I Bleed Blue and White

It’s seriously hard to believe that we are two and a half weeks away from the regular season finale, three and a half weeks until Selection Sunday, and just four weeks away from the start of the NCAA Tournament.  The college basketball season really does fly, so we need to enjoy what’s left of it.  Obviously, the level of enjoyment will depend on how Villanova performs over this next month and a half.  If they continue to play like they did on Monday night against Connecticut, there will be a lot of disgruntled Wildcat fans.  However, I really do not foresee another debacle like that where there was virtually no energy, no passion, no adjustments, and no intelligence.  Practice this week could not have been fun, as Jay Wright must have let some steam out with the goal of getting his team re-focused on the task at hand.  Although a very tough schedule lay ahead, there is no reason to expect this team will not rebound.  One of the hallmarks of Wright’s teams over the years has been to come back with a solid game after a loss.  I expect nothing less this Sunday at the Pedersen Events Center in Pittsburgh.  With a long way until that contest though, here are some interesting articles/video clips to get you through the week.

-All-Access with referee Tim Higgins  (have a feeling this article has sparked some emotion from Big East fans) 

-Andy Katz’s Daily Word: Committee criterion still in eye of beholder

-Forde Minutes: 40 names, games, and minutiae making news in college hoops

-Villanova Video Clips from CSN Philly (this link will take you to the video page for Comcast SportsNet…click on the SPORTSNITE tab and the clips are from 2/15)

Not only did Villanova have to deal with mother nature over the weekend, but they also faced two of the best teams in the country on the road in a matter of 60 hours.  Like I said prior to the Georgetown game, I would have signed up for 1-1 over this stretch.  The Wildcats obliged with the win at West Virginia, and they get a solid 4 days off before a nice pair of home games against Providence and Connecticut.  Before we start focusing on the upcoming contests, let’s wrap up the game from last night.

-Postgame Quotes

-Villanova rallies from Georgetown loss, beats West Virginia

-Villanova beats West Virginia on the road

-Reynolds leads rebound victory for Villanova

-Andy Katz: Quick hitters from around the country

-Jay Wright’s interview with Mike Francesa

WFAN is my favorite sports radio station by far, and Mike Francesa is the best of the best.  One of the things Francesa touches on with Wright is the possibility of expanding the NCAA Tournament to include more teams.  Wright is in favor of a 96 team tourney, but Francesa brings up some good points to not expand the field; he mentions that regular season games will be less exciting, because in theory, it will be easier to make the big dance, so the regular season contests won’t mean as much.  I, for one, agree with Francesa and do not believe the tourney should be expanded.  There are only a few teams at most every year that get snubbed, which is part of the excitement of Selection Sunday.  Even some very mediocre teams get in the field, so there’s no reason to let 32 more average teams get in.  Anyone have any thoughts on this topic?

Whenever a team loses upperclassmen to graduation, someone else has to step up.  For Villanova, that someone is Scottie Reynolds.  This may seem obvious, but with the suspension of Reggie Redding, Reynolds has everyone looking up to him for guidance, which Terry Toohey of the Delco Times points out.

Jay Wright on Scottie’s leadership thus far:

He’s a tremendous leader.  He’s like an NBA veteran.  That’s how much respect he has.  Everyone on the team looks up to him and Scottie takes that responsibility serious.  I was away one day in September and I called him up to see what was going on.  He was in the video room with our freshmen going over our defensive concepts.

Reynolds, discussing that specific day:

That was just something I felt I had to do.  We were doing all these things on the court that they had never seen before so I decided to take them up and show they what we were trying to do.  I showed them the Duke game (from the NCAA Tournament).  We weren’t perfect in that game.  We made mistakes, but we worked hard and we did it together.  That’s what made that group so special.  We knew we were going to work hard and work together.

Reynolds will certainly be a focal point for both teams tomorrow night, as the young Wildcats will be looking to feed off Scottie’s experience, while the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights will definitely try to prevent a big scoring outburst from the senior guard.  Scottie will be a key in just about every game this season, and ESPN’s Andy Katz can’t wait to see Reynolds against Maryland, as this is one of his “25 games you’ll want to see” this year.  Katz also looks forward to the big showdown with the Mountaineers in early March at the Wachovia Center. 

Dec. 6: Villanova vs. Maryland, BB&T Classic (FSN): Villanova is probably overrated, while Maryland isn’t getting enough publicity.  This game in Washington D.C., matches Scottie Reynolds against Greivis Vasquez in one of the better playmaker games.

March 6: West Virginia at Villanova (CBS): The top two teams meet for, perhaps, the Big East title in the last game of the season.  The Big East schedule makers got this one right, just like Pitt and Connecticut last season. 

Overrated according to Katz?  To each their own.  We’ll just have to wait and see.