it's the old Rorschach test again. Some people look at Rich Pitino, and they see a young up-and-coming coach with a lot of promise. Those people are inclined to take a more positive view of Pitino's comments.
Other people look at Rich Pitino and they see a young coach who was given a job he didn't deserve, and is taking the program in the wrong direction. Those people are inclined to take a negative view of anything Pitino says.
I say - the Gophers just had one of the worst season in school history, and the coach is drawing a comparison between the Gophers and the team that just won the NCAA title. Even if there's some truth in what Pitino said, it still comes off as a huge reach, or downright delusional.
If Pitino had said "I believe we're going to have a much better season next year," a few people may have scoffed, but the reason Reusse wrote that column is because Pitino chose to draw a parallel between his team and Villanova. This one's on Pitino - not Reusse.