SB Nation - Samardo Samuels

The Shotgun/Throwdown: Friday (12/18/09) Edition

WVUIE97 — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:08:13 -0000

Welcome, By-Godders, to the Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU's best place for sports links, information and a bit of entertainment. Today we're being brought to you by Layla Dirty Blonde Lager in honor of today's Miss Throwdown.

The men and women both get back into action tomorrow as basketball gets back into the swing of things all around the country. There's a full slate of BE ranked teams in action. Football starts practice again for the bowl tomorrow as well, which means news there should pick up a bit next week. If you're anywhere where snow is being called for, stay warm and be careful if you have to go out. There's plenty to keep you warm in this edition. Suggestions and requests are always encouraged. Have a safe and great weekend!!! Let's GOOOOOOOO...........

What You May Have Missed:

Gold and Blue Report for Friday - WVMETRONEWS.COM

Bill Stewart Statement - MSNsportsNET.Com

Men's Basketball: No Tickets Remain for Seton Hall - MSNsportsNET.Com
Looks like I missed this one. Sorry.

Syracuse Orange enters top 3 of College Basketball Power Rankings - SI.com
We've slid back to #6 from #4 last week.

West Virginia 25th in Director's Cup Standings - MSNsportsNET.Com

Forde Yard Dash - ESPN
"From the starting block in Albuquerque to the finish line in Pasadena, The Dash sprints through all 34 bowls -- and picks the winners."

BCS National Championship, Rose Bowl headline bowl Pickoff - Stewart Mandel - SI.com

News of Note:

West Virginia - Team Notes - USATODAY.com

Let rivalry begin again - Times West Virginian
Hertzel Column

Will Doc's loss impact WVU all that much? - 'Eers to the Ground/PPG

Unfinished Business - MSNsportsNET.Com

WVU's Brown takes aim at home-state team - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Sporting News All-Big East first team - Sporting News

Florida State's head-coach-to-be Jimbo Fisher still fond of West Virginia - St. Petersburg Times

Not just another week for FSU football - Tallahassee Democrat

Chris Henry:

Chris Henry's WVU teammates remember the life of Slim - WVIllustrated.com

Chris Henry's death interrupted his redemption with Bengals - Paul Daugherty - SI.com

NFL Videos: Brown, Lewis on Henry - NFL.com

Chris Henry rocked the Carrier Dome in 2003 as a West Virginia freshman receiver - syracuse.com
Orange beat writer remembers Henry's performances against Syracuse.

What's On Tap:

The WVU women take on Fresno State tomorrow at 7 pm from the Coliseum (couldn't find a link).

West Virginia vs. Cleveland State - SI.com
Saturday from Cleveland at 2 pm on ESPN 360 and MASN.

Lipscomb vs. Cincinnati - SI.com
Saturday at 2 pm from Cinci on ESPN 360.

Villanova vs. Fordham - SI.com
Saturday at 2 pm from East Rutherford, NJ.

Old Dominion vs. Georgetown - SI.com
Saturday at 7 pm from the Phone Booth in DC on ESPN 360 and MASN.

St. Bonaventure vs. Syracuse - SI.com
Saturday at 7 pm from the Dome.

UCF vs. Connecticut - SI.com
Sunday at 1 pm from Hartford on ESPN 360 and MASN.

St. Petersburg Bowl - UCF Knights vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights - ESPN
Sunday night at 8 on ESPN. Rutgers is favored by 3.

Around the League (and Beyond):

See No Big Ten, Hear No Big Ten, Speak No Big Ten - Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician

Cincinnati's Lance Stephenson talks about transition to college game - Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati holds first Sugar Bowl practice without Brian Kelly - ESPN

Samuels is battling huge expectations - Courier-Journal

Pitt coach Dixon demands big improvement - PPG

What now? - TheUConnBlog.com
Ater Majok makes his debut this weekend

Bulls ease back into practice - Tampa Tribune

If The Big East Expanded... - Pitt Blather

Rutgers tailback Joe Martinek ready to go in St. Petersburg Bowl whether Tim Brown plays or not - Star Ledger

Schiano More than Wins and Losses - Protect R Turf

Doc not a perfect hire, just a terrific one - Charleston Gazette

How about Big 14? -- chicagotribune.com

Videos of (Dis)Interest:

We've seen the music synced light displays before, but music and video game synced? Impressive.

She may be past her prime and carry hepatitis...but this video still does it (and her friend is nice too).

Holiday Picture of the Week:

I think the guy on the right wins, for creativity alone. Thanks to Jimmy T. of Hot Clicks for the find.

via thesurlybirds.com

Brazilian Gallery of the Week:

via coedmagazine.files.wordpress.com

Miss Throwdown:

Today's Miss Throwdown is easily one of Israel's finest. Please wish Happy Hanukkah to Miss Bar Rephaeli.

via i.cdn.turner.com

Layla image via www.abarbanel.com

Rumors, news, opinions and Preston Knowles pictures

Mike Rutherford — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:41:13 -0000

I'm old. I don't beat around the bush when it comes to post titles anymore.

There won't be a recap for the Charlotte game because there are a limited number of ways to say it sucked and I have no idea whether it was a fluke or indicative of the season that lies ahead.

Maybe we do win with Peyton, Preston and Jerry at 100%, but wasn't much of this team's strength supposed to be in its frontcourt? Weren't Samuels and Jennings supposed to be one of, if not the, top big men tandems in the Big East? To my knowledge those guys are both performing at full strength and Louisville was absolutely dominated in the paint by a team that starts three guards and a pair of forwards who stand 6-6 and 6-8, respectively. Still, the Cards were outrebounded 49-34 and 49er forward Chris Braswell, a freshman, dominated the game by snatching 14 rebounds, hitting 9-of-12 shots and finishing with 21 points.

There's no question that Samardo Samuels' start has been, to put it mildly, a disappointment, but what about Jennings? Does anyone think he improved significantly over the summer? You don't find your way into Rick Pitino's dog house by accident. I understand that his natural ability demands playing time and that it's possible that we're the best we can be when he's on the floor, but if he'd gone about things the way he should've during the offseason then this wouldn't be an issue.

Our big men need to do a lot of growing if we want to be comfortably away from the bubble by mid-February.

I think the most positive thing I heard about Saturday's game was that Preston Knowles was getting into people's faces during breaks in the action. Somebody has to.

INTERNET REPORT ALERT: I've received word that U of L is planning a large press conference for 4 p.m. tomorrow at the Brown & Williamson Club. Have not been able to confirm what it's for, so I'm not going to speculate, but I absolutely invite you to do so.

The first year in the NBA is hard for a lot of guys, but it appears Terrence Williams is having a particularly difficult time with the adjustment. He's already lost nearly as many games as he did in his college career, he's connected on just 14 of his last 44 shot attempts, he's seen his playing time slowly dwindle and now he's taking shots at his coaches and fans on Twitter.

@MMEIZINGER send me the story where I said I play like lebron,btw you look like nothing – 20 hours ago

Up early to the gym before practice to practice before practice, because NOW practice is my games. Welp that’s life – 10 hours ago

How would it be if Mr. Stern called my name 10 min earlier #9 or 5 min later #12 hmmmmmmmmm to bad I can’t live off what ifs – 10 hours ago

Don’t get me WRONG I thank GOD everyday for where I’am and I love it, hardest working when others aint watching an imma get MY game back – 10 hours ago

@jphoyt you’re beyond terrible so what’s the difference – 7 hours ago

Its funny u fake fans an fake coaches take what I say the wrong way, I love my team an team mates we are human an hate losing point blank – 7 hours ago

Losing's tough, especially for someone like T-Will.

He'll be fine and dropping new T-Willisms shortly.

In better news, T-Will will be holding an autograph session at 8 p.m. on Thursday at Angio's on Bardstown Rd.

He's also still fully capable of dunking the basketball.

ADMM has asked me to let everyone know that he's OK, but he refuses to give anyone his current location. Just let him be....just let him be.

Les Miles voted Cincinnati 8th in his final coaches' poll ballot. I guess he was just that impressed with Texas' clock-management. He also put two-loss Oregon one-spot ahead of an undefeated Boise State team which manhandled the Ducks a couple months ago.

Check out all the ridiculousness right here.

BOOM.

via www.hellinthehall.com

Cincinnati/Florida is the only BCS game I will watch. It's not because I'm trying to make a statement - although, I do think it's going to take a dramatic decrease in ticket sales and television ratings for anything to change - I just couldn't care less about any of the other games on the docket.

It's gotten to the point where I simply can't talk about college football's postseason anywhere near serenely. It's like debating the issue of two plus two equaling four.

Here's hoping the good guys figure out some things over the course of this work week, because Saturday's game against Western Carolina won't be a walk. The Catamounts are 8-1, own a victory over Duquesne and their only loss came at No. 2 Texas.

Don't let anyone ever tell you that a non-season-ending game is a "must win," but another Cardinal loss before the Kentucky game would bring about an onslaught of "is the Pitino scandal affecting Louisville" stories, which would just make everything that much harder on this group.

We all know about it taking a while for guys to fully grasp the Rick Pitino scheme and philosophy, but this team needs to win and needs to keep winning until Jan. 2.

What's amazing to me watching this year's Cards is how unathletic the squad looks. Saturday's game certainly appeared to be a Big East/C-USA matchup, only, you know.

The Cards aren't quick with the ball, they're not quick to the ball, they struggle to keep their guy in front of them when playing man and very few of them appear capable (or willing) of skying over people to impressively snatch a rebound. The bad news is there's no remedy for this.

I still think we have the potential to compete for a top four spot in the Big East and a decent seed in the Big Dance, we just have a lot farther to go than I thought we did a few months ago.

Do your thing, coach.

Louisville 80, Stetson 48

Mike Rutherford — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:02:22 -0000

If Louisville had traveled to Vegas and handled UNLV with ease, then last night's game would have pretty much been a throwaway. However, seeing as how the Cards were upset by the Runnin' Rebels and returned to the Derby City with multiple players needing a confidence boost, there probably wasn't a better time to face off against what is probably the weakest squad on the schedule.

It wasn't particularly fun to watch, but it was probably more beneficial than a lot of people are giving it credit for.

There's bound to be at least a minor relapse coming at some point, but Edgar Sosa's senior season is off to a tremendous start. Obviously a hot shooting start has helped, but it's the other little things that are making him look like a completely different player. He looks a step quicker, he's still not a great on-ball defender but more times than not he's in the right position, he's making the extra pass even when the game's out of reach and, honestly, he just looks more at ease.

Many Cardinal careers have been defined by senior seasons and here's hoping that's the case for Good Edgar.

It was pretty obvious that Jerry Smith had been given word to put the ball up early and often, and he certainly followed orders, driving hard to the bucket numerous times, connecting on 6-of-8 shot attempts and finishing the game with a season-high 17 points.

I don't think anyone doubts what his desire and leadership mean to this team, but he's also got to step up his on-court performance significantly for this group to hit its potential.

Congrats to both Edgar and Jerry for joining the 1,000-point club last night. Louisville now has 62 1,000-point scorers, which ties them with North Carolina for the most in college basketball.

If you're extremely bored at work (why else would you be here), I'd suggest you relive the magic that was last night's open thread. It was pretty entertaining for a game that was as lacking in excitement as last night's.

I'm really worried about Samardo. A lot of people said before the season that how much he had improved would be the deciding factor when it comes to whether or not this team can compete for another Big East title, and the fact of the matter is that right now he looks worse than he was 12 months ago. His inability to rebound has been well documented, he appears to be getting pushed around by post players he has both inches and pounds on, he still ALWAYS turns to his right when he looks to score, he still never uses the board and his pouting appears to have increased tenfold.

Even at the height of its popularity I never joined the "Jennings should play more than Samuels" club last season, and I'm still not on board now, but TJ certainly appears to be gaining significant ground on Samuels offensively, and he's always been ahead of him defensively.

Prep hype can only take you so far. The time to step up has come, 'Mardo.

This has nothing to do with the game or basketball, but I feel like I need to address the fact that Eric Crawford wrote an entire column for this morning solely to show me up for not turning "stepping stone" into a compound word.

Really, Eric? Couldn't think of a more mature way to express your jealousy over my Krag-esque salary and Krag-esque level of fan support. Grow up.

Are you allowed to say "douche face" in your column? You're not? That's funny, because I just did it.

Wear it.

Preston and Peyton in street clothes in 3....2....1......

Can't believe I'm about to say this, but point, Siva.

Argyle Wednesday respect for the win.

He's taking a lot of heat for his ice cold shooting start, but I really, really think Mike Marra is going to be a significant contributor here throughout his career. True, he's got to start hitting some shots if he wants to keep seeing the floor, but for a guy who was advertised strictly as a sharp-shooter, the other aspects of his game are much further along than I think most of us expected them to be.

First, he's extremely athletic. He's a very capable defender and rebounder, and he's a much better passer and ballhandler than I thought he'd be. If he can prove that he's the shooter he's supposed to be then he's going to have to get double-digit minutes night in, night out.

Is WHAS the worst local television station ever? I'm not talking about in Louisville, I'm talking about anywhere in the world.

Their HD feed is always out, their picture is always awful, there's constantly something messed up with their sound and then last night they try to give the entire city a stroke.

Your product is miserable and I wish I wasn't forced to rely on it.

There's something about the letter S wearing a hat that tickles me in a way few other things do.

Awesome.

Stephan Van Treese DOMINATED the last two minutes of that game. Also, kudos to long-shirted Chris Brickley on burying a trey.

Reggie, Kyle Kuric, Swop and Rock Buckles all deserve mentions for their respective efforts, so, yeah, there you go guys.

Charlotte returns to the Hall Saturday night. If Diego Guevarra is still on that team and blowing kisses to his wife after every shot he makes, you have no idea how pissed I'm going to be.

Get ready for the pain, Bobby Lutz.

UNLV Runnin' Rebels move to 5-0 as they upset #16 Louisville

noam16 — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 07:22:51 -0000

More photos » by Isaac Brekken - AP

Browse more photos »

It felt like March Madness had arrived in November as the UNLV Runnin' Rebels (5-0) upset the 16^th ranked Louisville Cardinals (4-1) 76-71, handing them their first loss of the season in front of an extremely energized crowd at the Thomas and Mack center.

The Rebels led the entire game, starting the game strong and building a double digit lead by half time at 40-30.

UNLV then came out strong to start the second half going on a 8-0 run to take an 18 point lead before Louisville was down 53-34 with 14:05 left in the game and went on a 30-11 to tie the game up at 62 with 5 minutes left to play.

The Rebels did not fold then and rebuilt their lead to eight with under a minute to play and managed to hold off the Cardinal's last minute push.

"They threw a big run at us. We took the hit, but we got up and fought back," Tre'von Willis said. "We ground it out at the end of the game. It shows our character, it shows how much fight we have in us."

UNLV was led in scoring by Oscar Bellfield who had 17, while Willis added 16 along with 9 assists and 6 rebounds. Also scoring in double figures for the Rebels was Derrick Jasper with 12 and Darris Santee who had 13.

Final - 11.28.2009	1	2	Total
Louisville Cardinals	30	41	71
UNLV Runnin Rebels	40	36	76

Complete Coverage >

The Rebels had 21 assists on 27 made baskets, more than doubling Louisville's passing as they only had ten.

"This group's been very unselfish, really comfortable moving the ball, comfortable with different guys, different nights, stepping in, getting more minutes, and getting better results" head coach Lon Kruger said. "The ability to keep people fresher because of the depth we have is huge."

That depth was shown today as 11 players got more than 7 minutes and 9 of those 11 scored.

The Rebels defense was also on point, holding Louisville's star sophomore Samardo Samuels well below his averages of 17.5 points and 8 rebounds, by only allowing him 13 points and 3 rebounds. They also forced the Cardinals to commit 16 turnovers while only giving up the ball 13 times.

The fans were extremely loud and played a crucial role in keeping the Rebels focused on the victory. The crowd of 14,390 made their presence known especially late in the game as they were loud and vocal.

"The atmosphere was crazy tonight, fans were crazy; it was loud," Santee said. "They had our adrenaline pumping and we just fed off of them."

The thrill of such a big win cannot be relished on for long as the Rebels travel to Tucson, Arizona to face Arizona on Wednesday 12/2 at six.

"It's kind of a big boost but we still have some other big games coming up," Bellfield said. We gotta enjoy this for today, and tomorrow be ready for Arizona and get ready."

The Rebels started off 5-0 last year and will hope to extend their hot start to 6 straight wins as they take on an Arizona team that has struggled a bit in the beginning of the season, going 3-2, but coming off a loss to 24 Vanderbilt. They are undefeated at home, however, and will look to stay that way against the Runnin' Rebels.

Next Game

UNLV Runnin Rebels
@ Arizona Wildcats

Wednesday, Dec 2, 2009, 6:00 PM PST
McKale Center

Complete Coverage >

Louisville 80, Appalachian State 53

Mike Rutherford — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:14:05 -0000

Maybe it was because it wasn't the afternoon, but there was definitely more of an air of excitement in the stands and bounce in the step of the player's in white on Monday night than there had been on either of the two days before. Appy State is down from where they were a couple of years ago, and the Mountaineers aren't nearly as well suited as Louisville is to play three games in three days, but this was still a very solid 40-minute performance.

A solid momentum-builder heading into this weekend's road test in Vegas.

How much of a trend-setter is Preston Knowles? Let's just say there are nine guys at my office wearing white compression t-shirts. It's like Kelly Kapowski's pizza hat.

This really might be the most balanced team in Louisville history. How much better is Swop than Buckles? Samuels than Jennings? Sosa than Siva? Knowles or Jerry than Delk or Kuric?

If you're on this team and you finish the season averaging more than five points, then you probably can say you had a fantastic year.

I was almost positive that I saw Ryan Abraham throw a punch into Edgar Sosa's midsection early in the game, a thought that was confirmed on the next possession when Sosa leveled him for seemingly no reason. It looked like Edgar was telling the ref that Abraham had hit him in his happy area, which is possible since Sos's high-short-wearing ways make it difficult to gauge the location of his body parts.

Wherever he hit him, Abraham's a chotch.

Samardo appeared to be extremely pissed off all night for whatever reason.

There was a point where Pitino told him to check back in the game, but when he took an insanely long amount of time to remove his warm-up, Rick opted to let George Goode take the floor. Then there was another instance later in the game during a timeout where hung out by himself outside of the team huddle. And then of course there was the highly uncharacteristic poor free-throw shooting.

No idea what the deal is there, but here's hoping it's nothing a little (or a lot of) turkey and stuffing can't resolve.

Naturally, we have the greatest junior announcer of all-time a mere eight hours or so after I rip on the segment for the first time.

The official Card Chronicle 2009 Hall of Fame Showcase champions t-shirt should be hitting stores late this morning.

On the front of the shirt? You guessed it, Schnilk Chuggenberger.

I heard Jared Swopshire talk for the first time (besides, of course, the "it's game time" at the end of the intro video) on the radio after the game and he sounds nothing like you think he would. His voice is extremely deep and pretty awesome. He also started every single answer with "oh yeah, definitely," causing me to do the same thing for the rest of the night and ultimately end up losing all my friends and end up sleeping on the floor by myself.

Thanks, Swop.

Also, I know that everybody calls him Swop, but for some reason I think it's hilarious when I hear Pitino do it. I don't understand most of the things that make me laugh.

We're still doing a really poor job of locating shooters when we're in zone. Like, really poor.

These games count, Jerry. Let's get it goin'.

Curtis Shaw sucks but didn't do anything ridiculously awful last night. Congrats?

Edgar was a little bit more reckless with the ball Monday night than he had been over the weekend, but he still has to be the mythical Hall of Fame Showcase MVP. If he plays like this, Jerry becomes Jerry by Big East Play, Samardo realizes he's enormous and the young guys steadily improve, then we're going to be an extremely tough out.

Chris Brickley's undershirt was enormous. Preston was just trying to make a point, Chris. You don't have to celebrate it.

Gratuitous dunking Kyle Kuric pic...

More solid pics from Sam, who made the questionable decision to sport a blue button-down and once again refused to take a shot of me looking extremely cool in the stands.

Rock Buckles (my god what a name) is receiving some very much-deserved praise this a.m. He's definitely going to make some awkward mistakes over the course of the season, but if he can rebound like that, defend like that, finish around the rim and knock down the occasional 15-footer then he's going to provide an enormous lift off the bench.

He also gets yelled at by Pitino a lot, which I think just shows that Rick knows he can take it and sees significant potential in No. 4.

Keep workin'.

Overall, a solid three days to get both the fans and the team into the swing of basketball season.

We owe these guys one on Saturday. I'm excited.

Louisville smokes Arkansas 96-66 in season-opener

Mike Rutherford — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:22:49 -0000

The Louisville basketball team has played one game and their margin of victory in that contest - played against an SEC opponent away from home - is more than double the combined margin of victory of their football counterpart's three D-1 victories. Scoring lots of points and winning by lots of points is fun, and I remember that now.

The ball is bouncing once again in the Derby City.

So I'm not sure who started at the four for Louisville last night. He looked like Jared Swopshire, he even wore his number, but he didn't play anything like the Swop we've seen for the past 12 months.

Maybe it was playing in front of friends and family in St. Louis, but Swop looked about 20 times more confident than he ever has at any point in his brief Cardinal career. He made smart and bold decisions with the ball in his hands, knocked down open shots and came down with contested rebounds over some pretty big boys.

I've stated on here multiple times that Swop is at least a year away from being a solid Big East forward, and while I still doubt his ability to do a lot of what he did last night against the likes of Connecticut and West Virginia, if he can play at the level he displayed then he absolutely deserves a spot in the starting lineup.

A friend I took in the game with summed things up quite well at one point in the second half: "Swop just looks...cooler."

Reggie Delk again confirmed his status as the least predictable Louisville basketball player of all-time by burying 4-of-5 treys and scoring 20 points. He also did a tremendous job when he was assigned to Rotnei Clarke.

I thought before the season that Delk's performance would be a huge factor in how the season turned out, and while I don't feel nearly as strongly about that statement as I once did, it's an enormous lift when he's knocking down open shots, snatching rebounds and doing all of the other little things that players with his athleticism can do.

Pitino has talked about Delk being a guy whose performance is dictated largely by his confidence level, and if that's the case then last night may have been even more important than it appeared on the surface.

He didn't shoot the ball particularly well but I thought Edgar Sosa put together a nice game. He made a couple of poor decisions early but still finished with a team-high seven assists and turned it over only twice.

Sosa is this team's point guard and he will be for the entire season.

Even with Delk's big night, I love the three-guard starting lineup. Sosa, Knowles and Smith look extremely comfortable on the floor together and produced an assist-to-turnover ratio of 18:4 last night. I still wouldn't be surprised if Jennings replaces Swop in the starting five at some point, but I think the three-guard lineup is here to stay. As it should be.

The Big East is 29-0 right now. That's quite ridiculous.

What do you think the odds are of the entire league being without a loss come Selection Sunday? It's gonna be tough, but I think we've got a shot.

This will be the 9,674th time someone has said this in the past calendar year, but Samardo Samuels has simply got to turn himself into a better rebounder. Last night he was consistently out of position, he was out-muscled and he bobbled multiple boards he should have come up with cleanly. Granted, he was going up against a future first round NBA Draft pick, but without T-Will and Earl Clark, four boards simply isn't going to cut it.

No token photo. Get off your ass, AP photogs.

Apparently there were some network-wide problems that made CC impossible to access for a period during the game last night. In order to make amends, I'm going to go ahead and make all of our content free and open to the public.

You're welcome.

Jerry's excited about the season.

Seriously, can one guy be cooler?

Peyton Siva's and-one was highlight worthy, but he appeared a bit overanxious when the ball was in his hands and struggled to keep his man in front of him on defense. Still, he's a high school All-American with ridiculous potential who doesn't mind waiting his turn as long as his team is winning.

We love you, Peyton. We love you a lot .

A Big East football win and a 30-point victory over an SEC opponent in the basketball season-opener in the span of four days. It's safe to say Cardwear Sporting Dog is legit.

When Preston buried the no-hesitation three on the first possession of the season, the urge I had to take my pants off was at a March '09 level.

Anyone else have an extremely strong desire to chug Bud Light and pound Reese's Cups after watching that game? I wonder what that was all about.

Rotnei Clarke is really good and we did an outstanding job on him last night. He has as pure a stroke as there is in college basketball and is actually much better at creating his own shot than I thought he was. Kudos to Knowles and Delk for keeping him under 20.

How pissed do you think the two Razorbacks on the end of the bench are that the guy from the golf team plays more than them?

On a related note, I have a friend - who shall again remain anonymous in order to protect him from becoming Louisville's biggest social pariah - who had the gumption to yell "fore" when the golfer missed a free-throw. If that wasn't bad enough, he later admitted that he'd been waiting to use the joke for the better part of the night.

Robert Daniel Sinnard of St. Matthews, the world weeps for you and all you come in contact with.

Mike Marra really needs to make a shot. Just one.

Keep shooting, my man.

How about Chris Brickley's take? That was insanely confident and well-executed.

It was equally awesome to see Sosa, his roommate, going nuts on the bench.

It's really cool to watch how much these guys genuinely like each other.

Ninety-six points, 15 threes, 25 assists, 16 turnovers forced, 30-point win, basketball season.

I'm crying because I'm happy.

BtB 2009-10 Big East Preview

Chris Dobbertean — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:19:46 -0000

The Big East had a BIG season last year, but not quite the monster year many predicted. At the end of the year, the conference only qualified eight teams for the NCAAs, instead the nine or ten many had predicted. Louisville earned the tournament's overall number one seed, while UConn and Pitt joined them on the top line. The Huskies were the only one of this group to make it to Detroit, but the 3 seed in the East region, Villanova, knocked off the Panthers to join Connecticut at Ford Field.

Graduation and the NBA Draft sapped some of the star power from the conference during the offseason, and teams like Pitt and Marquette, look to be in rebuilding mode because of it. Louisville, whose summer included personnel losses and revelations about Rick Pitino's personal life, will be a contender but not quite the power of last year. UConn and Syracuse also lost significant personnel, but have some exciting recruits coming in to fill the voids. Two teams who fell flat last year, Georgetown and Notre Dame could be back, while Cincinnati, St. John's, and Seton Hall may be waking from a long slumber.

But the two teams who appear to be head and shoulders above the rest are the two who lost the least, Villanova and West Virginia. They'll start with the biggest targets on their backs, and they'll take plenty of shots in the early season, particularly in tournament play. Both play in loaded fields this November, the Wildcats in Puerto Rico; the Mountaineers in Anaheim.

More on all 16 teams in the largest league in the land after the jump.

Here's a recap of last year's Big East standings.

Big East Conference Standings

(updated 4.5.2009 at 12:15 AM EDT)

	Conf		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Louisville Cardinals	16	2	31	6
Connecticut Huskies	15	3	31	5
Pittsburgh Panthers	15	3	31	5
Villanova Wildcats	13	5	30	8
Marquette Golden Eagles	12	6	25	10
Syracuse Orange	11	7	28	10
West Virginia Mountaineers	10	8	23	12
Providence Friars	10	8	19	14
Notre Dame Fighting Irish	8	10	21	15
Cincinnati Bearcats	8	10	18	14
Seton Hall Pirates	7	11	17	15
Georgetown Hoyas	7	11	16	15
St. John's Red Storm	6	12	16	18
South Florida Bulls	4	14	9	22
Rutgers Scarlet Knights	2	16	11	21
DePaul Blue Demons	0	18	9	24

Now, here are my picks for 2009-10, presented in reverse order. If a team name appears in red, click it to go to that schools SBNation site, your source for more in depth analysis.

DePaul (last NCAA: 2004) The Blue Demons defeated a league opponent once only last season, bursting Cincinnati's bubble in the first round of the Big East tournament. The pressure is definitely on Jerry Wainwright at the moment, but this team doesn't look like it will improve much. The foundation is good, even with swingman Dar Tucker's departure for the professional game, as 6-10 Mac Koshwal is a beast inside for Wainwright, as he averaged over 12 points and nearly 10 boards a game last year, and Will Walker averaged nearly 15 points a game in the backcourt. But the rest of the squad lacks scoring punch and experience. Ohio State transfer Eric Wallace, Oregon State transfer Eric Wallace, and returnees Devin Hill (3.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg) and Mario Stula (1.7 ppg) will have to produce more to make up for the loss of Tucker, while Jabari Currie (5.3 ppg, 1.8 apg) and Jeremiah Kelly (4.3 ppg, 2.4 apg) will need to help Walker out more in the backcourt. DePaul will play Northern Iowa in the Paradise Jam, then East Carolina or Tennessee in their second game. They'll also head to Tampa to take on Mississippi State in the Big East/SEC Invitational.

Providence (last NCAA: 2004) The Friars won 10 Big East games in Keno Davis' first season at the helm, but ended up in the NIT. Providence's schedule is a big reason for their failure, as they defeated Cincinnati and Rutgers twice, and were swept by Villanova, making their victory total a bit suspect. Providence should drop significantly this season, as they lost four starters off an already disappointing team. Senior point guard Sharaud Curry (11.7 ppg, 4.2 apg) is the lone returning starter, so at least the offense will be in good hands. Production will have to come from 6-5 wing Marshon Brooks (10.6 ppg) and 6-4 Brian McKenzie (4.6 ppg), along with JC transfer Kyle Wright and freshman Duke Mondy, both of whom lit it up at their previous level of competition. 6-9 JC transfer Russ Permenter and 6-8 freshmen Kadeem Bates and James Still will join two redshirt freshmen, 6-6 Jamine Peterson and 6-8 Bilal Dixon, on an all new frontline. How quickly that group can adjust to the rigors of the Big East will determine how well PC can do this season. The Friars don't participate in a tournament this year, but they travel to Alabama and host former Big East member Boston College.

South Florida (last NCAA: 1992) The Bulls should be better this year, but the question is whether that will show up in the standings. Stan Heath returns three starters from a team that won only four Big East contests a season ago, including guard Dominique Jones (18.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 3.9 apg) and 6-10 forward Augustus Gilchrist (10.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg). Both of those players will receive significant help in their particular units, as Ohio State transfer Anthony Crater will take some of the playmaking pressure off Jones (as will a bigger role for senior Chris Howard, who averaged over 4 assists a game last year) and 6-11 JC transfer Jarrid Famous will combine with Gilchrist to form one of the more intimidating frontlines in the conference. 6-4 guard Mike Mercer (8.5 ppg, 33.3% from 3) returns to the team for his final season after head coach Stan Heath booted him in January for disciplinary issues. USF's freshmen, heavy on guards and wings, includes Joe Dumars' son, Jordan. The Bulls will play in the Charleston Classic before Thanksgiving, where they'll play Davidson on Day 1. A matchup with either La Salle or South Carolina awaits on Day 2. USF will also face San Diego and San Francisco in Las Vegas before Christmas.

Rutgers (last NCAA: 1991) The Scarlet Knights once again struggled in the Big East, winning only two games in the conference in '08-09. Fred Hill's team should face another tough year despite the return of 6-3 sophomore guard Mike Rosario (16.2 ppg) and an improving frontline featuring imposing shotblocker 6-9 Gregory Echenique (8.4 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 2.4 bpg) and 6-11 center Hamady Ndiaye (5.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg). 6-7 Jonathan Mitchell, a transfer from Florida, and 6-6 sophomore Patrick Jackson, a rarely used freshman, are expected to contribute as well. While Rutgers is set at shooting guard thanks to Rosario, JC transfer James Beatty will likely replace Anthony Farmer at the point, though junior Mike Coburn (4 ppg, 2.1 apg), last year's backup, will see plenty of time there as well. The Scarlet Knights will make the short trip to Atlantic City, where they'll face UMass in the semifinals of the Legends Classic. They'll play either Florida or Michigan State on the following evening. A December 28 trip to North Carolina also looms large.

Marquette (last NCAA: 2009) The Golden Eagles appear due for a fall in Buzz Williams' second year at the helm. Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews, and Dominic James, Marquette's starting backcourt of a season ago, have all graduated. And while 6-6 F Lazar Hayward (16.3 ppg, 8.6 rpg) is back, that's a lot of production Williams will have to replace. Jimmy Butler (5.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg), another 6-6 forward, should move from the sixth man role to the starting lineup, but he needs to show more offensive consistency. Two-time Wisconsin HS Player of the Year Jeronne Maymon, yet another 6-6 forward, will be expected to contribute immediately, as will 6-7 shot blocking machine Erik Williams. Marquette's all-new backcourt features two JC All-Americans, 6-3 Dwight Buycks and 6-1 Darius Johnson-Odom, and 6-1 Canadian freshman Junior Cadougan, the heir apparent to James. Maurice Acker (2.8 ppg, 1.8 apg), who replaced James when he went out with a broken foot, is also back for the Golden Eagles. Marquette plays in the Old Spice Classic this year, where they open with Xavier. They'll then play either Michigan or Creighton in what has to be called that tournament's Midwestern half of the bracket.

Pittsburgh (last NCAA: 2009) The Panthers will be in full rebuilding mode this season, as Jamie Dixon lost four starters from a season ago. However, the one starter who is back, senior guard Jermaine Dixon (8.4 ppg, 2 apg), is out until November thanks to a broken foot. Reserves Gilbert Brown (5.4 ppg), Brad Wanamaker (5.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg), and Ashton Gibbs (4.3 ppg, 43.9% from 3) will have to take on a greater role, but replacing Levance Fields at the point is the biggest issue for Pitt. Ultimately, Gibbs and Centenary transfer Chase Adams (14.6 ppg, 4.5 apg) will have to shoulder the load. The frontcourt was decimated thanks to the departure of DeJuan Blair, Sam Young, and Tyrell Biggs. 6-10 center Gary McGhee (1.2 ppg, 1.5 rpg in roughly 6 minutes per game) will see a lot more time this season, as will 6-6 swingman Gilbert Brown (5.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg), but 6-9 freshman Dante Taylor, a McDonald's All-American, could become the most exciting frontcourt player for the Panthers this season. Pitt will travel to Kansas City for the CBE Classic, where they'll open against Wichita State. Big 12 power Texas or now-perennially-rebuilding Iowa awaits on the second night.

Seton Hall (last NCAA: 2006) Bobby Gonzalez not only brings back four starters from a season ago, led by offensive force Jeremy Hazell (22.7 ppg), he has several transfers coming in to provide much needed depth. The Pirates' solid backcourt, featuring Hazell, starting point guard Eugene Harvey (12.5 ppg, 4.5 apg), and backup PG Jordan Theodore (5.9 ppg, 2 apg) receives a major reinforcement in the form of Missouri transfer Keon Lawrence (11 ppg, 2.3 apg in '07-08). An emerging frontline, featuring 6-6 Robert Mitchell (14.7 ppg, 8 rpg) and 6-9 John Garcia (8 ppg, 7 rpg), will be even better thanks to the presence of 6-8 New Mexico State transfer Herb Pope, who averaged more than 11 points and almost 7 boards a game in his single season in Las Cruces. Melvyn Oliver, a 6-11 sophomore who weighs in at an immovable 340 pounds and 6-6 Memphis transfer Jeff Robinson will also see some minutes. Seton Hall won't participate in a tournament this year, but they'll still get some time in the sun. They'll travel to Cancun to take on Virginia Tech on the second day of 2010.

St. John's (last NCAA: 2002) Last season, Norm Roberts' Red Storm won 16 games, 6 in the Big East, during a campaign that was plagued by injuries. St. John's hasn't quite been able to shake the injury bug yet, as their best player, 6-7 senior F Anthony Mason, Jr. (14 ppg, 4.3 rpg) will be out until at least late November with a hamstring injury. He only played three games last season thanks to a torn tendon in his right foot. When he returns, he'll join 6-6 junior D.J. Kennedy (13 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and 6-8 junior Sean Evans (10.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg) to form a quality frontcourt. 6-3 junior Paris Horne, who led the Red Storm in scoring a season ago (14.6 ppg), and 5-9 PG Malik Boothe (6.4 ppg, 4.4 apg) will anchor the backcourt, with sophomore Quincy Roberts (5 ppg) and freshman PG Malik Stith, as the supporting cast. St. John's will participate in the Philly Hoop Group Classic over Thanksgiving weekend at the Palestra, where they'll face Siena and Temple.

Notre Dame (last NCAA: 2008) The Fighting Irish have a chance of improving on last year's disappointing 21-win NIT campaign thanks to the return of 6-8 Luke Harangody (23.3 ppg, 11.8 rpg), a player who has numerous school and conference records within reach. In the backcourt, point guard Tory Jackson (10.6 ppg, 4.9 apg) returns, but perimeter sharpshooters Kyle McAlarney (15 ppg) and Ryan Ayers (11.1 ppg) will be sorely missed. Mississippi State transfer Ben Hansbrough, brother of Tyler, will be called on to make up some of that production, though he's just as likely to score inside, as he can really drive to the basket. Unfortunately, another player who would've fit in immediately, 6-8 Purdue transfer Scott Martin, will miss the year with a knee injury. That means 6-8 junior Tyrone Nash (3 ppg, 3.6 rpg) will have to take on a greater role. Ultimately, a lack of depth will keep the Irish from rising too high in the standings, but they should be competitive for an NCAA bid. Notre Dame will participate in the Chicago Invitational Challenge, where they open with Northwestern. The second day the Irish will face either Iowa State or Saint Louis.

Cincinnati (last NCAA: 2005) Thanks to four returning starters and a couple of key newcomers, Mick Cronin's team should be able to improve on last year's 18 wins (8 in the conference), and with the losses other Big East teams suffered, they should get back to the Dance. The Bearcats' strength will be their backcourt, led by all-Big East pick Deonta Vaughn (15.3 ppg, 4.7 apg). He'll receive more help than he had last year, as PG Cashmere Wright is back after missing all of last year with a knee injury and Larry Davis (6.8 ppg) also returns from an ankle injury. 6-9 Yancy Gates (10.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg), who was one of the league's top freshmen last season anchors the frontcourt, which will also feature 6-11 Oklahoma State transfer Ibrahima Thomas (8.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg) when the fall semester ends. However, the arrival of 6-6 New Yorker Lance Stephenson gives the Bearcats a second legit star. New York State's all-time leading scorer averaged nearly 29 points a contest last year, so he should provide an instant boost to a team that was weak on the offensive end last season. Cincy will play in Maui this November, where they open with Vanderbilt. If they win that, a semifinal with Maryland would likely await.

Georgetown (last NCAA: 2008) The Hoyas were touted as a Final Four team by some last year, but struggled with consistency throughout the season. DaJuan Summers left early for the NBA, which is a major blow, and Jesse Sapp, the senior point guard and defensive specialist who saw a lot more action than anticipated last year, graduated, but John Thompson III has plenty of talent returning to improve on last season's 16-15 mark. Chris Wright (12.5 ppg, 3.8 apg) is back to run the point after showing well in his first league campaign. He missed all of the previous conference season with an ankle injury. At the 2 spot, Austin Freeman (11.4 ppg, 2 apg) will be expected to improve his production in Summers' absence. The frontcourt is anchored by conference Newcomer of the Year Greg Monroe (12.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.5 bpg), but those expected to start alongside him, sophomore PF Henry Sims and freshman SF Hollis Thompson are relatively inexperienced. That means reserve Julian Vaughn (1.8 ppg, 1.7 rpg), who was expected to contribute more in his first year after transferring from Florida State, and occasional starter Nikita Mescheriakov (2.7 ppg, 1.5 rpg) may see quite a bit more time than anticipated. The Hoyas won't participate in a tournament this season, but they will head west to take on Washington in the Wooden Classic (not UCLA, which would make sense) and up to New York to face Butler in the Jimmy V Classic.

Louisville (last NCAA: 2009) Rick Pitino was the center of a lot of unwanted attention this offseason thanks to some well-publicized off the court issues. On the court, the Cards the news was also negative, as the team's two leading scorers and rebounders from last season, Earl Clark and Terrence Williams, are now in the NBA. The cupboard is far from bare for Pitino, however. He has a backcourt led by seniors Edgar Sosa (7.3 ppg, 2.3 apg) and Jerry Smith, a gifted shooter who averaged almost 8 points a game while shooting 41 percent from beyond the arc. Junior Preston Knowles shot even better from outside, 43 percent, as the sixth man last year. The Cards will need their production, along with that of 6-4 freshman sharpshooter Mike Marra and McDonald's All-American PG Peyton Siva, to replace some of the production that left with Clark and Williams. The frontcourt should be a strength, thanks to the return of 6-9 Samardo Samuels (11.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg), though he'll need to be more consistent. Samuels will be challenged by having to do more of the dirty work on the glass, as he was only the third leading rebounder on last year's team. 6-9 sophomore Terrence Jennings should also provide more punch this season, as he averaged 4.2 ppg and 2.9 rpg in only about 12 minutes worth of action as a freshman. Tony Delk, a 6-4 swingman, who averaged less than a bucket a game last year, should also see more time. Besides the traditional game with Kentucky, Louisville will play Arkansas in the Hall of Fame Showcase in St. Louis before they play home games against three mid-major opponents in the same event.

Syracuse (last NCAA: 2009) The Orange lost their three leading scorers--NBA first rounder Jonny Flynn, his Niagara Falls High School teammate Paul Harris, and Eric Devendorf--off a squad that reached the Sweet 16. But don't expect Jim Boeheim's squad to fall too far down the Big East pecking order. Two regular frontcourt starters--6-9 C Arinze Onuaku (10.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.4 bpg) and 6-9 F Rick Jackson (8.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.6 bpg)-return, as does part-time starter Andy Rautins (10.5 ppg, 36.6% from 3). The newcomers are even more intriguing. 6-7 F Wesley Johnson, who averaged over 12 points and almost 8 boards as a freshman and 12+ points and 4 boards as a sophomore at Iowa State, will fill Harris' spot in the frontcourt. 6-4 freshman Brandon Triche will replace Flynn at the point. The Orange have some talent on the bench, as 6-1 sophomore guard Scoop Jardine returns after sitting out last year injured, 6-7 sophomore Kris Joseph will provide some depth up front, but he'll have to be more consistent than he was as a freshman. 6-8 freshman James Southerland should see some time off the bench because of his ability to shoot. Syracuse makes the short trip to New York City for the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, where they'll face California in the semifinals, then either Ohio State or North Carolina. They'll travel to Tampa to take on Florida in the Big East/SEC Invitational and host Memphis in the Dome.

Connecticut (last NCAA: 2009) Jim Calhoun lost three starters off a Final Four team, Hasheem Thabeet, A.J. Price, and Jeff Adrien, but don't expect UConn to fall too far. PG Kemba Walker (8.9 ppg, 2.8 apg) got a lot of experience off the bench in '08-09 and will be ready to fill Price's shoes at the 1 spot. Freshman Darius Smith should also see some time at the point and maybe even at the 2 spot, thanks to his scoring ability. Jerome Dyson (13.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.1 apg) returns from a torn meniscus to provide more toughness to the backcourt. In the frontcourt, SF Stanley Robinson (8.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg) needs to show more consistency, while 6-9 senior Gavin Edwards steps into a starting role for the first time. Calhoun has some impact youngsters on his frontline, including 6-10 Ater Majok and high school teammates Alex Oriakhi and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel. If the younger frontcourt produces as the season goes on, UConn could go on another long March run. Of course, the ongoing investigation surrounding Josh Nochimson could still lead to some distractions during the season. Schedule-wise, the Huskies will host the North regional of the NIT Season Tip-Off. That should result in the first of two trips to MSG for them, as they also face Kentucky in the Big East/SEC Invitational.

West Virginia (last NCAA: 2009) The Mountaineers bring back the bulk of a team that disappointingly lost to Dayton in the first round of last year's NCAAs. Bob Huggins' frontcourt features two players who will challenge for national honors this year, 6-7 senior Da'Sean Butler (17.1 ppg. 5.9 rpg) and 6-9 sophomore Devin Ebanks (10.7 ppg, 7.8 rpg)-a player who really came on in the second half of last season. PF Wellington Smith (5.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg), a 6-7 senior, should up his performance now that he's recovered from a stress fracture in his leg, while 6-8 sophomore Kevin Jones (6.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg) is another solid reserve player for the Mountaineers. The backcourt will be new as JC transfer Casey Mitchell will be the starting shooting guard and Alex Ruoff's replacement at point guard is a real question mark. Darryl Bryant (9.8 ppg, 2.7 apg), Ruoff's heir apparent, was suspended by Huggins over the summer. Joe Mazzulla (5.6 ppg, 3.7 apg), another player who had to deal with off the court issues last year, is another option. His minutes depend on how well he's recovered from the severe shoulder injury he suffered early last season. The Mountaineers will play in the 76 Classic in Anaheim, where they'll open with Long Beach State. A matchup with either Clemson or Texas A&M awaits on the day after Thanksgiving.

Villanova (last NCAA: 2009) Leading scorer Dante Cunningham (16.1 ppg, 7.5 rpg) and swingman Dwayne Anderson (9 ppg, 6.2 rpg) may be gone from last year's Final Four team, but there's enough quality on the roster to ensure that the Wildcats remain near the top of the league. Sixth man Corey Fisher (10.8 ppg, 2.8 apg) should move over to the point full-time, while senior Scottie Reynolds (15.2 ppg, 3.4 apg) will continue to help with the playmaking, even in a more offensive role. The frontcourt corps of 6-5 Corey Stokes (9.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg), 6-5 Reggie Redding (7.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg), and 6-8 Antonio Pena (5.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg) will be joined by several newcomers. 6-11 redshirt Maurice Sutton, 6-6 Duke transfer Taylor King, and 6-7 freshman Isaiah Armwood will see considerable minutes, while 6-10 Mouphtaou Yarou, a high school teammate of Armwood, will give the Wildcats an inside dimension they haven't had in years. Nova will play in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off before Thanksgiving. They'll open with George Mason before facing either Dayton or Georgia Tech on the second day.

The Wildcats will hold the Big East's auto bid in my 2009-10 Final Preseason Bracket, which I will release on November 9. There will undoubtedly be a few of their conference brethren joining them.

To wrap up this preview, here is my preseason All-Big East team, featuring the best returning players from last season.

Preseason All-Big East Team

Player of the Year: Luke Harangody, 6-8 F, Sr. (Notre Dame)

Remainder of the Team
Da'Sean Butler, 6-7 F. Sr. (West Virginia)
Devin Ebanks, 6-9 F, So. (West Virginia)
Greg Monroe, 6-11 F, So. (Georgetown)
Scottie Reynolds, 6-2 G, Sr. (Villanova)

Poll

Who is your pick to win the Big East this season?

Cincinnati

7 votes

Connecticut

9 votes

DePaul

1 votes

Georgetown

24 votes

Louisville

13 votes

Marquette

0 votes

Notre Dame

1 votes

Pittsburgh

6 votes

Providence

0 votes

Rutgers

2 votes

St. John's

1 votes

Seton Hall

1 votes

South Florida

0 votes

Syracuse

10 votes

Villanova

18 votes

West Virginia

19 votes

112 votes | Poll has closed

Big Blue Daily Mail -- A Little Football, a Little Schadenfreude

Truzenzuzex — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:30:55 -0000

More photos » by Ed Reinke - AP

Well, who did you think was going to be featured here? Exactly.

Browse more photos »

The Kentucky vs. Louisiana-Monroe game yesterday will be the main focus of this edition, but we will be throwing in a bit of other good stuff on this beautiful Sunday morning here in the Bluegrass state.

I think it's safe to say that, despite the lopsided 36-13 score, most Wildcat football fans are far less than totally pleased with the play of the 'Cats yesterday, as are the coaches. It seems that in the third quarter, the UK team just decided to take fifteen minutes of football off, and let ULM roll up yardage all over the field and fail to offend anyone but their own fans.

In the end, though, it was a victory that was never really in doubt, and in the end, that's pretty much what everyone would expect. In a way, this is better than a flawless victory, because it gives Brooks & Co. plenty of film to view, and lots of pins to pop any swell-headedness that may have been emerging on the team. And then there is the Micah Johnson injury, which Brooks says isn't major, but it isn't minor, either.

Now, for the news:

UK Basketball News

Rivals.com Basketball Recruiting - Meyer's Mailbag: Duke class could be great
Who would rank higher?

I was wanting to know who would be ranked higher out of high school- Samardo Samuels or Demarcus Cousins?

Read the answer above.
MaryJo Perino " Wall Situation
Don’t you find it interesting that the story that came out yesterday involved both UK’s Wall and Mississippi State’s Renardo Sidney… both battling eligibility questions… yet Sidney was barely touched in the report… and the headline on the front of ESPN.com is ‘SEC Commish: UK vetting star recruit’s eligibility’

This is a good point I hadn't really considered. Sidney, as far as I know, has much more serious questions about where some real money came from, his parents lifestyle, etc.
Danny Jett's Inner Circle: The Immortals: UK's 25 'Legends' # 2
The C-J's Sunday College Basketball Notebook | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
"Derrick and Tyreke took longer to feel this offense," Calipari said. "John right now is probably farther along today than they were. But I'll say this: Those two, when they got it and they felt the offense, they were, one, unleashed, but two, they weren't afraid to make the play. Now, I haven't coached John (enough) to tell you, if we're in a tough game and it's on the road, is he going to go make the play that those two made? I have no idea."

High praise for Wall coming from Calipari.
Clifton at center of Wall investigation - High school - News & Observer
Duke freshman forward Ryan Kelly, a Raleigh native who played at Ravenscroft, was Wall's teammate on the club team for at least three years.

Kelly's mother, Doreen Kelly, said Ryan's amateur eligibility and academic credentials have been approved by the NCAA. She said she hasn't been contacted by the NCAA regarding Ryan's eligibility and doesn't expect to be.

After having read this article, I am even more confused. Why is Kelly in the clear? If Clifton paid for Wall's trip to UK, it was surely with D-One funds. So why is it OK for Kelly to accept D-One funds for playing from an agent, but not Wall? And why is the UK unofficial visit somehow different?

We may never know, but something seems amiss ...
This Week in Review...10 Years Ago
Wall practices with Kentucky in front of students a day after report questions his eligibility - KRCW
Preseason Q&A with FoxSports.com's Jeff Goodman - Searching for Billy Edelin
8. Your premature surprise team of the season... Vanderbilt. The Commodores have one of the most underrated coaches in the nation in Kevin Stallings. A.J. Ogilvy gives Vandy a low-post scoring option and now Stallings added a big-time freshman shooter in John Jenkins. Throw in solid senior point guard Jermaine Beal and athletic wing Jeffery Taylor and I think this team can surprise some people in the loaded SEC East.

I like TLT Jeff Goodman's pick here -- I think Vanderbilt will be very, very good.
Star UK Freshman John Wall May Face Suspension from NCAA - SB Nation
Now after bashing Andrew Sharp about the SEC, I must praise him for his fairness to UK. But I must reject the implicit notion that Pat Forde has some kind of a special dislike for Kentucky. It seems that way, but let's be real -- Forde last and longest sportswriting stint was in Kentucky (Louisville) and even if he may harbor Cardinal sympathies and be Rick Pitino's ghost writer, I am highly dubious that he harbors ill will toward UK (although I am willing to be persuaded otherwise).

In all honesty, the ESPN article by Forde and Dana O'Neil (now there is a woman who would be justified in having an axe to grind with UK after the way Gillispie treated her) presents nothing but relevant facts and draws no conclusions. It's headline, as Sharp points out, is a bit misleading.

I also highly doubt that Forde (or O'Neil, for that matter) hates Calipari. Nobody hates Calipari (except, of course, fans of former schools and several rival coaches) -- he's just too hard to dislike. Like all people who write for a living, Forde knows perfectly well that columns critical of Coach Cal will garner millions of hits and blog links, make him look independent of his Kentucky roots, and no matter what the color of his school of preference may be, his favorite color is most likely green.
Wildcat Blue In a Sea of Orange: Adreian Payne drops Kansas, plus latest on Lamb and Harris
It does appear that big man Adreian Payne is getting closer to making his decision as he canceled his upcoming visit to Kansas and booted the Jayhawks from his list. Payne is now down to a final four of Kentucky, West Virginia, Arizona, and Michigan State. It appears that the leaders are Kentucky and West Virginia right now and pundits think it could go either way.
Wildcat Coal Lodge? | KentuckySports.com
This is liable to generate quite a bit of snarky comment. Well, whatever.
Former UK player Mark Pope starting a new career at Georgia | Vaught's Views
Awesome. Lots of ex-UK players on coaching staffs around the SEC this year.

UK Football News

With Hartline out, Cats plan to stick with quarterback trio | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
"I think what we're going to see is a continuation of using both (Newton and Fidler) and mixing in the wildcat," Brooks said. "We're just trying to win football games. I wish it were easier and I wish somebody would go out there and say, ‘Hey, I'm going to complete every pass and I'm going to do all the right things,' but it doesn't work that way."

Well, to be fair, this whole three-headed quarterback thing is only two games old, and it has worked okay. Still, with MSU coming in next Saturday, we will need a better performance from it than we got vs ULM.
Big Blue Loyalty: The chase is on | KentuckySports.com
Nice. We do have some pretty loyal football fans for a basketball school.
QB plan is working, but needs work | KentuckySports.com
So far, UK's three-headed quarterback platoon has managed to spit in the eye of pigskin convention.

"We've made some mistakes but we're 2-0 in that situation," said Kentucky tri-quarterback Will Fidler. "So you have to say it is going pretty well."

Well, I would like to see Newton use his legs a bit more, and Fidler, well, not. Cobb should see a few more snaps in the Wildcat than he did last night, in my opinion.

Other UK Sports News

Quigley Qualifies for Quarterfinals at ITA Ohio Valley Regional - KENTUCKY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

NCAA Sports News

Our Top 25 is out -- and now what? - Beyond the Arc - msnbc.com
Phew. After 5,500 words, several revisions and agonizing over teams 23, 24 and 25, the 2009-10 college hoops is finally finished. You can read it all here.

I tended to favor experienced teams who returned a lot of their players, with some exceptions
Convinced yet? No. 10 TCU trounces No. 16 BYU - College football- nbcsports.msnbc.com
TCU is a really good team, but looking at their strength of schedule, they will likely be playing Boise State in the "We coulda been a contendah!" bowl. The only team likely to give them a game remaining on their schedule is 6-1 Utah. Right now, their SOS is #52, and it will only go downhill from here.
Auburn continues to struggle with penalties - Sports - Ledger-Enquirer.com
Their penalties Saturday came early and often. The Tigers were lined up to go for it on fourth-and-1 at their 48 on the opening drive. But right tackle Andrew McCain flinched, pushing them back 5 yards and forcing a punt.

Wow. Penalties kill Auburn again.
No. 6 Boise State batters Hawaii, stays perfect - College football- nbcsports.msnbc.com
And will probably stay #6, or even start losing ground. Eventually, that schedule strength will be their bugaboo, as so many times in the past.
Opinion: Iowa's thrilling ride won't end in BCS title game - College football- nbcsports.msnbc.com
If the Hawkeyes keep doing what they're doing, they'll earn Big Ten championship rings and a permanent place in school lore. They might get another spot in history, too — next to Auburn's 2004 team as a perfect, BCS conference squad that didn't get a chance to play for it all.

Interesting, and very probably true.
Florida's win leaves Tebow speechless - SEC - ESPN
And then after the game, which No. 1 Florida hung on and won 29-19 despite repeated woes in the red zone and a determined effort by Dan Mullen's Bulldogs, Tebow declined to talk to the media for the first time in his career.

How very un-Superman-like.
No doubt about it — Baton Rouge, LA
Sparked by an energized offense and a suffocating defense in the first half, the No. 9-ranked Tigers trampled Auburn 31-10 Saturday, expunging whatever remained of the bad taste from a home loss to Florida two weeks earlier.

So much for my theory that Auburn would make a comeback in this game.
Saturday Lessons: October 24 - Team Speed Kills
Positive Thinking and SEC Basketball - SB Nation
Bah. Add likely locks Florida and South Carolina, and you have six. Arkansas has a good shot, that makes seven, and Ole Miss is another very likely dancer. LSU? With Trent Johnson at the helm, you never know. That's easily eight.

Face it guys. The SEC is good. At everything. Except field hockey, rowing, and all those other huge sports that the Ivy League and East Coasters seem so fond of. So if you're going to come at us in basketball this year, you'd better come more correctly than this.
Scheduling Patsies Works (Except When It Doesn't) - SB Nation
Schedule Nazis (just kidding, guys) will love this piece by Spencer Hall (aka Orson Swindle of EDSBS).

Other News of Interest

None today

The Daily Schadenfreude

Duke provides video ammo for its haters - Beyond the Arc - msnbc.com
But why the hate? Well, everyone has their reasons. Maybe the players are smug, maybe it’s the fans, maybe it’s because Duke seemingly gets preferential treatment from the refs and the media. But a casual fan may not get it. And maybe you don’t want to explain it to them.

Read the whole thing, click the links, and remember why you hate Duke. As if you need a reminder.
Duke fansite blogs on the "difference between John Wall and Ryan Kelly", challenges anyone to find dirt on Kelly
Paul Jordan takes a bit more time to mock Duke Basketball Report's recent nonsense than I did.

Georgetown Picked by Coaches to Finish Fifth in Big East

Hire Esherick — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:43:14 -0000

Results of the Preseason Big East Coaches' Poll were released this morning and not surprisingly, Villanova was picked to top the conference for the 2009-10 season. Full results of the poll are listed below:

Team	Pts.
1. Villanova (10)	218
2. West Virginia (5)	215
3. Connecticut (1)	185
4. Louisville	179
5. Georgetown	161
6. Syracuse	152
7. Cincinnati	135
8. Notre Dame	132
9. Pittsburgh	119
10. Seton Hall	110
11. St. John's	82
12. Marquette	78
13. Providence	52
14. USF	44
15. Rutgers	43
16. DePaul	15

Luke Harangody (Notre Dame) was named Preseason Player of the Year for second straight season. Harangody joins Patrick Ewing as the only other player to receive the honors more than once (Ewing was picked three times).

Greg Monroe (Georgetown), Lazar Hayward (Marquette), Da'Sean Butler (WVU), Scottie Reynolds (Villanova), and Deonta Vaughn (Cincinnati) join Harangody on the Preseason All Big East Team. Monroe is the only underclassman, the other five are seniors.

Jerome Dyson (UConn), Kemba Walker (UConn), Jeremy Hazell (Seton Hall), Dominique Jones (USF), Samardo Samuels (Louisville), and Devin Ebanks (WVU) were named to the All Big East Second Team.

Stanley Robinson (UConn) and Arinze Onuaku (Syracuse) received All Big East Honorable Mention honors.

Lance Stephenson (Cincinnati) was named Preseason Big East Rookie of the Year.

Coaches tab Louisville fourth in preseason Big East poll

Mike Rutherford — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:20:08 -0000

Following the departure of lottery picks Terrence Williams and Earl Clark, defending Big East regular season and tournament champion Louisville has been pegged as the fourth best team in the conference by the league's coaches.

Villanova was named the preseason favorite, followed by West Virginia, Connecticut and the Cardinals.

The complete rankings look like this:

1. Villanova
2. West Virginia
3. Connecticut
4. Louisville
5. Georgetown
6. Syracuse
7. Cincinnati
8. Notre Dame
9. Pittsburgh
10. Seton Hall
11. St. John's
12. Marquette
13. Providence
14. South Florida
15. Rutgers
16. Depaul

Sophomore forward Samardo Samuels was the lone Cardinal to garner an individual honor. He was named to the league's second team.

Notre Dame's Luke Harangody was named the Preseason Player of the Year for the second straight season, joining Georgetown legend Patrick Ewing as the only players to receive the honor more than once.

The league's first team - which does not include the player of the year selection - was made up by Greg Monroe of Georgetown, Scottie Reynolds of Villanova, Da'Sean Butler of West Virginia, Lazar Hayward of Marquette and Deonta Vaughn of Cincinnati.

Cincinnati's Lance Stephenson was named preseason Newcomer of the Year.

SB Nation - Samardo Samuels

The Shotgun/Throwdown: Friday (12/18/09) Edition

What You May Have Missed:

News of Note:

Chris Henry:

What's On Tap:

Around the League (and Beyond):

Videos of (Dis)Interest:

Holiday Picture of the Week:

Brazilian Gallery of the Week:

Miss Throwdown:

Rumors, news, opinions and Preston Knowles pictures

Louisville 80, Stetson 48

UNLV Runnin' Rebels move to 5-0 as they upset #16 Louisville

Next Game

Louisville 80, Appalachian State 53

Louisville smokes Arkansas 96-66 in season-opener

BtB 2009-10 Big East Preview

Big East Conference Standings

Preseason All-Big East Team

Who is your pick to win the Big East this season?

Cincinnati

Connecticut

DePaul

Georgetown

Louisville

Marquette

Notre Dame

Pittsburgh

Providence

Rutgers

St. John's

Seton Hall

South Florida

Syracuse

Villanova

West Virginia

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The Daily Schadenfreude

Georgetown Picked by Coaches to Finish Fifth in Big East

Coaches tab Louisville fourth in preseason Big East poll