Running Blog Throughout the Days Games

I will be doing a running blog of my thoughts throughout the Big East games today. They will include little bits of information on the games that I am watching as well as the implications that each result brings throughout the day.

If you want to share your thoughts, you can email me at thereitmeyerrant@hotmail.com

Watching the Nova/WVU game on CBS, will be checking in with Georgetown/Cincy game on ESPN360.com as we go.

12:10
Not sure if I am more surprised to hear Greg Anthony doing the color to this game or the fact that he has his "bubble teams". He covers the NBA, why is he covering a big game in March?

12:18
If my math is correct through 6 minutes WVU is on pace to score ZERO points!

12:20
Villanova 10, Turkey 2

12:21
The Turkish kid has never seen a shot he didn't like, unfortunately the same can not be said about a razor!

12:24
Scottie Reynolds has now been more productive at the broadcast table than Greg Anthony!

(From by buddy Jason)
The Turkish kid shots his FT's like he is gonna try to tackle a bull

12:28
Thought about looking up the Turkish guys name, but it is more fun to just call him "the Turkish kid," it's not like everyone doesn't know who we mean!

12:36
I hate those stupid UPS commercials with the guy with the chick hair. How does UPS not realize how annoying those commercial are?

HALFTIME SCORE:
Georgetown 29, Cincinnati 26

12:55
How does a Top 10 team shoot 2-10 from the foul line? No excuse for that. That is the difference on the scoreboard right now for WVU.

HALFTIME SCORE:
Villanova 29, WVU 16

Jason- Time to ship WVU of to the Big Ten, 16 points in the 1st half!

Georgetown 41, Cincinnati 35
15:53 remaining

Diabetic Austin Freeman is a 60% 3-point shooter, has 15 points already!

Let the Austin Freeman diabetic jokes start...

Jason- Austin Freemans line, 15 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 insulin shots
Keith (from Philly)- Imagine how good Georgetown would have been all season if Freeman had Diabetes all season!

1:18
Since I get updates on my phone for the Penguins, you get them here too...Jordan Staal goal. Pens 1, other team 0

I seriously don't know who they are playing....I'll look it up.

1:21
Kevin Jones scores 2, his first two. Obviously a new strategy for this half, they are going to try to score in the first 6 minutes of the half.

1:24
The Penguins are playing the Dallas Stars

SCORE UPDATE:
Georgetown 52, Cincinnati 37
10 to play

A win secures a bye for Georgetown in the BET.

1:34
WVU already in the bonus with 14:34 left in the game, Redding has 4 fouls for Nova. The way that WVU has shot FT's today, I'm not sure this is a good thing....6-16 today.

1:35
2 point game, Villanova has scored only 5 points in 6 minutes of the second half. 34-32 Nova.

SCORE UPDATE:
Georgetown up 29 with 3:42 left, 70-41

Win clinches a bye for Georgetown. Hoyas could get to #7 with a ND loss.
Cincinnati will finish either 11th or 12th depending on the UCONN/USF game.

1:47
Butler knocks down 2 FT's and WVU has their first lead of the game...41-39

1:48
Apparently neither team wants to join the Big Ten, we've had an offensive explosion in the last two minutes.....WVU is killing Nova down low and on the boards. That is something that I think will really hurt Villanova in the Tournament (the big one, as well as the BET).

FINAL SCORE:
Georgetown 74, Cincinnati 47

Way to show up Cincy!

GEORGETOWN CLINCHES OPENING ROUND BYE
Georgetown will finish either 7 (ND loss) or 8 (ND win).
CINCINNATI will finish either 11 (UCONN loss) or 12 (UCONN win)

1:54
Freeman finished with 24 points going 4-7 from 3 for the Hoyas.

1:59
Good news is Pitino is not wearing his all-white suit, bad news is it is RED!

2:00
Huggy Bear just got T'd up....he better be careful, it looks like heart attack #2 could be right around the corner....he is fired up!

2:02
After the Technical, WVU comes out in the 1-3-1 and Nova picks it apart with some great interior passing for an easy lay-up....followed up by 2 straight 3's by WVU...game is going back and forth now, we are in for a great finish. WVU 51-50 4:18 left.

2:05
UNLV professors not happy with that one....32+5 is NOT 36 Greg!

2:10
Not sure why Nova keeps settling for 3's against this zone considering they got easy lay-ups the 1st 2 trips down against it using quick passes and their bigs.

2:11
My buddy Jason just texted me that he is thinking of betting Penn State today...I can take him cheering for WVU today since it helps PITT, but there is no reason to EVER root for Penn State, even if it does help your wallet.

2:13
Nice to see this top-notch broadcast team is paying attention, "West Virginia is now is some type of sort of zone this trip." REALLY?! They have been playing zone the last 5 minutes!

2:15
Typical Big East game, the refs are calling WAY to much. Both coaches already got T'd up for arguing and now they send Scottie Reynolds to the line after never getting touched. LET THEM PLAY!

2:16
HUGE 3 by Butler...WVU up 56-55 with 52.0 seconds left

2:17
OFFENSIVE FOUL!!!! Very VERY questionable call...WVU up 1 and with the ball, 37 seconds left.

2:20
WVU is 12-14 from the line in the 2nd half...Reynolds answers quick, WVU up 58-57...WVU ball

2:21
14-16 now

2:22
Corey Fisher hits a DEEP 3 with 7.5 left....Devin Ebanks mismanaging clock, has to settle for a half-courter for the win. OVERTIME!

2:27
FYI: Greg Anthony, there is no "NEW RULE" about the charge circle, that is just in the NBA....this guy is terrible!!! I hope he isn't doing any games in the NCAA Tournament!

2:30
46 fouls and 61 FT attempts so far....Truck Byant has now fouled out, 4 other players with 4.

2:31
Greg Anthony with bad information yet again....Pitt has the tiebreaker over WVU not the other way around.

2:35
West Virginia up 1, 64-63 with 51.3 left in OT. The WVU zone is really giving Nova problems due to their size in that zone.

2:38
WVU has now made 16-18 FT's since the halftime and 12 straight. Corey Stokes makes a BIG 3 to tie it.

2:41
Butler just did his best Ray Allen impression and hit a crazy runner it take the lead with 5.7 seconds left!

2:43
Scottie Reynolds misses a 3 from the corner (not sure it would have counted anyway, don't think he got it off in time) and WVU wins 68-66.

FINAL SCORE:
West Virginia 68, Villanova 66

Seeding for those 2 teams will be determined by the outcome of the Pitt/Rutgers game.
If Pitt wins, seeding goes, #2 Pitt, #3 WVU, #4 Villanova
If Rutgers wins seeding goes, #2 WVU, # Villanova, #4 Pitt

HALFTIME SCORE UPDATES:
South Florida 33, UCONN 31
Syracuse 35, Louisville 30
Notre Dame 26, Marquette 26

2:52
Jay Williams in studio talking about Louisville being a bubble team, "they won the games they are suppose to won." REALLY!?!?! He is a Duke guy too. "they won the games they are suppose to WON!" UNREAL!

3:19
This Syracuse-Louisville is high paced, but not really a great level of play at this point.

SCORE UPDATES:
Marquette 42, Notre Dame 33 12:12 left
South Florida 52, UCONN 42 12:15 left
Louisville 45, Syracuse 42 13:32 left

3:29
Louisville absolutely lighting it up right now....3 straight trips with 3's then a fast break basket. Louisville up 55-48.

3:33
Interesting stat...Syracuse 34 of 48 points scored in the paint, can't knock down any jumpers, while Louisville is living by the 3. Now 9-30 for the Cardinals behind the arc.

3:40
Kyle Kuric averages 3 ppg for Louisville, just hit 2 straight 3's....he has 13 today in 13 minutes.
Louisville 63-54.

PENS UPDATE:
Pens 6-3 winners, trailed 3-1. Crosby had 2 goals and 1 assist.

3:44
Syracuse with the press causes some confusion, Louisville has to waste a TO.

3:45
Wes Johnson just picked up with 4th foul, still 7:03 remaining, he is staying in the game. Louisville 64-56.

3:47
Kuric ANOTHER 3 pointer! 67-59 Louisville

SCORE UPDATE:
Marquette 46-43, Harangody has played today, but not much and is not is the game down the stretch.

Marquette 50-43 with 1:02 remaining

3:52
Louisville is up by double digits now. Kyle Kuric is now 8-9 from the field and leads all scorers with 20. Rautins on the other hand is 1-9....Louisville up 75-61

3:56
Marquette blows 50-43 lead, Scott hits a 3 at the buzzer for the Irish and we have our 2nd OT game of the day in Big East play. 51-51

SCORE UPDATE:
South Florida 68, UCONN 62 1:25 left

4:00
Louisville just eating clock now, 1 minute to go in the game Louisville 75-64.

FINAL SCORE:
Louisville 78, Syracuse 68

SYRACUSE IS #1 SEED
LOUISVILLE IS #6 SEED

4:04
UCONN down 2, 70-68 with 36.0 left

4:05
USF up 72-68 with 25.1 left and the Bulls are heading to the foul line.... This loss would REALLY hurt UCONN's chances of getting into the NCAA Tournament, they will need a long run in NYC.

FINAL SCORE:
South Florida 75, UCONN 68

UCONN IS #12 SEED
CINCINNATI now secures the #11 SEED with UCONN loss

4:10
Notre Dame up 56-53 with 48.0 seconds left

4:15
Marquette's Jimmy Butler hits a BIG 3 to cut it to 2, 22 seconds left, Marquette lets 9 seconds go off the clock before fouling ND's best foul shooter.

4:17
Acneitis hits both foul shots for ND, 13.8 left ND leads 60-56.

4:18
Whoever the moron color guy is in this game just said that he hopes that DePaul gets a win the BET because the new coach has done "such a great job" REALLY?! That 1-17 record makes me think otherwise.

4:19
Acneitis makes 1-2, Irish up 3, FOULS! GREAT CALL, why don't more coaches do that?

4:20
Marquette makes both FT's down 1 with 2.7 to go.

4:22
IRISH WIN!

FINAL SCORE:
Notre Dame 63
Marquette 60

4:25
With a little break before the Pitt-Rutgers game let's take a look at what we know now.

X**Syracuse Orange 15-3
**West Virginia Mountaineers 13-5
**Villanova Wildcats 13-5
**Pittsburgh Panthers 12-5
X*Marquette Golden Eagles 11-7
X*Louisville Cardinals 11-7
X*Notre Dame Fighting Irish 10-8
X*Georgetown Hoyas 10-8
X-South Florida Bulls 9-9
X-Seton Hall Pirates 8-9
X-Cincinnati Bearcats 7-11
X-Connecticut Huskies 7-11
St. John’s Red Storm 6-12
Rutgers Scarlet Knights 5-12
Providence Friars 4-13
X-DePaul Blue Demons 1-17

**Clinched Double-bye
*Clinched opening round bye
X-Clinched Current Seeding

5:18
This game is incredibly boring...How the hell did Rutgers win 5 games?

5:20
They could play this game for the next 5 hours and I think Pitt already has scored more than Rutgers could get in that span.

SCORE UPDATE:
Pitt 40, Rutgers 16

To be fair I think we need to use the same comment as before...
Apparently Rutgers is making a run at the Big Ten with just 16 points in the 1st half. They would be winning most games in the Big Ten with that type of offensive showing!

5:24
With some time at halftime let's take a look at the brackets as of now for the BET.

TEAMS IN BOLD ARE LOCKED INTO SEEDS
TUESDAY
March 9th:
NOON
9 – South Florida
Vs
16 – DePaul
2:00
12 – UCONN
Vs
13 – St. John's
7:00
10 – Seton Hall
Vs
15 – Providence (with loss vs Seton Hall, Rutger's with Providence win)
9:00
11 – Cincinnati
Vs
14 – Rutgers (with Seton Hall win, Providence with Seton Hall loss)

WEDNESDAY
March 10th:
NOON
8 – Georgetown
Vs
Tuesday NOON winner
2:00
5 – Marquette
Vs
Tuesday 2:00 winner
7:00
7 – Notre Dame
Vs
Tuesday 7:00 winner
9:00
6 – Louisville
Vs
Tuesday 9:00 winner

THURSDAY
March 11th:
NOON
1 – Syracuse
Vs
Wednesday NOON winner
2:00
4 – Villanova
Vs
Wednesday 2:00 winner
7:00
2 – Pitt
Vs
Wednesday 7:00 winner
9:00
3 – WVU
Vs
Wednesday 9:00 winner

5:54
I realize they are playing Rutgers, but I have seen every game that Pitt has played this year and I really think this might be the most complete performance all season. It is a nice time to be playing your best basketball game. Wonder if the coaching staff laid into them after just going through the motions and stealing one from Providence Thursday.

6:00
No wonder Dante Taylor was a McDonald's All-American, look at how well he plays against high school level talent!

6:12
Gotta love the one man press by Nasir to force the turnover, while up 28!

6:13
Gilbert Brown tried to get the media guide cover with that dunk attempt!

FINAL SCORE:
Pitt 83, Rutgers 54

PITT IS #2 SEED
Rutgers is now either #14 or #15 depending on Seton Hall/Providence outcome
ST. JOHN'S IS #13 SEED

6:35
Ok, everyone thanks for taking part in the running blog today, I am done. We know everything right now except for the #14-15 seeds. Simply put, if Providence beats Seton Hall they are the #14, if Seton Hall wins Rutgers is the #14.

Here is what the brackets look like as of now:
TUESDAY
March 9th:
NOON
9 – South Florida
Vs
16 – DePaul
2:00
12 – UCONN
Vs
13 – St. John's
7:00
10 – Seton Hall
Vs
15 – Providence (with loss vs Seton Hall, Rutger's with Providence win)
9:00
11 – Cincinnati
Vs
14 – Rutgers (with Seton Hall win, Providence with Seton Hall loss)

WEDNESDAY
March 10th:
NOON
8 – Georgetown
Vs
Tuesday NOON winner
2:00
5 – Marquette
Vs
Tuesday 2:00 winner
7:00
7 – Notre Dame
Vs
Tuesday 7:00 winner
9:00
6 – Louisville
Vs
Tuesday 9:00 winner

THURSDAY
March 11th:
NOON
1 – Syracuse
Vs
Wednesday NOON winner
2:00
4 – Villanova
Vs
Wednesday 2:00 winner
7:00
2 – Pitt
Vs
Wednesday 7:00 winner
9:00
3 – WVU
Vs
Wednesday 9:00 winner

I will be doing the same type of running blog next Tuesday and Wednesday for the Big East Tournament before I head up to NYC for Thursday and the weekend. Depending on access, I will try to be on from NYC too.

You can follow me on Twitter, click here

RANDOM RANTING

VOLUNTEERED ROBBERY
As many people have heard, three Tennessee football players were arrested and charged in part with an armed robbery that occurred around 2:00 early Thursday morning at an off-campus gas station. That is not the story. That is no big deal. It is the SEC, Lane Kiffin will probably suspend them for the National Anthem.

The story is about one of the victims, Corey Zickefoose. This man had a gun stuck in his face during the robbery, but thinks the robbers should get off easy. Here is what he has to say, "I think they should still be able to play football, regardless. Tennessee is my place. It's my football team." When asked if he believed this despite having a gun pointed in his face by one of the robbers he added, "Yeah, it's Tennessee. That's the way it is sometimes,"

You have got to check this guy out!

Lane Kiffin and Vols need to hook this kids up with some season tickets!

THE NUMBERS DON’T LIE
While watching the Sunday Sports Showdown last Sunday on KDKA-TV and I heard a very interesting stat about Penn State football given by Paul Zeise. The stat was that Penn State is just 5-20 against Iowa, Ohio State and Michigan in the past 10 years. This stunned me, and it was followed up with the fact that they are just 5-10 in non-conference games vs BCS records that finished with a winning record in that same span. So, Penn State is just 10-30 against good competition over the last 10 years. That got me thinking, and researching, to find other surprising numbers that people may not be aware of regarding some of the top profile teams in the country.

I tried to choose 1 or 2 schools from each of the 6 BCS conferences, here is what I found out.
FLORIDA:
A lot is always made about teams and how they schedule their non-conference portion of their schedule. Somehow, it seems to be overlooked each year that Florida does play road non-conference games, and the ones they do play, they don’t have to travel very far to get to. The Gators have not played a non-conference game outside the state of Florida in 18 seasons. The last time Florida went on the road to play a non-conference game was September 21, 1991 and they lost in the Carrier Dome to Syracuse 38-21.

ALABAMA:
To be the best you have to beat the best, sometimes at least. Alabama, since 2000 is just 4-21 against teams that finished the season with double digit wins including losing the final two games of the season last year to Utah and Florida, both of whom finished with 13 wins on the season.

LSU:
Not as bad as Alabama against winning teams but LSU isn’t beating many powerhouses either, in conference play at least. Over the past 20 years the Tigers are just 7-31 against fellow SEC teams that went on to win 10+ games that season.

GEORGIA:
What’s the old saying, “It’s not a rivalry unless both teams win.” Well apparently Georgia is running short on rivals. If you would ask a Bulldog fan to name their two biggest rivals, they would probably say Florida and Tennessee. In the past 20 years Georgia has won only 10 of the 40 games played against those schools.

OHIO STATE:
Going from the SEC to the Big Ten this seems like the best transition to make, Ohio State has not beaten a team from the SEC since September of 1988. That is right, it has been 21 seasons since the Buckeyes have beaten a school from the SEC. The win occurred September 24, 1988 in a 36-33 win over LSU. That is also the Buckeyes only win versus a SEC team.

MICHIGAN:
The Wolverines haven’t fared much better against their rivals than Georgia. Michigan is 2-8 the past 10 games against Notre Dame and Ohio State and in the past 23 seasons, they have swept their rivals just four times.

NOTRE DAME:
As we all know Notre Dame is pretty much just like any other school in college football, the mystique is gone, although they would never want you to know that. Look at some of these numbers regarding whom Notre Dame plays (and beats). In the past 10 years, Notre Dame has won 69 games; only 26 of those wins came against teams with winning records. The average record of those 69 opponents was 5-6. The Irish have lost 8 straight games to teams with 10+ wins and are just 5-21 in the past 10 seasons against 10-win teams. In the past three seasons, they are 0-6 vs ranked teams and 3-16 against teams with winning records.

CINCINNATI:
Cincinnati is new to this winning thing, so these number may not surprised you, but for a team that is in the Top 5 they are pretty interesting. In the past 10 years Cincinnati is 3-12 against non-conference BCS opponents. Two of those three wins have come against Oregon State over the past three seasons.

PITT:
Being a Pitt fan is difficult; they seem to always lose at least one game every year to an inferior opponent. Well maybe it seems that way because it is 100% true. Pitt has lost at least one game for the past 9 seasons to a team that finished with a losing record. That streak looks like it will stay in tact as the Panthers only loss this season was against 4-5 NC State.

WEST VIRGINIA:
What is the toughest place to play in the Big East? West Virginia. WRONG! A crazy misconception is that playing in Morgantown tough. A hostile environment, yes, but a tough place to win, you may want to reconsider. WVU has lost at least 1 home game every year since 1994. In that span they have lost 13 home games in the last half of the season, when the wins are the most important. So far this season the Mountaineers are 6-0 at home with just one game remaining. WVU hosts Pitt Nov 27th, the last time they hosted the Panthers, Pitt knocked them out of the National Championship game upsetting the #2 Mountaineers in the final game of the regular season.

VIRGINIA TECH:
This one might be a stretch and maybe a little misleading because VT has been so good recently. Of the Hokies last 12 losses, 10 of them came from teams that had a worse record then them.

TEXAS:
The Longhorns and Oklahoma have pretty much been the class of the Big XII since the conference started in 1996. Since that time, Texas has a losing record to only two Big XII foes. One is Oklahoma, who is 6-5 versus the Longhorns. The other is Kansas State. That’s right the Kansas State Wildcats are the 2nd most successful team against Texas since the inception of the Big XII conference. K-State is 4-2 against the Longhorns.

OKLAHOMA:
Sooner fans get on Bob Stoops for not winning the big bowl games, but let’s not stop with just bowl games. Stoops has struggled against every team that is not in the Big XII. Since 2003, the Bob Stoops led Sooners have lost just 19 games. 9 of those games have come against Big XII opponents in 58 games. However, in just 32 nonconference games the Sooners have lost 10 times.

Enjoy your great weekend of college football!