I Bleed Blue and White

It doesn’t get much better than this-a 3 day weekend, the NFL Divisional Playoffs (huge game Sunday for my NY Jets), and two Big East college basketball showdowns (Syracuse at West Virginia and Georgetown at Villanova).  Both of these hoops games are featured on Rivals’ “Five games to watch this weekend” and ESPN’s “Weeklend Watch.”

Mike Huguenin, a Rivals’ editor, on the Hoyas-Cats contest: 

This is the first game in a four-game stretch in which the Hoyas play three times on the road: against ‘Nova, Pitt and Syracuse. Yikes. Villanova needs to be worried about stifling Georgetown big man Greg Monroe. Georgetown has two top-notch guards; Villanova has about, oh, 23 or 24.

Dana O’Neil, ESPN contributor, is also psyched up for the game at the Wachovia Center:

OK, I’ll be there, so I’m being selfish. But this classic Big East battle always is good entertainment, and with the way both teams are playing — Villanova won the foul fest at Louisville and the Hoyas topped Connecticut – I doubt it will disappoint this time around. Against the Wildcats’ deep backcourt, Austin Freeman is going to have a much more difficult time going for the unconscious 33 he put up against the Huskies, but Villanova will have its hands full contending with Greg Monroe.

Furthermore, Jay Bilas breaks down this matchup in depth in the ESPN “Weekend Watch,” so take a look at that for some additional opinion and analysis.  Lastly, Andy Katz spoke with Jay Wright in the latest edition of “Katz’s Korner,” but I can’t give you a preview of that since my computer at home is not working properly at the moment.  If someone gets to watch the video, please discuss it in the comments, so we all have an idea of what it’s about. 

I will be at the game on Sunday, and I believe Chris and Jamie will too.  Usually, the best ‘Nova tailgating goes down at the end of the Wachovia Center farthest away from Citizens Bank Park.  If you see us down there, come say hello and we can hype up the Cats while having a few beers.

In college football, you got Texas-Nebraska, Cincinnati-Pittsburgh, Florida-Alabama, and for the Nova Nation, Villanova-New Hampshire.  In pro football, there’s Titans-Colts, Cowboys-Giants, and Vikings-Cardinals.  Finally, in college hoops, Kentucky plays UNC and undefeated St. John’s travels to Cameroon Indoor to face Duke.  To say the least, there are big games galore this weekend.  Hopefully, people don’t forget about another important game with Villanova men’s basketball traveling to the Verizon Center to take on Maryland in the BB & T Classic.  ESPN’s Andy Katz and Jay Williams, and Rivals’ Mike Huguenin, definitely are not overlooking this Sunday night contest.  As one of Katz’s “must-see games,” he writes:

The Terrapins didn’t show all that well in the Maui Invitational and had to gut out a road win at Indiana earlier this week.  Villanova is clicking without many issues.  The Wildcats got inspired play out of Antonio Pena in their drubbing of Drexel on Wednesday night.  This is virtually a home game for Maryland in the BB&T Classic.  The Terps desperately need this more than Nova — Maryland could use something to wave its flag about prior to the ACC season.  And a win here would do just the trick.

Furthermore, ex-Blue Devil, Jay Williams adds:

We’ve all seen Maryland pull off the big upset before.  This past February, eventual champion North Carolina rolled into the Comcast Center on a 10-game winning streak.  But what the Heels didn’t know was that before the game, Greivis Vasquez changed into his Superman suit. He put on a spectacular show.  He led his Terrapins team to an upset with 35 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. But we’ve yet to see the real Vasquez this season.  He’s shooting just 32 percent (28.6 percent from 3).  Will this game be his return to glory?  No. 3 Villanova is far from invincible.  George Mason took the Cats to the wire, and so did Dayton.  The crowd will be behind the Terps at the Verizon Center in D.C., and it should make for a great, tournament-like atmosphere.

Lastly, Mike Huguenin lists Cats-Terps as one of his “weekend 5 to watch,” stating:

Villanova is 7-0 and has as talented a backcourt as any team in the country.  The Terps are 5-2, with losses to Cincinnati and Wisconsin.  This is the Terps’ last chance to get a marquee non-conference win.  It will be fun watching Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez against what likely will be a revolving door of defenders that Villanova throws at him.

Although Maryland has been subpar up to this point in the year, I’m still nervous about this game.  When I made my predictions, I picked this game as the lone nonconference game Villanova would lose.  Maryland is reeling a little, which means there is some desperation, and they have been known to put up some great performances against elite teams in the past.  You’ll have to wait until Pick ‘Em on Sunday to see if my mind has changed on this one.  Nonetheless, a great sports viewing weekend culminates with a crucial showdown down in the nation’s capital. 

They went to the Final Four last year, so they should return this year.  They have one of the best recruiting classes in the country, so they should be one of the most talented teams this year.  The Big East is weaker this year, so they should be right at the top by season’s end.  These statements have been heard and seen throughout the offseason.  Of course, everyone wants to see another magical season, but it’s not going to happen overnight and no group knows that better than the 2009-2010 Villanova squad. 

As Jay Wright puts it:

How do we handle it?  We’ve got to do what we always do.  It sounds boring, but we’ve got to understand that this is a new team.  This isn’t the team that went to the Final Four.  That’s not a bad thing, but this team has to prove themselves.

Scottie Reynolds adds:

If we can just fight human nature, and stay humble and hungry and focus on the little things that will create big opportunities for us, I think everything will work out.

With the big expectations for this season, there are flaws nonetheless.  Rivals analyzed the biggest flaws of the country’s elite teams.

Jason King on Villanova:

The graduation of Dante Cunningham, Dwayne Anderson and Shane Clark has left the Wildcats thin in the frontcourt, where Antonio Pena is the only returnee with significant experience.  Pena averaged 5.1 points off the bench last season.  Villanova is hoping for big contributions from 6-foot-10 freshman Mouphtaou Yarou, who is expected to start at center.

Mike Huguenin on the Cats:

If coach Jay Wright could enact a rule saying teams can’t have anyone taller than 6 feet 4, I’d bet he would do it.  The Wildcats will have one of the best – if not the best – backcourts in the nation. But the frontcourt is a monster question.  If some freshman big men don’t come through, the Wildcats will finish third or fourth in the Big East.

Don’t freak out by Huguenin’s comments of finishing 3rd or 4th in the Big East.  If they finish 3rd or 4th and end up making a deep run in March and April, I’ll take that all day.  First thing’s first though: Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday.

Thursday night, Villanova plays Kutztown in an exhibition at the Wachovia Center.  For me, this is when the season starts, as the Wildcats will face a team other than themselves in front of a live audience for the first time since the loss to North Carolina.  Sure, official practice started a few weeks ago, but in reality, they are basically practicing year round, so the upcoming exhibition represents the keynote address for the 2009-2010 Villanova Wildcats.  Anyway, here are some “things you already know” articles as we draw closer to the Kutztown contest. 

• Jeff Borzello, a NBE basketball blogger, talks about the season of great expectations for Villanova basketball
• Rivals breaks down the #4 team in their Preseason 347: the Villanova Wildcats
• Rivals breaks down the supposed weaker Big East

Guard might be Jay Wright’s favorite word in the English language.  Zagsblog reported that Rivals’ #19 shooting guard, Achraf Yacoubou, will visit Villanova on October 23rd for Hoops Mania.  Currently, Yacoubou is a 6′4″ 200 lb. junior out of Long Island Lutheran.  Along with the Villanova visit, he will visit Kentucky on October 16th for their Big Blue Madness.  The other school on Yacoubou’s top three is UConn.  Is there a leader yet though?  According to Yacoubou, no.

They are all equal.  I don’t have a leading school just yet.

Throughout the summer, NBE, a site dedicated to the coverage of Big East basketball, has been providing in depth reports on each team.  Today, they released their Villanova summer report written by Zach Smart, which covers key losses, key returnees, key newcomers, as well as predictions and expectations for the new look Wildcats.  Here’s a brief idea of what NBE thinks about the 2009-2010 ’Cats:

Villanova is the hands down conference favorite heading into the 2009-2010 season. With one of the nation’s top recruiting classes as well as several top contributors from last season’s Final Four team, Jay Wright could very well have the horses to make another March charge through the field.

A big part of Villanova’s success over the years has been the atmosphere of the games in which they play in.  They play against high-profile schools, in notorious arenas, with an excellent fan base.  But if you were only allowed to attend one more college basketball game, where would the game be and what would be the matchup? The Rivals College Basketball Roundtable, comprised of a group of Rivals college hoops experts, were proposed this question.  Mike Huguenin, one of the experts, responded as follows:

Give me a “Big Five” game at the Palestra in Philadelphia. The “Big Five” series isn’t what it used to be, but the tradition, history and atmosphere at a key matchup between, say, La Salle and Villanova or Villanova and Temple would be fantastic. The key words are “key matchup.” If two “Big Five” teams happen to be good in the same season – say, both in the top 20 – it would be electric and the Palestra would be rocking.

So we want to know your answer to the question, if you were only allowed to attend one more college basketball game, where would the game be and what would be the matchup?

When it comes to the non-conference schedule, the drama and buzz aren’t always present, but tournaments early in the season can create some excitement.  David Fox, college basketball staff writer for Rivals, listed and analyzed the important November/December tourneys for the upcoming hoops season.  The O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off, which will be played November 19th, 20th, and 22nd, was featured on Fox’s list.  With Georgia Tech, Dayton, Boston University, George Mason, Mississippi, Indiana, Kansas State, and Villanova representing the 8 participants, the matchup Fox wants to see in this bracket is Georgia Tech and Villanova in the 2nd round.  Fox’s analysis of the tip-off is as follows:

The early rounds are loaded with juicy matchups.  A first-round game matches Dayton, the A-10 favorite, and Georgia Tech, a potential top-25 team.  The Yellow Jackets won only two ACC games last season, but should be a league contender with center Derrick Favors, the No. 3 prospect in the 2009 class, joining forward Gani Lawal and guard Iman Shumpert.

The Flyers have a star of their own in 6-8 junior Chris Wright. A strong defensive team, Dayton is poised for a breakout season. … A Final Four team a year ago, Villanova could draw either of those teams in the second round.  Whether the Wildcats face Georgia Tech or Dayton, their frontcourt will need to answer for the loss of leading scorer Dante Cunningham.

Like Villanova, Ole Miss is a backcourt-heavy team when a healthy Chris Warren teams with Terrico White. … Indiana will have a chance to show how well Tom Crean’s rebuilding project is going.  Ole Miss should contend in the SEC West, but the Rebels are hardly an NCAA tournament lock.

We’ll see if Georgetown transfer Jeremiah Rivers and a standout signing class led by forward Christian Watford can compete with Ole Miss. … Thanks to the guard tandem of Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen, Kansas State could be a sleeper in this field.  The Wildcats didn’t play an NCAA tournament team in their non-conference schedule last season.  That could change if K-State wins a game or two in this tourney.

While Georgia Tech has had a rough go of it in recent years, look for them to be better this year with the addition of the highly touted Derrick Favors.  Winning this tournament could prove to be huge down the stretch for the Wildcats.

Lots of good tourneys leading up to conference play.  Which ones intrigue you the most?

Rivals.com has updated their Top 25 Rankings for next season, now taking into account the underclassmen who have entered the NBA Draft.  Villanova comes in at #5, behind Kansas, Michigan State, Purdue, and Texas, respectively.  According to Rivals,

Villanova still is waiting to hear whether Scottie Reynolds stays in the draft, but the Wildcats are loaded in the backcourt with or without him.  The Wildcats also are bringing in three of the top 30 prospects in the 2009 recruiting class.

Additionally, Mike Kern of the Philadelphia Daily News wrote an article today about Villanova reflecting on the recent Final 4 run, but the challenge that lies ahead to get back there.  There are a ton of quotes in the article, mostly from Jay Wright, and it certainly is a great read.

Jerry Meyer, a basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals, has posted Rival’s 2009 Team Recruiting Rankings. Who is #1?  None other than your Villanova Wildcats. It was a close race, but the ‘Cats edged Texas for the top spot. Other Big East teams in Rivals top 25 are:

• UConn – #9
• Louisville - #15
• Marquette – #17
• Pittsburgh - #23

I always find it interesting to see where different people and websites rank certain teams, because sometimes, a school could be ranked very high in one person’s top recruiting classes, but not even on another person’s list. Obviously, this is not the case for Villanova’s 2009 recruiting class. The soon-to-be freshmen ‘Cats are on everyone’s list, which indicates they are really really good.

In the final ESPN/USA Today Poll of the season, Villanova finished ranked 4th in the country, behind North Carolina, Michigan State and UConn respectively. The finish doesn’t come as a surprise considering Villanova’s Final Four appearance, but it’s a great thing to see nonetheless.

The Big East finished with 6 teams in the Top 25, including 4 of the Top 6 teams in the country.

Yesterday, we talked about how Sports Illustrated ranked Villanova 4th in their early pre-season poll for next year, and now Rivals has followed suit by ranking Villanova 8th for next year.

…I’ll be getting into my early thoughts on next year in the coming weeks, but let me state for the record now that a Top 10 ranking is too high in my opinion…