Congrats to Rutgers

Rutgers started out the season 1-5 and were all but left for dead. But quietly, things turned around even while they were still losing games. They played West Virginia and Cincinnati tough, and while they lost both those games they kept fighting and eventually got on the winning side of things against UConn. Since then, they have been the team everyone expected to see out of Rutgers this year.

Not much else to say, except something very corny but true. They never gave up, and it paid off today against NC State. So congrats to you, Rutgers! And thanks for keeping the Big East undefeated in bowl games this year!

Why Yes, It Is A Great Day To Be A Mountaineer

And a great day to drink! If that's your thing. There's a lot of mixed emotions with it being the last time we'll see Pat White in a Mountaineer uniform. If we don't retire his number right away, I would call on Stew to at least ban anyone from wearing #5 next year. Something needs to be done to honor Pat and all he's done. That's all I'm going to say on that at the moment.

On to basketball where West Virginia throttled Ohio State @ Columbus 76-48. Sadly, I didn't get to watch much of the game. I only caught the last ten minutes. But enjoyed Clark Kellogg mentioning West Virginia scoring points "buffet style." Which means three offensive rebounds in a row before scoring. Even with Joe Mazzulla out, this team is really starting to come together. The young players are stepping up and taking charge. It's a beautiful thing, and it made this one of the better days to be a Mountaineer fan.

WVU-UNC 2nd Half Liveblogish

If anything, WVU has been a 2nd half team this year. That trend will need to continue, obviously! Let's see what White and the offense can do to start the second half, and what plan Casteel comes up with to stop Nicks.

9:30 WV moved the ball down the field with ease, but the drive stalled at the UNC 8. Pat McAfee makes the 25 yard field goal. White was sharp and even hit Tyler Urban for a couple first downs. The running game wasn't much help in the drive, though. That needs to change if we can hold UNC on their next drive. Time for some separation, Bill! 24-23 WVU

6:23 Nicks just made the sickest catch you are likely to see this bowl season, trapping the ball with one hand against his back and then bring it around his back to the other hand and running for the first down. I hate him!

4:29 Yates makes a great effort to stretch the ball over in the corner of the end zone to give UNC a 30-24 lead. He just made my hate book as well, considering he's the one throwing to Nicks most of the time.

3:13 The WVU drive stalled in UNC territory, and McAfee drops the ball on the two yard line. Let's see something, defense!

1:38 Wow, we got a huge break on 3rd and 10 when Little dropped a perfect pass that could have gone for a TD. UNC punts and the Mountaineers will take over at the WVU 48.

:42 Arlic Arnett fumbles after a catch and UNC takes over. The play is being reviewed, but I'm not sure he had the ball or not. At first glance you think he does, but a close up shows the ball bouncing around in his hand. But it was a fumble. UNC 30-24 at their own 41.

End of the Third

4th Quarter

14:17 WVU defense holds again and UNC has to punt. Jock Sanders muffed the punt near the goal line, and probably should have let it go. He barely made it out of the end zone and ended up at the 4 yard line.

9:01 The WV drive stalls at the WVU 44 and the Mountaineers call time out facing a 4th and inches. Work that magic, Bill! It's a bowl game, you're down 30-24 in a game that means more to the kids playing than any standings or other measurables. Let them win it!

Another reason to not listen to me as White is pulled down behind the line. When you can't move the ball a few inches, it might as well be a mile.

8:19 Fumble and the Mountaineers recover! Woot! UNC had moved into field goal range. Play under review. Looks like it came out before he was down...the play stands. And on the first play, White hits Sanders down to the UNC 30.

7:14 White hits Arnett for a 20 yard TD! Are you getting sick of the !!!!? WVU takes the lead back, 31-30.

4:24 On third and 10, John Holmes (sure to get me more google porn hits) makes the sack to force the punt. WV takes over and needs to run some clock and score if possible. But we must hold on to the ball!

3:27 It's third and about 5 for WV, and UNC is using their timeouts now. So we need to get a first down and the game is virtually over. But I mean that in a please don't jinx the team kind of way.

3:21 White is sacked again on a corner blitz and WVU will have to punt. Hopefully the punt coverage won't be as bad as the kickoff. We need UNC to have to go the entire field. Fair catch at the UNC 25, yippee!

1:53 Pat Lazear picks off the pass and hopefully secures the win for WVU!

Final WVU31 UNC 30

You sir, are awesome!!

332 yards passing (career high!), 3 TD's. 55 yards rushing. An awesome post game interview that I'm sure will make the Youtubes over the next few days. Thank you, Pat! Thank you!!

WVU-UNC Liveblogish

The game is about to get underway. Stew is fired up and wants Mountaineer fans to take over the city of Charlotte. We don't quite know what that means, but we just nod our heads and go along to get along. Right? Right!

West Virginia kicks off to start the game. Full house, which is nice for a second tier bowl. Thanks to some timely penalties on the Tar Heels, WVU's D forces a three and out 13:06.

8:56 WVU moves the ball down the field after the punt for a 7-0 lead. It was a good mix of run and pass. We could use a little less high snap, thank you. Jollah and Devine both broke some tackles to turn short gains into big ones. Devine's being a 17 yard TD in which he broke several arm tackles. Let's hope arm tackles are the word for the day!

8:29 Chris Spielman, in a rare goof on the ESPN playbook is complimenting WVU on their speed and focus while pointing out the lack of focus for UNC. And just that quick, Nicks catches a tipped ball and carries a WVU defender into the endzone for a 73 yard TD. 7-7. Shit!

5:11 OMG!!!1! Alric Arnett with a 43 yard beautiful one hand TD catch. Boom Mother F'ers! We could be in for an offensive shootout. 14-7 WVU

4:57 Shit!!!!1! Nicks on one play ties the game up at 14. What was I saying about the defense earlier? Forget I ever said it. Not really, but shit man!!

2:23 Bradley Starks catches a 35 yard bomb from White to put WVU up 21-14. Yeah, we're still in the first quarter. White is 7-7 for 140 yards so far.

1:03 Nicks catches a pass that doesn't go for a TD. The D is stiffening up now, yes? No. UNC is moving the ball just as easily as WVU.

End of First Quarter: WVU 21-14 with UNC on the WV 2 yard line. WVU 180 yards of total offense, and UNC 202. WVU no penalties, UNC 3-31. With everything else looking equal, penalties might tell the tale if WV can keep this up.

2nd Quarter

13:27 UNC goes for it on 4th and goal and WVU's number one ranked Red Zone defense comes through again holding UNC on four straight plays from inside the two yard line. And of coulay is being rerse UNC gets the safety on the next play. Shit! 21-16 WVU.

10:43 Kickoff coverage is killing WV. No shit, we would be better off onside kicking every time. At least we would have a good shot at getting the ball. UNC couldn't start in any better field position than what they already are. The seem to be starting in WVU territory way too much. Thankfully, UNC is countering this play with drive killing penalties. 3rd and 11 from the WVU 26.

10:37 That Nicks guy scores on an easy pitch and catch. UNC leads 23-21. Shit! It was a nice route, though. Bastard! He's killing us Bill! Get someone on him! Oh, that guy you were going to put on him is out for today's game? OK, keep scoring!

8:54 Mountaineers first punt of the game. Now WVU defense needs to figure this thing out or it could get ugly. We have to keep it close so we can go out in the second half and take the lead if not sooner. But we have to get back in this game. We can't let UNC get a big lead and try to pass our way back into the game. We pass well when the game is close, not when we're behind.

7:21 The D holds and UNC will make their second punt of the game.

2:30 WVU is moving the ball down the field with short plays, just enough for the first down. With 3rd and 3-4 at the UNC 35, that trend needs to continue. Now if we can score to end the half and again to start the second half, the game will be in our hands. Our defense could use the break as well. I've seen quite a few hands on hips on defense.

1:30 Pat White is just out of his mind, passing for 160 yards on 15-17 passing with 2 TDs. I say this because we average 135 yards passing a game. No matter. This is exactly the type of game you want to see him have in his last game.

:52 Of course the next play is an interception! That's the way the karma thing works, right?

End of the Half UNC runs the clock out up 23-21. New post for the second half

Because We Car Care

Hey, we'll be liveblogging the WVU-UNC game today. We might do the WVU-tOSU basketball game later today. It really all depends, ya know?

We're most likely going to go without Sidney Glover and Brandon Hogan on defense. But we are deep at safety and cornerback, and by this time of the year if you don't know what you are supposed to do there are bigger problems than injuries. I don't expect a drop off because we have a pretty good defensive coordinator in Jeff Casteel. He and the 3-3-5 have taken a lot of crap over the years, but he's really proven himself this year after losing eight starters.

Something that doesn't matter at all but worth mentioning, WVU is 1-5 against Butch Davis and 0-1 against UNC.

We're not into doing a big preview of the game. We'd rather just go with it. But check here, here, and here if you're into that type stuff. Look here, here, and here for the UNC side of things.

Merry Mountaineer Christmas

We'll be back after the break to cover the football and basketball games Saturday. Until then, respect the Ruoff!

West Virginia Hammers The Ohioans of Miami 82-46

The Butler did it, going for a career high of 28 points on 11-17 shooting and 5-7 from three point range. It was also a welcome back to senior Alex Ruoff, who was out with injuries over the past few weeks. He chipped in 15 and Truck Bryant added 16.

The Mountaineers didn't dominate on the boards (31-26) the way they have the past few games, but that's mainly because of shooting 50% from the floor and 40% from 3-point range.

Defensively, the Mountaineers held Miami to 41 shots (WVU 62) and 36% from the field. The Mountaineers also forced 26 turnovers while only giving up 11. Also, WVU blocked 7 shots.

If it seems like I didn't watch this game from my description, it's true. I only caught the end of the game due to Christmas shopping. Woot!!

Next up, 3-7 Radford Tuesday night at the Coliseum. Tip-off at 7pm.

Because I Know I Get a Ton of Hits From Penn St. Fans

I've had my fun making fun of Joe Pa. But at the same time I have a lot of respect for Joe that I think I have more than mentioned on here over 3+ years. Over at JoePa's Virtual Birthday Party, they are putting together an 82 reasons we love JoePa post and giving away stuff and stuff.

I have a lot of memories of him beating West Virginia. Memories of crushing defeats that just made my blood boil. There was a time when disrespecting him anywhere besides opposing college campuses wasn't too cool, though. Because he always did the right thing. People hated him, but respected him. Because he won a shit load of games. That's the Joe I want to remember, and leave any mean spirited comments for another week...month...year.

My fondest memory of Joe was the 1984 game that West Virginia broke the 28 game losing streak to PSU. I was there, and 14 at the time so I was young enough to get reeeeeally excited about it and old enough to understand how big it was. So that's the most sincere thing I can say. It was the biggest victory you could imagine. The fans rushed the field before the last couple seconds ran off the clock. Rather than raise a stink about it, Joe just ran across the field and conceded the game, and shook some hands and took his team off the field. It's just classy. It seems like people have been calling for him to step down for about 20 years now. Obviously, it seems more plausible now than 20 years ago. But the program doesn't seem to have been hurt too much by his presence. So....Happy Birthday, Joe!

Quick Question

Was I the only one that saw Andre Ware flash the shocker when he was introduced at the 2008 Heisman show? Anyone having video of the introduction of all the former winners, let me know.

Jim Boeheim is Not a Fan of Your Feedback

As if losing to Cleveland State wasn't a big enough kick in the balls, sound guy thought it would be fun to crank up the mid-range. Feedback and anger ensues.

Injuries are a Blessing

The loss to Davidson would have almost certainly been a victory if we would have had the services of Alex Ruoff and Joe Mazzulla. But if you think about it, that would have been a short term victory that probably wouldn't mean all that much at the end of the season. Sure, beating a top 25 team on a neutral court is nice. But no one is going to OMG!!!1! because of it.

West Virginia benefited from that loss and the victory over Duquesne Saturday in ways that will be huge the rest of the year.

Truck Bryant, more than anyone else, is getting invaluable experience. The point guard got his baptism by fire at Madison Square Garden against Stephen Curry and again against Duquesne in Pittsburgh. There's a learning process that involves ups and downs, but when it matters, he's going to be prepared to handle the pressure of a Big East road game. Kevin Jones is also getting some extra minutes because of the injuries.

I know it's ugly now, and just because they are getting more experience doesn't mean they will be unflappable in the future. But when they are called upon later in the season they should be able to come in and give the starters a rest without much of a drop off in production. I don't know if we could say that if they weren't getting meaningful minutes now.

Video Gold, Jerry!

Not much words needed here. You've seen some of these before. The one's about Chuck Amato. But scroll down for some Butch Davis. Grey Blackwell, you are our hero.

Chuck Dynamite


It's Hard Out Here For A Coach


Butch Davis Needs More Victory Bell


You can check out all of Grey's video's here.

Who is This UNC That You Speak Of

The best thing about this bowl game with UNC is that it's not a long drive for either school, and that's showing in ticket sales.

When I first read this title, "Seven UNC Players Selected to All ACC Teams," I was thinking it meant first team. Thankfully, I was wrong.

Butch Davis likes the way Nick Saban thinks! At least as far as his recruiting efforts go.

In the case of Davis, he would appear to be on course to set a new standard for over-recruiting, even with tricks like gray shirting or medical hardships. The Tar Heel coach's tactics have caught the attention of rival North Carolina State and its recruiting coordinator, Jerry Petercuskie.

"We're not in the market of oversigning, unless there's a case where there are some borderline students who may not make it," he said. "And in that case, there's a plan for them." This gets to the heart of the matter. Recruiting is about building trust. If you can't be trusted to honor a commitment, your reputation takes a hit. Is this where Davis and his staff want to take the program?

Everything worked out fine for Alabama, but sooner or later someone is going to get disappointed. Careful who you sign with, kids.

ESPN Really Was Annoying

From the "that's what I was thinking" vault. Comment from BGN. I've added the sig picture just because it's Lee Corso not enjoying life.

Re: It was a real honor to play in the Stephy C. Classic
After vomiting for the third time imagining the fellatio Jay Bilas, or whatever the **** his name is, was performing on Curry as midcourt, I learned the hard way that Bball is really not that bad with the mute button on.

Curry is a great player, but when the majority of the comments from the announcers has nothing to do with what is happening on the court and everything to do with continuing the legend of Curry, even though he's not having a very legendary night, you feel kind of put out. Obviously, what WAS happening on the court was not very news worthy. But I think they were so caught up in polishing Curry's knob they couldn't even mention that Johnny West was the son of Jerry West. That little tidbit could have eaten up a few minutes, and would have been of interest to at least a few people.

That WTF Moment Explained

There's an old chant that West Side/Stonewall Jackson folks used to...well...chant in response to East Enders/Charleston High folk that I couldn't reproduce if life depended on it. But I would know it right away and what it meant if I heard it. But I would never use it here, because I'm pretty sure most of you aren't from Charleston, WV. It would leave you far more confused than enlightened.

So that's pretty much what Bill Stewart did when he ended his press conference after the WVU-USF game. But here's the explanation if you just had to know.

“Glorious old Wetzel! Whose sons are brave and daughters fair, and which today
produces gas enough to light the world, oil enough to lubricate it, and brains
enough to rule it.”

Things were so much different in the 1890's.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yaaaah!

Sometimes I just can't help myself. Further proof that I never read How to Win Friends and Influence People.

West Virginia-Davidson Liveblogish

We have a plan to stop Curry!

Come on frat boys! Know your role!!!

We'll get things started as soon as the ball goes up.

7pm: One of the good things ESPN does is the Jimmy V Foundation promotions. Good for them! I haven't seen Robin Roberts in a while, so I'm kind of in shock at how much different she looks. Glad she's a survivor!!! I participate in Relay for Life every year, and if you have friends you should get involved! Everyone needs at least one night of the year spent sober and without a cigarette in your mouth raising money for Cancer research. Find out if there is one in your area.

Bob Knight, John Saunders, and Digger Phelps are on hand for pregame. Jay Bilas, and shit.... a bunch of people are working the game. Ruoff has back spasms, and Joe Mazzulla can't raise his left arm above his head.

18:00 West Virginia is playing very tight defense. Maybe too tight sometimes because I can see some back cuts. WV up 5-2.

15:32 West Virginia is missing a lot of scoring opportunities. The defense is getting a lot of turnovers (sorry I haven't been keeping a running count) , 4-6 turnovers in the first five minutes. But they aren't capitalizing. No Ruoff so far. WV down 8-7.

13:47 WVU is getting the ball inside on every possession and getting results. DaSean Butler is killing it on the second chance points. 14-10 WVU.

11:55 And just like that, Davidson hits a couple shots and they are up 15-14. Despite all the injuries for WVU they are doing well at dictating their brand of basketball on Davidson. When they miss a shot or turn it over, they aren't getting set on defense. Curry is not the guy you want to leave all by himself behind the three point line. Never.

10:25 Curry showing himself now, 20-15 Davidson.

7:15 West Virginia is stealing the ball or rebounding the first shot every time Davidson comes down, but the Mountaineers can not run the floor. They need to pull up and get a good shot if one isn't available on the fast break. But yeah, playing great defense. Should be up, but Davidson still leads 22-20.

6:12 Everything I said above is still true, but Davidson has a white guy that looks a little overweight and has a knee brace on. He's dunked on us the last two times down the court. 26-22 Davidson.

3:38 West Virginia is kind of a mess on offense with the turnovers, but still down only 31-27.

Half West Virginia is 6-16 on free throws. DaSean Butler has 12 points, and Truck Bryant has 9. But Bryant has also bought himself a seat on the bench with sloppy play. Gotta know when to pull up and run the offense. Curry isn't having a great game by his standards, 4-15 shooting and 10 points. But he's still making everyone around him better. In the Mountaineers defense, I haven't seen half these guys playing this year. Lots of subbing going on. Also of note, Johnny West broke his foot in practice yesterday. Not sure how long he will be out. Ruoff and Mazzulla have been sitting on the end of the bench. Sad thing to see. 36-29 Davidson.

15:00 No stop in play. West Virginia down 44-40. Yup, that means we are scoring. We're taking advantage of the turnovers and getting tons of offensive rebounds. 13 for the game to be exact. Ebanks is coming into his own. West Virginia was down 44-33 before they turned it around.

14:16 OK, that white guy, Allison, isn't so fat after all. He just dunked on us again. 47-42.

9:29 WVU down 49-44. Things have slowed down quite a bit lately. Our shooting is horrible, 34%, but the defense and offensive rebounds have kept us in the game.

7:24 WVU down 51-50. Offensive rebounds, people! Never seen a West Virginia team get offensive rebounds like this. Ever! DaSean Butler has kept West Virginia in the game.

4:10 56-56. West Virginia was up 56-53, but then Curry remembered he was Stephen Curry, and hit a three.

2:40 58-58. WVU had a ton of chances to take a four point lead, but turned it over and Curry got two on a fast break jumper.

1:09 Damn that Curry! 62-61 WVU.

:34 Damn that Curry! 64-62 Davidson.

Damn that Curry! Davidson wins 68-65

Big East Chat 2.0

Yup, we'll be chatting all things Big East sports this Wednesday at 9pm over at Orange 44. Please do come join us at 9pm. Show up a few minutes early so you can go through all the sign up stuff without missing any of the discussion. Be ready to talk bowl games, the candy ass negotiators that got us this mess of a bowl affiliation, and some basketball.

See you then.

Final Blogpoll Ballot

Well, the final regular season ballot. Not a lot of changes from last week. Comments welcome as always. I put Florida #1 because I remember how well that "awesome" offensive line for Oklahoma did against speedy defenders...48-28.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida	--
2	Oklahoma	--
3	Texas	--
4	Alabama	--
5	Southern Cal	--
6	Penn State	--
7	Texas Tech	--
8	Utah	--
9	Boise State	--
10	Ohio State	--
11	TCU	--
12	Cincinnati	--
13	Georgia Tech	--
14	Georgia	--
15	Oklahoma State	--
16	Northwestern	1
17	Pittsburgh	5
18	Iowa	--
19	Brigham Young	--
20	Oregon	--
21	Virginia Tech	5
22	Michigan State	1
23	Missouri	2
24	Mississippi	--
25	Boston College	9

Dropped Out: Ball State (#25).

We All Just Need to Relax and Give Stew the Bene...WHAT?!?!?

If anyone can tell me what this was in reference to, I would be very eager to learn!

We've got enough coal in the state of West Virginia to heat the world. We've got enough oil in the state of West Virginia to lubricate the world. We've got enough brains in the state of West Virginia...to run the world.

I had been mulling over a post about how we need to all calm down and stop calling for the firing of Bill Stewart. How it would be in the best interest of the program to have some stability. But without the context of those words, I'm just going to hold off on that post.

Maybe this will shed some light.

I have no idea what that meant, but Stewart, who is a powerful and effective speaker, was bothered and he bit back. Could be the media. Could be the fans. Could be the people who call his talk show. Could be all three.

He keeps up on what people say and write about his team and he cares what people think. Was this an accumulation, a reaction or just calculated?

It was a little awkward, but I enjoyed the entire scene, even the parting shot. Part of me — a big part, in fact — likes Stewart’s class and restraint. Few people in his profession are like him and that’s refreshing. It’s not fair to criticize that side of his personality because it’s genuine. It is who he is. Not only that, but he was pretty calm when he 48-28′d Oklahoma.

Still, another part of me thinks he is, at times, too cool and the fire that burned so hot leading up to the Fiesta Bowl hasn’t been here at all times this season. WVU has lacked an edge and I think that’s contributed to slow starts. I also think there’s an edge in the second half, so perhaps something is said at halftime. IrRegardless, he’s heated up the past few weeks and the nature of that Pitt loss must have had his blood boiling. We saw enough Stewart to heat the world.

White, Mountaineers Hold On 13-7

I think if we're honest with ourselves, we can say that South Florida lost that game. Or at the very least blew every opportunity they had to win.

I can't count the number of times Grothe missed on sure touchdown passes. I also can't count the number of times a South Florida receiver got open for a first down when West Virginia was dropping eight in coverage.

As has been the case for South Florida in most of their losses this year, they turned the ball over and gave their opponent way too many chances. You have to take your hat off to the Bulls defense for only giving up six points on three turnovers.

White and the offense had difficulty at times moving the ball. Devine, despite not playing in the first quarter, had 90 yards on 17 carries. Whatever the reason, it seemed to motivate him. Although there is still a bowl game to play, the coaches have to find a way to get the ball in Devine's hands next year. He's just too dynamic a player to not touch the ball 20-25 times a game.

Speaking of bowl games, we are headed to the Car Care Bowl. Most likely, we will play North Carolina. But we'll have to wait on that call tonight.

Mountaineers Win Ugly Again, But Win

It's not hard to understand why Bob Huggins wasn't happy with the performance today looking at the box score. But it was a win against a better team than you would expect with a name like Cleveland St., 53-43.

West Virginia was without starting point guard, Joe Mazzulla, shot 34% from the field, and 12% from 3 point range. They also had 11 turnovers in the first half. The good news is they finished the game with 14 turnovers and actually shot 71% from the free throw line. Since the game wasn't on TV, I can't tell you how well the defense looked today, but it had to be decent since they forced 20 turnovers and held Cleveland St. to 33% shooting from the field.

In his post-game comments, Huggins apologized to the crowd for having to watch such a poor game. He also sent a message to the pouters on the bench, "if you're going to pout on the bench when I take you out, I have no use for you." I don't know who he was talking about, but I would expect to see a fired up team this Tuesday night when West Virginia meets #24 Davidson at the Garden. Huggins also apologized for not practicing the team as hard as he should have. Another reason to expect a sharp Mountaineer team Tuesday. Huggins generally sounded like a coach that has let a lot of things go and has had enough with the excuses.

There were bright spots today, though. Besides the better than average free throw shooting, Devan Ebanks and Da'Sean Butler had solid games. Ebanks had the most rebounds in a game, 17, since 1977. He also added 10 points. Butler lead all scorers with 18 points. Alex Ruoff handled the point guard duties for most of the game and was limited to just four shots.

We're All Tomorrow's Parties

Along with Charlie from WBGV, we were interviewed by Holly from Dr. Saturday for her weekly tailgating piece, All Tomorrow's Parties. Head over and give it a read. Also check Holly over at EDSBS and Snarkastic.

Since we're big Velvet Underground fans, we're obliged to post this video.

Mirror Images of Disappointment

Dammit!

Not so much fun for either team this year. Big expectations and disappointing results. Both are 7-4. West Virginia has done fair inside the Big East, but a couple losses OOC that no one could imagine them losing before the beginning of the year. Surprisingly, South Florida has lost four of six against Big East teams.

Somehow, South Florida is first in total offense and second in total defense in the Big East. Their negative turnover margin explains a lot of how they lost this year as well as the second highest penalty yards per game.

West Virginia is only 6th in total offense and fifth in total defense. Their saving graces have been being first in turnover margin and middle of the pack in penalties. The defense has been better than expected. Especially being first in scoring defense.
Thanks to CFB Stats.

Part of the reason the Big East is being bashed this year is the failure of these teams to live up to expectations. I wish there was a nice way to say that, but there isn't. Pitt and Cincinnati have both improved. It would be respectable if those two teams were 3rd and 4th in the conference, but they are one and two.

The Game

For West Virginia to win, they absolutely have to be able to run the ball. It's going to be cold and most likely snowing Saturday night. The weather should be a huge advantage for the Mountaineers if they can run the ball and get on the board first. South Florida has fallen behind early in all their losses, and playing against a warm weather team in the cold is a good way to make them want to quit early if you jump on them and run the ball. Sorry about all the running of the ball stuff, but I just want to make sure understands where I'm coming from. I think USF is pretty much locked into the St. Pete bowl, so there really isn't anything to play for.

Hat's off to the Bulls for working with WVU for the whiteout.

Grothe will be back next year. Even though he is having his best year statistically, I never really have thought of him as NFL material. He's a great college quarterback, but I would think NFL teams would be weary of his improvising ways.

It should be an electric atmosphere for Pat White's last game. Unfortunately, the game is going to be on at the same time as the Big 12 championship game. So it won't get the national coverage you'd like to see for someone that means as much to WVU football as Pat does. Most of you, like me, don't care about that game as much as our own, though. So tune into ESPN2 about 8pm and try to imagine what Jack Fleming would put together for his pregame intro. Starting out in a docile tone going through all the awards White has gathered in his time at WVU. Slowly building towards climax as he gets down to the things that inspire. Like the games he put the team on his back and willed them to victory, how he came out of nowhere on that faithful night against Louisville in 2005 to take West Virginia to new heights....Sorry Tony Caridi, I'd like to hear what that would sound like.

Stuff, Stuff, and More Stuff

I think I speak for everyone when I say that last nights Big East Roundtable was a big success. Far too much talk about Syracuse sports for me to be much of a factor. The amount of cold meds I'm on also kept me from participating as much as I would have liked. I was seeing two of every letter on the keyboard. But unfortunately I didn't have a gun for each one.


Wait for it...


I want to officially throw my hat in the ring for Tommy Tuberville as the next Syracuse coach. What the Big East needs as much as anything else is good-to-great coaches, and Tuberville certainly falls in that category.

The people have spoken, and it seems we should retire numbers if you go by the poll on the right. Thanks everyone that voted! So, do you retire Darryl Talley's #90? I do before anyone else. If you aren't old enough to remember him in Old Gold and Blue, you really missed out.

My relatives that graduated from Ole Miss are completely ignoring my emails this morning. It wasn't a dominating win, but on the road against an SEC opponent that had won their last 25 non-con home games is a good thing. It was exciting to listen to and probably another reason I wasn't more active in the roundtable.

I don't think we need to be ranked in the top 25 just yet, but looking at this weeks CBB rankings I really have to wonder what the f is going on! Michigan? Navy? Both ahead of WVU? Really?!?!?!?

Thoughts on South Florida and the Whiteout later on this evening.

So You Want to Talk Big East Sports

Thankfully Sean and Brian will be there to keep us separated.

You're sitting there thinking to yourself, "Self, wouldn't it be great if some Big East bloggers got together and talked about the goings ons of Big East sports!" Well, consider this your lucky day! Actually tomorrow at 9pm is your lucky day, because that's exactly what is going to happen. I, along with the following bloggers will convene in a mini-Octonion to discuss Big East sports (read football and basketball).

Brian from Orange 44

Sean from Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician

Chas from Pitt Blather

All you need to do is head over to Orange 44 a little before 9pm and take care of all the sign-in-easy-to-do-stuff. We'll be fielding questions, talking about the hot topics of the conference, and Sean and I will be telling out latest dick jokes (Brain and Chas are far too reputable for such things). Also, we may make fun of Cincinnati and South Florida for having not one single fan brave enough to start an independent blog (that we know of).

Week 14 Blogpoll Ballot

Quickly, if I was voting for Heisman Colt McCoy gets my vote. But Oklahoma gets the nod despite the loss to Texas. The body of work is more impressive, only losing at a neutral site. I already see errors that I will have to fix, so expect another ballot tonight or tomorrow. Time is short.

Updated: Don't know how I left Okie St. out to begin with. But they are back in and the Hokies are out.

Leave your comments on the Oklahoma/Texas thing if you want to change my mind. Or about anything else.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama	--
2	Oklahoma	--
3	Texas	--
4	Florida	--
5	Southern Cal	--
6	Penn State	1
7	Texas Tech	1
8	Utah	--
9	Boise State	4
10	Ohio State	--
11	TCU	3
12	Cincinnati	3
13	Georgia Tech	3
14	Georgia	2
15	Oklahoma State	6
16	Ball State	2
17	Boston College	2
18	Northwestern	2
19	Iowa	2
20	Brigham Young	3
21	Oregon	3
22	Missouri	11
23	Pittsburgh	3
24	Michigan State	2
25	Mississippi	1

Dropped Out: Oregon State (#17), Florida State (#25).