It's one of those quotes that seem to pop up now and again, but no one is really sure where it originated. Orlando Magic owner Rich DeVos said it in 1995, but in a non-sports context perhaps it dates to Robert F. Kennedy, who said something like it:

"If not us, who? If not now, when?''

We bring it up now only because it seemed to at least unwittingly be a West Virginia theme in the aftermath of Saturday's stirring 68-66 overtime win over Villanova at the Wachovia Center.

Why not us? Why not now?

Why not fight for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament?

"Obviously I think if we can go to New York and play well and win [the Big East tournament], it would be hard not for us to be a [No. 1 seed] I would think,'' West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "But that's a lot of games.''

It's funny how quickly things like this can morph and turn. In the first half Saturday afternoon, West Virginia didn't even look much like an NCAA qualifier. The Mountaineers trailed No. 9 Villanova 10-0, 15-2 and 18-4. They scored 16 points in those first 20 minutes.

How bad is 16 points in a half? Well, remember that ugly loss at home to Cincinnati two years ago? The Mountaineers scored 16 points in the second half of that game, perhaps the worst performance in school history.

This half gave that one a run for its money.

It's funny how this team reacts to spells like that, though. The Mountaineers may not have had any 16-point halves this season, but they've had plenty of stinkers. Yet almost every time they bounce back.

"I told them they're like geese,'' Huggins said. "You can shoot at geese and they'll fly away and come back to the same spot the next day because they forget. That's what I'm told. They don't know what happened the day before. I told our guys, they're like geese. They don't know what happened the first half. They just want to go play the second half. They were having a bad day, but they forgot already. That's probably a good trait to have.''

It's good because in the next 20 minutes West Virginia looked every bit the top-10 team it has been virtually all season long. Throw in another five minutes of overtime and the Mountaineers had perhaps their most impressive win of the season. They took it to a top-10 team playing in front of more than 20,000 and never backed down.

A crisis of confidence after that abysmal first half? Not even close.

"I don't think we have a confidence problem,'' Huggins said. "We won 13 games in this league and we all know we coulda-shoulda won a couple more. We shouldn't be hurting for confidence. This is the best league in the country. It's got the best coaching in the country. When you're successful in this league you're pretty good.''

All of which brings us back to what might be this team's new mantra: Why not us, why not now? If you were a betting man you would be foolish to wager that Syracuse, Kansas and Kentucky won't be three of the four No. 1 seeds when the NCAA announces its tournament bracket a week from today. Sure, any of the three could trip over their own shoelaces (like the Orange did Saturday at Louisville), but the smart money still has those three penciled in as No. 1s.

But the fourth top seed? Go ahead, make a case for Duke, which is 26-5, but just lost to Maryland and has to navigate the ACC tournament?

How about Kansas State, which is 24-6 and was beaten by Iowa State Saturday night, lost by 17 at Kansas and might have to play the Jayhawks again in the Big 12 tournament?

Want to talk about Ohio State, which is No. 6 in the polls but is 24-7 and is barely in the Top 30 in the RPI (not to mention that loss at West Virginia)?

How about Purdue, 24-4 but now without Robbie Hummel and not in the RPI top 10?

Then there's New Mexico, which is 27-3 and actually might have the best case. But is a mid-major ranked eighth in the polls and the RPI really going to get a top seed?

You may scoff at the notion of West Virginia as a No. 1 seed, but the Mountaineers are No. 6 in the RPI and have the fourth-toughest schedule in the country. Go ahead and make a better case for someone else.

That is, of course, provided the Mountaineers win the Big East tournament.

"There's no reason we can't be a No. 1 seed,'' Da'Sean Butler said after hitting his fourth game-winning shot of the season. "I definitely feel like we're a No. 2 seed and if we go up to [Madison Square Garden] and take care of business there's no reason why we should be a 1 seed.''

The taking care of business part is the obstacle. If the games follow the seeds (which, of course, they won't), West Virginia, the third seed, will face sixth-seeded Louisville in the quarterfinals, second-seeded Pitt in the semifinals and No. 1 Syracuse in the championship game. It's a path that will be more difficult to navigate than perhaps any team in the country will face this week.

Again, though, that's exactly the point. If West Virginia can do that, it will finish the season as Big East tournament champions, probably will have won five straight games against NCAA tournament teams (three at the Garden plus Georgetown and Villanova to end the regular season), will certainly be in the top 5 in the RPI and will be as hot as any team in the country.

The point is not that West Virginia deserves a No. 1 seed now, but that it seems without question the Mountaineers have put themselves in position to play for one.

All of which makes that mantra appropriate.

Why not us? Why not now?

Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.