NCAA Tournament 2nd Round Friday Live Blog

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2011 NCAA Tournament 1st And 2nd Round Schedule

Tomorrow night, the 2011 NCAA Tournament will finally begin with the First Four in Dayton, Ohio. Despite many questionable seeding decisions, one thing remains constant: the NCAA Tournament is without a doubt one of the most exciting sporting events of the year. And starting this year, every game will be available to watch on national TV thanks to CBS's new partnership with Turner. The start times are a bit more staggered now, but in order to make this schedule as easy as possible to read, I have still divided up each day into four windows as, after all, only one game can be played in a given venue at one. In an effort to somewhat mitigate the "what channel is this game on?" questions (myself included), this schedule will be posted at the top of the blog along with the Philly Sports Schedule, UEFA Champions League schedule, Commenting Guidelines, About Me, etc. Feel free to refer to this throughout the week and hopefully this guide is easy to read as I hope it will be.

1st Round

Tuesday, March 15

Dayton: #16 UNC Asheville vs. Arkansas-Little Rock 6:40 (truTV - Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg, and Steve Kerr, SR: Tracy Wolfson)
Dayton: #12 Alabama-Birmingham vs. #12 Clemson approx. 9:10 (truTV - Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg, and Steve Kerr, SR: Tracy Wolfson)

Wednesday, March 16

Dayton: #16 Texas-San Antonio vs. #16 Alabama State 6:40 (truTV - Gus Johnson and Len Elmore, SR: Marty Snider)
Dayton: #11 Southern California vs. #11 Virginia Commonwealth approx. 9:10 (truTV - Gus Johnson and Len Elmore, SR: Marty Snider)

2nd Round

Thursday, March 17

Window #1

Tampa: #5 West Virginia vs. #12 UAB/Clemson 12:15 (CBS - Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel, SR: David Aldridge)
Washington D.C.: #8 Butler vs. #9 Old Dominion 12:40 (truTV - Tim Brando and Mike Gminski, SR: Lewis Johnson)
Denver: #4 Louisville vs. #13 Morehead State 1:40 (TBS - Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery, SR: Lesley Visser)
Tucson: #7 Temple vs. #10 Penn State 2:10 (TNT - Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, and Reggie Miller, SR: Sam Ryan)

Window #2

Tampa: #4 Kentucky vs. #13 Princeton approx. 2:45 (CBS - Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel, SR: David Aldridge)
Washington D.C.: #1 Pittsburgh vs. #16 UNC-Asheville/Arkansas-Little Rock approx. 3:10 (truTV - Tim Brando and Mike Gminski, SR: Lewis Johnson)
Denver: #5 Vanderbilt vs. #12 Richmond approx. 4:10 (TBS - Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery, SR: Lesley Visser)
Tucson: #2 San Diego State vs. #15 Northern Colorado approx. 4:40 (TNT - Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, and Reggie Miller, SR: Sam Ryan)

Window #3

Tampa: #2 Florida vs. #15 UC Santa Barbara 6:50 (TBS - Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel, SR: David Aldridge)
Denver: #3 Brigham Young vs. #14 Wofford 7:15 (CBS - Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery, SR: Lesley Visser)
Washington D.C.: #3 Connecticut vs. #14 Bucknell 7:20 (TNT - Tim Brando and Mike Gminski, SR: Lewis Johnson)
Tucson #4 Wisconsin vs. #13 Belmont 7:27 (truTV - Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, and Reggie Miller, SR: Sam Ryan)

Window #4

Tampa: #7 UCLA vs. #10 Michigan State approx. 9:20 (TBS - Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel, SR: David Aldridge)
Denver: #6 Saint John's vs. #11 Gonzaga approx. 9:45 (CBS - Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery, SR: Lesley Visser)
Washington D.C.: #6 Cincinnati vs. #11 Missouri approx. 9:50 (TNT - Tim Brando and Mike Gminski, SR: Lewis Johnson)
Tucson: #5 Kansas State vs. #12 Utah State approx. 9:57 (truTV - Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, and Reggie Miller, SR: Sam Ryan)

Friday, March 18

Window #1

Tulsa: #4 Texas vs. #13 Oakland 12:15 (CBS - Marv Albert and Steve Kerr, SR: Craig Sager)
Charlotte: #8 Michigan vs. #9 Tennessee 12:40 (truTV - Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg, SR: Tracy Wolfson)
Chicago: #2 Notre Dame vs. #15 Akron 1:40 (TBS - Spero Dedes and Bob Wenzel, SR: Jamie Maggio)
Cleveland: #8 George Mason vs. #9 Villanova 2:10 (TNT - Gus Johnson and Len Elmore, SR: Marty Snider)

Window #2

Tulsa: #5 Arizona vs. #12 Memphis approx. 2:45 (CBS - Marv Albert and Steve Kerr, SR: Craig Sager)
Charlotte: #1 Duke vs. #16 Hampton approx. 3:10 (truTV - Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg, SR: Tracy Wolfson)
Chicago: #7 Texas A&M vs. #10 Florida State approx. 4:10 (TBS - Spero Dedes and Bob Wenzel, SR: Jamie Maggio)
Cleveland: #1 Ohio State vs. #16 Texas-San Antonio/Alabama State approx. 4:40 (TNT - Gus Johnson and Len Elmore, SR: Marty Snider)

Window #3

Tulsa: #1 Kansas vs. #16 Boston 6:50 (TBS - Marv Albert and Steve Kerr, SR: Craig Sager)
Charlotte: #2 North Carolina vs. #15 Long Island 7:15 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg, SR: Tracy Wolfson)
Chicago: #3 Purdue vs. #14 Saint Peter's 7:20 (TNT - Spero Dedes and Bob Wenzel, SR: Jamie Maggio)
Cleveland: #6 Xavier vs. #11 Marquette 7:27 (truTV - Gus Johnson and Len Elmore, SR: Marty Snider)

Window #4

Tulsa: #8 UNLV vs. #9 Illinois approx. 9:20 (TBS - Marv Albert and Steve Kerr, SR: Craig Sager)
Charlotte: #7 Washington vs. #10 Georgia approx. 9:45 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg, SR: Tracy Wolfson)
Chicago: #6 Georgetown vs. #11 Southern California/Virginia Commonwealth approx. 9:50 (TNT - Spero Dedes and Bob Wenzel, SR: Jamie Maggio)
Cleveland: #3 Syracuse vs. #14 Indiana State approx. 9:57 (truTV - Gus Johnson and Len Elmore, SR: Marty Snider)

Big East Tournament 1st Round Live Blog

Let the Madness begin!

Big East Tournament 1st Round Schedule

The start of the Big East Tournament and 15 games of basketball in 5 days at Madison Square Garden in New York City is almost here! Yes, I will watch and live blog every game this year, including the 1st round, something I have never done before. I'm such a hack. The sad part here is this was the plan before Villanova free fell from competing for the double bye to competing in the first round. So without further ado here is the schedule for the first round to be played on Tuesday, March 8. (note: all games, including Tuesday night's ESPNU games, will also be available on ESPN3.com)

#16 DePaul vs. #9 Connecticut 12:00 (ESPN2 - Dave Pasch, Fran Fraschilla, and Doris Burke)
#13 Rutgers vs. #12 Seton Hall approx. 2:00 (ESPN2 - Dave Pasch, Fran Fraschilla, and Doris Burke)
#15 South Florida vs. #10 Villanova 7:00 (ESPNU - Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, and Bill Raftery)
#14 Providence vs. #11 Marquette approx. 9:00 (ESPNU - Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, and Bill Raftery)

3/5 College Basketball Live Blog

Previewing The Last Day Of Big East Regular Season Play

Today is the last day of the Big East regular season and if there is one thing we can say for sure it is this: there are a lot of bunched up teams fighting for better positioning in the Big East tournament. Of course, in the Big East's fabulous (read: absolutely horrible) system, all teams make the tournament, and the regular season is merely for positioning yourself in said tournament, but a double bye can be a huge advantage over a single bye which can be an advantage over having to win 5 basketball games in 5 days in order to win the thing.

So let's see how things stand in the Big East as we head into the last day of the season.

1. Pittsburgh - 14-3 (clinched double bye)
2. Notre Dame - 13-4 (clinched double bye)
3. Louisville - 12-5 (clinched double bye)
4. Syracuse - 11-6 (clinched at least a single bye)
5. St. John's - 11-6 (clinched at least a single bye)
6. West Virginia - 10-7
7. Cincinnati - 10-7
8. Georgetown - 10-7
9. Connecticut - 9-8
10. Villanova - 9-8
11. Marquette - 9-8
12. Seton Hall - 6-11
13. Rutgers - 5-12
14. Providence - 3-14
15. South Florida - 3-14
16. DePaul - 1-16 (clinched last place)

So with all 16 Big East teams in action this Saturday, let's see what we can have to look forward to.

Louisville vs. West Virginia 12:00 (ESPN - Dave Pasch and Doris Burke)

This game will mean much more to the Mountaineers than it will Louisville. Louisville already clinched a double bye and are only playing for seeding amongst the top 4. West Virginia, on the other hand, will have a much more intriguing day. The Big East tiebreakers are extremely complicated, mind-numbing, and are not worth getting into, but just know that West Virginia cannot leap over Syracuse and St. John's to get 4th place regardless of what happens. The best they can hope for is a single bye with the 6th seed. But a loss and they could fall as far as 10th.

Worth watching? Yes

Notre Dame vs. Connecticut 2:00 (ESPN - John Saunders and Fran Fraschilla)

All top 3 Big East teams are facing teams fighting for a double bye. Louisville will be the 1st to do so and Notre Dame, who can win the Big East regular season title with a win and some help, will be the second to do so. They are playing the Fighting Kembas of Connecticut, who can either earn a single bye or play Providence on Tuesday.

Worth watching? No, but only because there is a more important game on at the same time.

Georgetown vs. Cincinnati 2:00 (Big East Network - Mike Gleason and Anthony Buford)

The only Big East game of the week to feature two teams both fighting for a single bye in the Big East. Once again, the scenarios are too mind-numbing to get into, but the results of this game will have great impact on what happens elsewhere in the Big East today.

Worth watching? You betcha.

DePaul vs. Syracuse 4:00 (Big East Network - John Sanders and Dickey Simpkins)

Syracuse is in the running for a double bye (they will get it with a win) and at the worst will have a single bye, meanwhile DePaul is the laughing stock of the Big East, currently boasting a 1-16 conference record. Putrid.

Worth watching? Avoid it, for both the lobsided game and the terrible announcing of Dickey Simpkins.

Villanova vs. Pittsburgh 4:00 (CBS - Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery)

Pittsburgh will claim the Big East regular season title with a win. With a loss and some bad luck elsewhere, they will fall all the way to #2. Contrast that with Villanova, who could get a single bye, or fall all the way to 11. While Villanova certainly wants to win and get the single bye, should Villanova fall, they will be better off falling all the way to #11. In this scenario, Villanova will play the 14th seed (Providence/South Florida), win that and they will play the 6th seed (West Virginia/Cincinnati/Georgetown/Connecticut/Marquette), win that and they will play the 3rd seed (Louisville/Syracuse/St. John's), win that and they are in the semifinals against a team that will be the 2 seed or the team that beat the 2 seed. Again, winning is preferred (this team could use a marquee win), but if they lose, the best help Villanova can receive is the help that sends them plummeting to 11.

Worth watching? This game petrifies me.

Marquette vs. Seton Hall 6:00 (Big East Network - Justin Kutcher and Tim O'Toole)

Marquette is currently in 11th and will need lots of help to get the single bye. Seton Hall have locked themselves in a Battle Of New Jersey with Rutgers on Tuesday.

Worth watching? Nah

Providence vs. Rutgers 7:00 (espn3.com - Dave Weekley and Derek Whittenburg)

This game is largely irrelevant. Rutgers are playing Seton Hall on Tuesday regardless and Providence is bottom 3 in the conference.

Worth watching? If you are a masochist.

St. John's vs. South Florida 8:00 (Big East Network - Rich Hollenbeg and John Celestand)

St. John's can clinch a double bye with a win and a Syracuse loss to DePaul. South Florida can clinch the 14 seed with a win and a Providence loss to Rutgers.

Worth watching? Why watch this when you can hear Jim Nantz have multiple orgasms in Chapel Hill?

I will have a college basketball live blog up later today starting at noon and lasting through Duke-UNC. I hope to see you there!

Villanova Is In A World Of Trouble

I am the type of person who likes to relax and step away from the panic button in times of crisis for my sports teams. Well, consider the Villanova panic button pressed.

They are in a world of trouble. Villanova are a team that are real solid defensively, but their offense has been anywhere between meh to terrible over this stretch of the Big East schedule. Villanova currently sit in 8th place in the Big East and things are not looking to get any easier for the Wildcats, who play at 2nd place Notre Dame and 1st place Pittsburgh to close out the Big East regular season.

From then on, Villanova will go to the Big East tournament. If Villanova can so much as find their way to the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament, I will be amazed. If they can advance further, I will wonder what players suddenly injected themselves with steroids.

I am one who is optimistic, but I will also be amazed if Villanova can make it out of the 1st weekend of the NCAA Tournament. They have fallen so fast, it is unbelievable. They have lost four of their last six games, with the two wins being against Seton Hall and DePaul. Not only that, but Villanova had to hold their breath as Seton Hall missed what would have been a game-tying 3 at the buzzer, AND they needed overtime to beat last place and Big East laughing stock DePaul. Getting Kemba'd at the buzzer like what happened at the start of the Big East is one thing, losing to Rutgers, Providence, St. John's, and Syracuse is another, especially for a team that is supposed to be a Final Four contender.

Corey Fisher has been inconsistent, Pena is afraid to use his size, Yarou going at a rebound half-assed cemented the game for St. John's today, Corey Stokes just came back from injury a few days ago but his offense has not been enough right now.

Honestly, the Fisher/Stokes/Pena era can't end soon enough. They were a 1st round tournament ouster this year, and it is looking like they will suffer the same fate this year. What is really a shame is that there have been times where Fisher has really looked poised and completely taken over games and carried the team on his back, but there are times like the Syracuse game on Monday and the St. John's game today where he is just invisible offensively. And if Villanova has any chance of winning games in March, the offensive invisibility can't happen anymore. This team has potential, but sadly, I think that is all they have. They have been playing poor basketball for a few weeks now, and with the competition only getting tougher, they need a turnaround or else they are doomed.

So yeah, consider the Villanova panic button pushed.

Gone In 165 Seconds

24 hours after it happened, and I still can't believe this. I am really beginning to not like Mike Rice at all. If you remember, he was the coach of the Robert Morris team that took Villanova to OT in the 1st round of last year's NCAA Tournament. Now he is the man behind this. It is one thing if you are Maryland blowing a 10-point lead to Duke in the last minute of the game. It is a whole different thing if you are Villanova blowing a 10-point lead to lowly Rutgers in the final 2:45 seconds of the game. This video saves some of the pain and starts at a 9-point game with 2 minutes left. I don't know why.



3 things of note here. First of all, I have not counted the exact amount of time that should have elapsed, but when Rutgers inbounded with 6.3 seconds left, the clock took a very long time to start. Michigan State approves of Rutgers's timekeeper.

Secondly, how was that a foul on Fisher on Mitchell's game-tying 3-pointer? I am begging someone to show me where contact was made at all, let alone enough contact to draw a foul on the last play of the game. There was no contact. There was no foul. Terrible, terrible call by the Big East refs. And to think that it was 3 days before the 3-year anniversary of this atrocity.

Thirdly, there is no excuse for blowing a 10-point lead with 2:45 left in the game to Rutgers. Absolutely none. And it was all Rutgers capitalizing on stupid Villanova mistakes. That is probably the worst part about it. If Villanova advances past the 1st weekend of the NCAA tournament this year, I'll be shocked. They can beat Syracuse and will probably play real well against Pittsburgh, but there just seems to be something about facing weaker competition away from home that this team can't handle. Providence stormed the court on them earlier a few weeks ago, and now Rutgers. Unacceptable.

For The Philadelphia Market, This March Madness Could Be Epic

Now that the Eagles are done, I need to find other things to blog about other than the Flyers. Which is why I am very thankful for college basketball. This has the potential to be a very big year for Philadelphia schools, in addition to Penn State. The first couple days of March Madness are much more fun when there are multiple local teams that I can support and root for. And that may very well be the case this year. Here's a team by team look at the Big 5 schools thus far and some others in the area.

Villanova: Even though I like quite a few, Villanova is my favorite college basketball team, and this year they could very well be in the running for a spot in the Final Four. While they are just entering the heart of their Big East schedule now, they are playing very good basketball and in their last game had a very impressive showing against a good Louisville squad. With 1st and 2nd round games in Washington D.C. and Sweet 16 and Elite games in Newark, New Jersey, Villanova could find themselves surrounded by a lot of their own supporters should they perform good enough for the NCAA to reward them with these close cities.

Temple: Even though Temple is not my #1 favorite, they are #2, in large part because of the multiple family ties I have to that school. Add to that the fact that Fran Dunphy is their coach, and you have a winning combination. Oh, and that team is real good as well. Juan Fernandez and Lavoy Allen are beasts. Temple is currently ranked in the Top 25 and could conceivably earn a Top 4 seed if they continue to play well in the A-10.

Penn State: I pick on Penn State basketball a lot. They are an easy target, especially for someone who has spent his college basketball watching life a Villanova fan. But they are not that bad this year. In fact, they defeated Michigan State and Illinois in consecutive games, the first time they beat ranked teams back-to-back since the 1950s. They may get knocked down back to earth a little bit when they play Ohio State on Saturday. Sure they lost to Maine earlier this year, but if they can continue to win games in the Big 10 and maybe win some games in the Big 10 tournament, and Penn State may finally crack the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001.

Drexel: Drexel comes from the same conference similar to George Mason. And despite having six teams in the RPI top 100 and five in the RPI top 75, the CAA does not have the respect that a similar conference, the A-10 does. And Drexel may find themselves as a much talked about bubble team if they do not win the CAA tournament. This is a team that has a good non-conference schedule and has beaten Louisville this year. Of all the teams here, Drexel may be the most interesting team to follow. Drexel is a very good engineering school in Philadelphia not really known for its athletics. Even if Drexel gets in and ends up a 16 seed and loses 103-51 to Duke, just getting there would be a huge accomplishment.

Bucknell: The engineering school known for it's NCAA tournament has a decent out of conference record and could threaten for the Patriot League title. It goes without say that this conference won't get any at larges.

Lehigh: They won the Patriot League title last year.....

Lafayette: Lost the Patriot League championship last year to their bitter rivals, the aforementioned Lehigh. This team is a no-hoper unless they make an improbable run at the Patriot League tournament.

Saint Joseph's: My how this team has fallen since the days of Jameer Nelson. 5-11 overall, 0-2 in the A-10. Barring a miraculous tournament victory, you can count out the Hawks this year.

La Salle: A slightly better team than St. Joe's, but again, a team that probably has no chance at an at-large bid. Once again, the only hope here is an NCAA Tournament bid.

Pennsylvania: When Fran Dunphy left, so did Penn's NCAA tournament appearances. Coincidence? I think not.

Right now if I were to make a prediction, I would say that Villanova, Temple, and Penn State get in the tournament, with everyone else on the outside. I think Drexel will end up just short because the NCAA does not like the CAA, and there is too much competition in that conference to beleive that Drexel will win it.

An Epic Win Streak Will Face A Tough Test Tonight

On Saturday night, December 11, near the hour of 10:00, St. Joe's lost to Creighton. Why is that event in any way remarkable? It's the last time a Philadelphia team lost when facing a team outside of Philadelphia (that footnote is needed because on Sunday Villanova faced La Salle; that game is not counted in the series of events I am about to present.) Since that seemingly unremarkable moment, no Philadelphia sports team has lost. Professional, college, it does not matter. The city of Philadelphia is currently riding an 8-game win streak. Since Saint Joseph's lost to Creighton on December 11, all Philadelphia sports teams, including college basketball and college football, are a remarkable 8-0 in actual games with 1 epic Cliff Lee deal to boot. Here is a break down of what has happened since then, and what the future may hold tonight.

Sunday, December 12
Sixers 88, Hornets 70
Villanova 84, La Salle 81 (a win for the team I support, though it does not count toward the streak as both teams are Philadelphia schools)
Temple 82, Akron 47
Eagles 30, Cowboys 27

Monday, December 13, minutes before the stroke of midnight
Clifton Phifer Lee

Tuesday, December 14
Flyers 3, Penguins 2
Sixers 82, Nets 77
Drexel 52, Louisville 46

Wednesday, December 15
Sixers 105, Clippers 91
Flyers 5, Canadiens 3

There were no games or big acquisitions on Thursday, but this epic streak will face one hell of a test tonight. Three teams are in action, and two of them are facing extremely tough competition. Here is tonight's schedule.

Los Angeles Lakers vs. 76ERS 7:00
Bucknell vs. LA SALLE 7:00
FCS Semifinals: VILLANOVA vs. Eastern Washington 8:00

If all 3 prevail, the Sixers will have beaten one of the best in basketball, La Salle will have added a win heading into A-10 conference play, and Villanova will be playing for a Division I football championship.

(Hat tip to Philadelphia Sports Daily.)

Villanova Football To Join The Big East?

Villanova is a member of the Big East in every sport but one. Obviously that one sport is college football. Although with the Big East extending a formal invitation to the now perennial FCS title contender, that could all change for Villanova. From CSNPhilly.com.

Villanova says the Big East has informed the school it wants to add its football program to the conference.

The Wildcats compete in the Big East in all other varsity sports except football. Villanova won the FCS national championship last year and would move up to the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Villanova President Peter Donohue wrote a letter to Villanova alumni saying the university will evaluate the opportunity. There was no immediate comment from the Big East.

"This is a complicated issue with numerous, multi-dimensional factors that come into play, and it is important that we investigate scenarios related to making -- or not making -- such a move," Donohue wrote.

The Philadelphia Daily News reported Friday that the conference was interested in Villanova.

Donohue did not say when the program would make a decision, but it won't be until the board of trustees "conducts a careful and complete analysis" of all the factors. Among the decisions would include upgrading their football stadium or finding somewhere else to play.

For Villanova, this should hopefully be a no-brainer. For the Big East, this is clearly an act of desperation. It is no secret that the Big East is the laughing stock of the BCS football conferences and they want to do whatever they can to try and change things. Now Villanova football is unlikely to change that. All season long, they drew a mere 52,717 fans in attendance. That is not a per game basis, that is a season total at their home stadium. That being said, if you are Villanova, you could do wonders for your program by moving straight from the FCS to the BCS. Granted, they are not going to turn into a BCS national championship contender overnight, that is at least a good 10 years down the road from now, but if you are given the opportunity to jump from the FCS to the BCS, wouldn't you take it? Then again, unless Big East football can make a big move and grab a big name (*cough*cough*NotreDame*cough*cough), the odds that the Big East is a BCS conference in 10 years is probably sitting at quite slim right about now.

(For additional reading, please check out Dan Levy's article at Press Coverage)

Villanova Survives!

What a day of hoops. And I right this completely drained of everything I have left.

2-seeded Villanova went to overtime with a 15-seed in Robert Morris and nearly lost. They only won by 3. My heart still has not recovered from watching that game. Somehow I don't think the palpitations will ever stop.

Now Villanova plays the Gaels of St. Mary's (Cal). Samhan and co. could potentially give Nova fits if the team that showed up against Robert Morris. Yarou stepped up big time for Nova today and if Nova wants to beat St. Mary's, he is going to have to have another great game. Scottie Reynolds got a total of 20 points today, but 15 of those were from the charity stripe. He has to step it up as the competition is only going to get tougher from here on out. As overrated as Duke may be, at least they can say they are a better team than Robert Morris.

Join us again tomorrow for the live blogs at Keith's Sports Journal, as the Temple Owls battle Cornell and Gus Johnson takes his turn at this wild NCAA Tournament. And yes, I am aware that Saturday's schedule has been announced. Here is the link to Fang's Bites and I will probably post an entire second round schedule after the games on Fridays.

I love March.

2010 Big East Tournament Quarterfinals Live Blog

Last year on this day of the tournament, Villanova beat Marquette on a last second buzzer-beater and Syracuse and Connecticut went 6 overtimes. This is the round where the Big East tournament gets real good. A reminder for the 10,000th time that I will be out for the Cuse-GTown game and will return sometime during Nova-Marquette. But that does not mean you should join us throughout the day and night for an awesome day of basketball! Feel free to comment as long as you don't troll! (all times eastern)

#8 Georgetown vs. #1 Syracuse 12:00 (ESPN - Dave Pasch, Doris Burke, and Fran Fraschilla, SR: Beth Mowins)

#5 Marquette vs. #4 Villanova Approx. 2:00 (ESPN - Dave Pasch, Doris Burke, and Fran Fraschilla, SR: Beth Mowins)

#7 Notre Dame vs. #2 Pittsburgh 7:00 (ESPN - Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, and Bill Raftery, SR: Beth Mowins)

#11 Cincinnati vs. #3 West Virginia Approx. 9:00 (ESPN - Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, and Bill Raftery, SR: Beth Mowins)

Scottie Reynolds Would Like To Make Gus Johnson's And Greg Anthony's Life Difficult

I like Scottie Reynolds. I like Gus Johnson. I don't think Scottie Reynolds likes Gus Johnson very much.

During the Villanova game today against West Virginia, Scottie Reynolds lost his balance as he was running out of bounds. So what does he do to regain his balance? Natrually, he tries to use the announce table and unfortunately for all, he ended up knocking over the CBS table where Gus Johnson and Greg Anthony were sitting.



Too funny. And the telestrator going nuts right afterwards was priceless. It actually amazes that with the number of times players hustle and dive out of bounds like that this type of thing thing does not happen more often. Obviously I was being sarcastic at the top and it was an accident, but still, that is funny. And it was also nice to see Gus and Greg take it in a good stride like they did.

2009-10 Villanova Wildcats: March

It's March! It's March! It's time for March Madness!

But first Villanova must scrap what they can out of this regular season that is spiraling downhill rather quickly after a less than stellar February. This is a team that still can do it, but it appears more and more that they are unable to comeback against good teams and once they lose a lead, it is very difficult for them to get it back.

First up here is Villanova's final 2 regular season games and once their post-season adversaries are announced, I will put add them to this schedule as well. (all times PM eastern)

March 2: @ Cincinnati W 77-73
March 6: vs. West Virginia 12:00

2009-10 Villanova Wildcats Schedule: February

With the Wildcats poised to make a run at a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, will they be able to survive the Big East schedule in February and lock it up, or will they falter down the stretch as they head into a month that will see the other 4 teams that are currently in the top 5 of the Big East, looking up at Villanova. Everybody wants to knock off the top dogs....will anyone get the job done? Here is the February schedule for the 2009-2010 Villanova Wildcats! (all times eastern)

February 2: vs. Seton Hall W 71-81
February 6: @ Georgetown L 90-103
February 8: @ West Virginia W 82-75
February 13: vs. Providence W 92-81
February 15: vs. Connecticut L 84-75
February 21: @ Pittsburgh L 65-70
February 24: vs. South Florida W 49-74
February 27: @ Syracuse L 77-95

2009-10 Villanova Wildcats Schedule: January

(all times PM eastern)

January 2: @ Marquette W 74-72
January 6: vs. Depaul W 72-99
January 9: vs. Marquette W 76-78
January 11: @ Louisville W 92-84
January 17: vs. Georgetown W 77-82
January 20: @ Rutgers W 94-68
January 23: @ St. John's W 81-71
January 27: vs. Notre Dame W 72-90

Kids Learn Very Young These Days

I'll admit to being a bit of a rebel kid myself when I was young, flashing the Stone Cold Steve Austin middle finger when I could. However, I made sure to do it in private when no one was looking, not even my family. This young Villanova fan, however, decides to do it on camera for all of America to see!



Haha! Now that's what I call funny! And then the dad pretty much slaps the kid but remembers that he is on TV as well. Good times!

Presenting A True Division I College Football National Champion, The Villanova Wildcats!

Andy Talley's bunch did it! They went down to rainy Chattanooga and put up over 350 yards on the ground to win a hard-fought, hard-nosed championship game, the 3rd championship game won by a Philadelphia team in the past year and a half.

The final score of the game was 23-21 Nova and while there were no real dramatics at the end (Montana got in the last 2 minutes to make the score a bit more respectible but failed to recover the onside kick eventually ending it with 1 more Nova 1st down), here are the final seconds of the game as called by Eric Collins and Brock Huard.



If you thought that call was bad, you should have heard Eric Collins' "V is for Victory and V is for Villanova" call that he did before that when he thought the game was over but there was a random stoppage holding up the final 30 seconds.

The Villanova Wildcats now join the Philadelphia Soul and the Philadelphia Phillies as Philly teams winning a championship this past year and a half. And now, it's up to the Eagles and then Jay Wright's Villanova basketball team (no longer unbeaten after losing to Big Five rival Temple) to bring home some more hardware to the City of Brotherly Love.

GO NOVA!!!

Congrats to the Villanova Wildcats!

(Author's Note: Don't get too excited about seeing this post. I am taking a short break in the library from studying for finals and working on a paper so I decided to type up this brief blurb. My computer still does not have internet).

Had it been a normal night last night, I might have even had a live blog up for last night's William & Mary-Villanova showdown, but because of my internet problems and my scrambling to find a solution and need to find a sanctity in a computer lab to watch my shows to help calm me down (I needed to be not in the same room as that computer), I only was able to watch the last 6 minutes of the game.

That being said, congrats to the Villanova Wildcats for fighting it out being down 10-0 at one point and rallying to come back in the 2nd half and defeat William & Mary 14-13 and for the first time ever, will play in the I-AA FCS National Championship game in Chattanooga. They will play the winner of today's Montana-Appalachian State game in that championship.

Because it's not the FBS, I don't really expect a lot of people outside of wealthy suburban Philadelphia, Appalachian State, and Montana to care, but to see Villanova play in and possibly the biggest college football playoff for their first time ever would indeed be a great accomplish and something I will definitely be looking forward to. Hey, it is technically still Division I, right?

Go Wildcats!!!