I Bleed Blue and White

I didn’t even look at who else was playing last night, because when ‘Nova is on the floor, that is the only game that matters. If Villanova doesn’t win, everything else is a moot point. They did beat Rutgers last night, however, and they have a big date with Syracuse on Sunday afternoon at The Carrier Dome.

Gary Parrish of CBSSports and the ESPN staff each have articles up detailing what to watch this weekend. Hard to really argue with either of their columns, although ESPN barely mentions the Villanova-Syracuse game, while Parrish calls the matchup the “game worth watching on TV.”

“Further proof the Big East is ridiculous comes Sunday when one of the only two matchups of Top 25 teams features the schools that are currently fifth (No. 12 Villanova) and seventh (No.24 Syracuse) in the Big East standings. Meanwhile, the top four in the Big East — Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Louisville and Marquette — are all ranked in the Top 10.”

Parrish also continues his insistence that Duke is a Top 10 team in his column.

…Gary, as you say yourself, they’ve lost 4 of their last 6…I don’t care who you are, that alone takes you out of the Top 10…

As for what I think you should be watching, 2 games strike me as games to watch. Clemson travels to Georgia Tech on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., but that conflicts directly with watching the Villanova game, so that’s out.

#11 Marquette at Georgetown (Saturday, 2:00 p.m. ET on ESPN) – If the Hoyas want to make a late push for a Tourney bid, winning on Saturday would be a good way to start. They can be tough to play at home if the crowd is behind them. Rumors have been abound that there has been a lot of trouble in the locker room for Georgetown, so they’ll need to put that behind them if they want to beat a senior-laden Marquette team. For Marquette, this is the beginning of their brutal stretch to close the season. They don’t want to start on the wrong note.

#8 Wake Forest at #9 Duke (Sunday, 7:45 p.m. ET on FSN) – Both teams are fighting for a stronghold on the #2 spot in the ACC, and whoever wins this will have put themselves in very strong position for that honor. Wake is athletically superior to the Blue Devils, but have struggled with consistency all year. Duke will have the Cameron Crazies behind them for the primetime tip in what should be a pretty electric atmosphere.

…I think Georgetown has the style of play to knock off Marquette…if they get a big game from Greg Monroe it is possible for them…as for the 2nd game, it doesn’t really matter who loses, because Villanova will need to jump one or the other by the end of the year if they want to play in Philadelphia…