I Bleed Blue and White

Today, ESPN announced their Big Monday schedule for the upcoming college basketball season.  Every Monday between January 4th and March 1st, there will be a doubleheader on ESPN, with a 7 p.m. Big East game and a 9 p.m. Big 12 game.  Villanova will be featured in this time-slot 3 times, including January 11th at Louisville, February 8th at West Virginia, and February 15th vs. Connecticut.  The rest of Big Monday slate, along with my initial reactions to each game, is as follows:

January 4
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati *Pitt at Cincy to kick off the Big Monday season-couldn’t find a better Big East matchup?

January 11
Villanova at Louisville *Need some revenge from last year’s 2 losses to the Cardinals

January 18
Syracuse at Notre Dame *Fighting Irish need to put up a solid showing on national TV to show they are back

January 25
Georgetown at Syracuse *Great rivalry

February 1
Connecticut at Louisville *No more Thabeet to match up with Samuels

February 8
Villanova at West Virginia *1-2 in the conference (better be a lot closer this year)

February 15
Connecticut at Villanova *Remember storming the court in 2006 at the Wachovia Center (place should be rocking)

February 22
West Virginia at Connecticut *Dislike both of these teams a lot

March 1
Georgetown at West Virginia *Georgetown competing for a Big East crown this year?

There you have my thoughts.  What does everyone else think about this schedule?

Added by Chris:

…2006 Wachovia game was the best home game I’ve ever been to…my first “it’s so cold it hurts to drink beer” experience at Villanova…so worth it though…I’m marking Feb. 15th down as a sick day right now…

Pico from The East Coast Bias reached out to a bunch of the Big East bloggers and asked us to answer a bunch of questions for a roundtable he’s hosting. This is the first series of questions he has with another set coming in October.

When Pico posts all the responses on his blog I’ll make sure to link to it, but for how here are my answers.

Q: What’s new with your team since the end of last season?

IBBW: Villanova lost the most successful senior class in it’s history, but replaced it with a consensus Top-5 recruiting class (you’ll hear the names Dominic Cheek and Mouphtaou Yarou a lot early on). Oh yeah, and our senior leader Reggie Redding was suspended for the fall semester for possession of marijuana. He’ll be back for the Big East though, so I think we can hold the fort until then.

Q: Cash or Clunker: Name the teams that you think will be the top 3 squads next season in the Big East (the Cash)… and the bottom 3 (Clunkers). Bonus: which team’s finish in the league is most difficult to predict?

IBBW: The Cash – Villanova, West Virginia and UConn will be the Top-3 this season. I don’t think anybody will really gripe with that. The league is deeper this year, but it lost a little at the top.

The Clunkers – Rutgers, St. John’s and DePaul. In my opinion you could give a couple others a look here, but I like their coaching situation a lot better than these three.

Bonus – I’ll admit I have no idea what South Florida is going to do. Their home court advantage was stellar last year, and they have some guys who can really play, and I like their coach too. They are either ready to make some noise or you will forget they are in the league.

Q: The Big East enters the season without a lot of players who have carryover buzz from last season – Luke Harangody and perhaps Scottie Reynolds are the names a casual fan might be most familiar with. Which players will step up and be the “face of the league”?

IBBW: As much as it pains me to admit it, Greg Monroe is probably going to have a monster year and be considered the best big man in the conference. He was in the spotlight last year and it looked to be too much for him. Now that he’s off the radar a bit, he’s going to make people realize he’s here again. And as a homer pick, Corey Fisher. We’re already talking about him possibly leaving for the draft after this season. He’s going to be up there with the best guards in the country.

Q: Before practice starts, who would you say is the most pivotal player on your team? Who is your candidate for breakout player in the Big East (and please state how the player will be better than last year)?

IBBW: The most pivotal player for Villanova is Antonio Peña. We lost 3 very good frontcourt players, and it is now Peña’s time to step up. I think he’s ready to do it, and so does Jay Wright. That inspires a lot of confidence. Villanova has the guards to beat most teams but if they are thinking Final 4 again they are going to need some consistent play inside.

I have a feeling you’re going to hear Gus Gilchrist’s name a lot this season. As he goes, South Florida will go. The sophomore year is when you see the lights go on for a lot of players, and Gilchrist was already good. He’s going to stamp his name on the 1st or 2nd team this year after he takes the rest of the team under his wing and becomes a true leader.

IBBW: I was the most anti-Twitter blogger you could find at it’s outset. But then after watching it on SportsCenter every morning, I realized it was here to stay. It’s a great way to get updates from people and news outlets you are interested in without having to click refresh every 10 minutes. I’m welcomed Twitter on IBBW and I’ve found that I’ve been able to reach a bigger group of people.

IBBW: Looking forward to football and avoiding watching the Mets. College and the pros. Villanova is an FCS program but we’re a Top-5 team this year, so it’s very exciting. And I’m going to have to give a shout out to the New York Football Giants. We’re winning it all again this year.

Q: The summer is slow; so when Pitino’s “mistake” is made public, or when Calipari’s former team is penalized, or when someone poses a way for the Big East Conference to pick up new football members, the story tends to stick around a little longer than it would during the season. What college basketball story are you tired of this offseason?

IBBW: All of them, although I thoroughly enjoyed Rick Pitino’s out-of-the-blue press conference where he talked about anything and everything but himself. But it is the world we live in. Everyone has an opinion and a forum to voice it. I’m just ready to get back to some good ‘ol fashioned hoops.

Special thanks to Pico for setting this up. Be on the lookout for his full report on the roundtable in the coming weeks.

Is it really that easy to get suspended these days or maybe it’s just too hard to follow rules?  Who knows, but today, Pittsburgh suspended redshirt junior Gilbert Brown for the fall semester due to academic problems.  So let’s see, that’s Joe Mazzulla (WVU), Darryl “Truck” Bryant (WVU), Reggie Redding, and now Brown to add on to the list of Big East players being suspended at one point or another.  Most of these players are upperclassmen as well, but evidently, they don’t get it.  In fact, Brown was honored after the season with one of the Pitt team awards.  No, this is not a joke, but he actually received the “Academic Excellence Award” after last season.  Academic excellence leads to suspension for academic reasons.  Interesting.

Overshadowed by DeJuan Blair, Sam Young, and Levance Fields last year, Brown was expected to step up and be a key cog for the inexperienced Panthers this year.  Pitt’s nonconference schedule is not incredibly difficult, but is certainly no cakewalk.  They play Iowa in late November, Wichita State and/or Texas in late November, and Indiana in early December.  Brown will be eligible for reinstatement on December 20th, just before Big East play begins.

Added by Chris:

…You may also know this man as the guy that Scottie elevated over for the game winning shot in Boston last year…for more on the suspension, check out Pitt Blather’s reaction…

What a shock (sarcasm, indeed). PG Joe Mazzulla has been reinstated to the West Virginia basketball team by Bob Huggins after being suspended due to his arrest for domestic battery when he grabbed a woman by the throat (I kid you not) at a bar in April.

The arrest, which had been Mazzulla’s 2nd in the past year (he was charged with aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and underage drinking — all in one day) was pleaded down to disorderly conduct.

Mazzulla has not missed a single game for either arrest, and pretty much has gotten away Scot-free in both instances.

…I can’t help but laugh…it is Bob Huggins, and it is West Virginia, so what did you really expect?…I’d imagine that Darryl ‘Truck’ Bryant will be reinstated shortly as well, after all, he was only suspended because he committed a hit and run…

…This does affect Villanova though, because West Virginia and us are considered the class of the Big East this year…we all always assumed that Mazzulla (and Bryant) would be back, but I actually thought they might miss a game or two…

Sean Donovan strikes again, this time taking creating a parody of the 2004 movie “Downfall” by portraying Hitler as a Pittsburgh fan, and a West Virginia and Duke hater. Where do we come in? Remember that shot that a certain Wildcat drained in the waning moments in March? Enjoy.

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As the summer rapidly progresses along, we draw closer and closer to the college basketball season.  Today, Villanova learned their Big East home and away opponents for the upcoming season.  Also of note, Villanova will play West Virginia, Marquette, and Georgetown twice, both home and away. 

Without a doubt, Villanova has one of the toughest schedules in the Big East, and Andy Katz agrees with this assessment.  He says,

Already you can see Villanova will have the toughest slate in the Big East if the predictions hold up.

Additionally, Katz breaks down some of the early tournaments, such as the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, which Villanova will participate in.  Another ESPN writer, Pat Forde, ranked his most recent top ten rivalries.  Villanova-Pittsburgh comes in at #5 on Forde’s list.  Forde, on why the rivalry is hot now,

If you saw that memorable East Regional final last spring, you know why. Scottie Reynolds snatched away Pitt’s first Final Four in eons with a last-second drive, giving Nova a leg up in the Pennsylvania hoops hierarchy. It also gives the Wildcats a leg up in what many people believe will be the Big East rivalry of the next decade as Jay Wright and Jamie Dixon turn down other jobs and become even more entrenched. Nova could be the favorite to win the league this season, with Reynolds pulling out of the draft and returning to potentially haunt Pitt again. And even after losing the guts of a great team, you cannot discount the perennially competitive Panthers.

The rivalry will continue to heat up as the Wildcats have to travel to Pittsburgh this year to face the Panthers.  Pitt always plays well at home, as the atmosphere is always great for college basketball, but tough for road teams to play in.  We are curious to hear your thoughts on Villanova’s Big East opponents or the Villanova-Pitt rivalry.

West Virginia guard Joe Mazzulla has been suspended indefinitely according to the University. The suspension follows Mazzulla’s arrest for domestic violence at a Morgantown club on April 18th. Coach Bob Huggins only had one thing to say regarding the suspension.

“We take violations of our team rules very seriously.”

…I’m sure you do Huggy…

No word on how long Mazzulla will be suspended (and I’m guessing it won’t be for long) but if this drags into the Big East season, it will really hurt the Mountaineers chances for a Big East title next year. This isn’t the first time Mazzulla has been arressted (he got a little too rowdy at a Pittsburgh Pirates game of all places) so maybe he won’t get as much lenience this time around.

Mazzulla took a medical redshirt this past season after playing in just 7 games.

A new week for us, and more players are staying in school, more players are entering the NBA Draft, and we’ve even got some transfer updates in the Big East. Exciting indeed! (I really hate the offseason).

It was reported earlier that Jonny Flynn was going to enter his name in the draft, but not hire an agent. This would have left the door open for a return by Flynn, but his plans have changed. Flynn is going to sign with Leo Rose, the agent who represents LeBron James.

…Adios Jonny…we all know the real reason why you left — Villanova was just too good for you…seriously though…good for him…he’s going to be a steal for whoever gets him in the mid-1st round…and personally as a Knicks fan I wouldn’t be too upset if the Knicks reached a bit and grabbed him in the lottery (assuming they are at the bottom end)…

Devin Ebanks has decided to stay at West Virginia. Not really a shocker there. He needs some time in the weight room before he can reach his full potential. But that potential might be higher than anybody else in the conference.

Jeff Goodman’s blog has been updated to include the impending transfer of Omar Wattad, a 6′5″ SG from Georgetown. Wattad, who you’ve probablyl never heard of either, is a sophomore who was a former 2-star recruit. He was buried on the bench for the Hoyas so his transfer isn’t a total shocker. Good luck to you Mr. Wattad.

And to nobody’s surprise at all, Earl Clark has declared for the draft and hired an agent. The ultra-talented Clark is a lock for the lottery, and has shown flashes this year of reaching his enormous potential. He really came on strong at the end of the year. I’m not even going to bring up how this guy almost came to ‘Nova (well, I guess I just did).

…Flynn and Clark are two guys I’m not going to miss at all…in Flynn’s case though, Syracuse is going to have a rough year without him…Louisville should be okay…

West Virginia couldn’t kee up the pressure in the 2nd half on Notre Dame, and allowed them to make it somewhat of a game. The Mountaineers closed it out in the end 73-62. Luke Harangody awoke from his 1st half slumber to finish with 27 points. Kyle McAlarney finished with 17.

Alex Ruoff had 25 for West Virginia, and Da’Sean Butler fought through foul trouble in the 2nd half to finish with 20. Truck Bryant had a surprisingly good night with 17 points. Freshman Devin Ebanks had 16 rebounds and 5 assists. He’s going to be very, very good.

Very impressed by the Bob Huggins’ boys tongiht. I really think they are going to give Pittsburgh a game tomorrow.

For Notre Dame, it’s likely the NIT for them, although there are no guarantees. Hopefully they make some noise there and gain back something after a disappointing year.

West Virginia has used some sharpshooting from the outside along with their typically suffocating defense to take a 36-18 lead into the half over Notre Dame.

Darryl “Truck” Bryant is being left open a bit too often, scoring 13 points in the opening 20. Da’Sean Butler and Alex Ruoff each have 9, although Butler was 4-14, which is awful.

Luke Harangody looks completely disinterested in playing. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. Is he hurt? He looks like he wants to go home. He had just 4 points on 6 shots. Sheesh.

It’s not just him though. ND has no clue what to do on offense, and forget about them playing any sort of defense. They are basically just passing it around the perimeter and hoping somebody is mysteriously left open for a 3. I know he won’t get fired, but if I’m an ND fan I’m livid if he still has a job next year. He’s just not the answer for them.

West Virginia looks like a team primed to make a run in this tournament though, especially if guys like Bryant and Devin Ebanks can step up. Could they beat Pittsburgh? That’ll be a great game tomorrow.

Barring a complete meltdown by the Mountaineers, this one is over.