Tampa, Fla. ? Villanova coach Jay Wright has been in this situation before, and he will face it again when the Wildcats take on Kansas University in the Midwest Regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

As head coach of the U.S. men’s basketball team for the Pan American Games last summer, Wright watched many of the best college players in the country. Unfortunately, he could not keep them all. His Villanova team has been burned before by players who didn’t make the cut for the U.S. squad.

The Jayhawks (33-3), the top seeds in the Midwest, have two such guards, Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins, who were let go after the trials.

“I don’t cut them; I’m just the coach,” Wright said Sunday after Villanova advanced to the Sweet 16 with an 84-72 victory over Siena. “The committee does it.

“These two guards (Chalmers and Collins) are so good. We just had so many players. They’re going to come after us, I fear.”

Last month, Wright and the Wildcats lost a regular-season game to Marquette. The Golden Eagles had two players, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews, who were cut at the Pan Am Games trials.

“The two kids at Marquette were busting my chops about it,” he said. “They said, ‘We’re going to get you, Coach, when we come back.’ And they did. They kicked us.”

To earn the right to go to Detroit’s Ford Field for Friday’s game, the Jayhawks posted easy victories in the first two rounds in Omaha, Neb. They defeated Portland State, 85-61, and UNLV, 75-56. Chalmers led the team with 17 points in the second-round victory.

Four Kansas players average in double figures, led by sophomore forward Darrell Arthur at 13.1 ppg. and junior guard Brandon Rush at 13.0. Chalmers averages 12.6 points and a team-leading 4.5 assists.

The Jayhawks, winners of nine straight, are scoring 81.4 points per game, own an average winning margin of 20 points, and shoot 50.8 percent from the field.

“It’s so different when you’re watching them as a fan than when you’re preparing for them,” Wright said. “Watching them on TV, they look awesome. I love how they play.

“We’re playing a No. 1 seed. What can I say? We know how good they are.”

Villanova guard Scottie Reynolds was at the Pan Am Games trials with Chalmers and Collins. He called the Jayhawks “one of the elite teams in the country.”

“They had a great season,” he said. “They have some great inside players and good guards. They’re well-balanced, and they get out and run. It’s going to be a fun game.”

The game will mark the Wildcats’ first matchup against Kansas since January 2005, when they posted an 83-62 victory at the Wachovia Center.