 in trophy-lifting this season. That is something that nobody else in the conference can say. They now have more momentum and more confidence than anybody else in the league. That’s one additional advantage as they try to win three more Big East games. A college basketball season is like a house of cards. If you’re trying to build a good one, you need concentration, and a steady hand. You need to be a little lucky at times, and you need to be patient. Each time you complete one portion in the best way, it’s a little easier to build the next section. Everything can come crashing down at a moment’s notice, but the stronger the foundation, the more likely that the final product will be a thing of beauty. Georgetown has finished the first level of their card house. It is as sturdy as it can be, and it cannot crumble. That foundation makes it a little bit easier to complete the next story, but it doesn’t guarantee anything. Now they just want to make sure that it isn’t only a one-level house.