SB Nation - Connecticut Huskies

The Shotgun/Throwdown: Monday (12/21/09) Edition

WVUIE97 — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:02:47 -0000

Welcome, By-Godders, to the Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU's best place for sports links, information and some daily distractions. Today we're being brought to you by Adnams Spindrift, in honor of today's Miss Throwdown.

It's Christmas week and most of us are recovering from the weekend snow. Football practice started up again and both basketball teams won over the weekend. The women did it in convincing fashion and the men blew a 17 point lead to win with an improbably easy layup with a second to spare. Your tips, suggestions and requests are always helpful. See you after the jump...

What You May Have Missed:

WVU Edges Vikings - MSNsportsNET.Com
80-78

West Virginia Defeats Fresno State - MSNsportsNET.Com
The women take care of business 72-52, after being delayed overnight by the snow.

Gold and Blue Report for Monday - WVMETRONEWS.COM

Video of Interest:

Here's an interview with Coach Beatty, courtesy of WVIllustrated.

Random Link of Hilarity:

These are awesome!

The top 10 unintentionally worst company URLs - Independent Sources

Christmas Gallery of the Day:

via www.gunaxin.com

Miss Throwdown:

Today's Miss Throwdown is one of the tabloid stars in the UK. Say hello to the lovely Michelle Marsh. God bless the UK. The gallery is just....wow.

via girls.gunaxin.com

And because it's the Christmas season, and I like to give, here are two more with Michelle frolicking around with pal and fellow Miss Throwdown, Lucy Pinder.

Adnams Spindrift image via www.thepublican.com

RPI WATCH: 12/20/09

BracketCat — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:00:18 -0000

Well, the Cats did what they needed to do, and survived to fight another day as Upset Saturday claimed numerous other victims.

In a fair world, the AP Top 15 that comes out tomorrow would look something like this:

Texas (10-0)
Kansas (10-0)
Kentucky (11-0)
Purdue (10-0)
Syracuse (11-0)
West Virginia (8-0)
Duke (9-1)
Villanova (10-1)
Michigan State (9-2)
Connecticut (7-2)
Kansas State (10-1)
Georgetown (8-1)
Ohio State (9-2)
New Mexico (12-0)
Ole Miss (10-1)

It will be interesting to see what the pollsters, in all their wisdom, come up with.

P.S. Did I call that Wichita State upset or what? Booyah!

Current Kansas State AP Ranking = 17

Current Kansas State Record = 10-1

Current Kansas State RPI = 1

Current Kansas State SOS = 3

Great Wins (RPI 1-50) = Loyola, Dayton, IUPUI, Xavier, UNLV

Solid Wins (RPI 51-100) = Washington State, Alabama

Bad Losses (RPI 101 or greater) = none

Loyola (7-2, 1-1) | RPI = 45
Western Illinois (4-6, 0-2) | RPI = 320
Boston (4-6) | RPI = 146
No. 20 Ole Miss (10-1) | RPI = 24: Win over Centenary (108-64)
Dayton (8-2) | RPI = 31: Win over Presbyterian (71-52)
IUPUI (9-3, 2-0) | RPI = 50: Win over Duquesne (73-64)
No. 14* FHSU (8-1)
Washington State (9-2) | RPI = 83: Win over Portland State (93-69)
Xavier (6-4) | RPI = 47: Loss at No. 21 Butler (69-68)
UNLV (10-1) | RPI = 34: Win over SCUU (88-58)
Alabama (7-4) | RPI = 92: Loss to No. 17 Kansas State (87-74)
UAPB (0-9) | RPI = 260: Loss at Missouri (88-70)
Cleveland State (4-8, 0-2) | RPI = 247: Loss to No. 6 West Virginia (80-78)
South Dakota (6-4) | RPI = 139
Missouri (7-3) | RPI = 179: Win over UAPB (88-70)
No. 23 Texas A&M (9-2) | RPI = 15: Win over The Citadel (71-50)
Colorado (6-4) | RPI = 229
No. 2 Texas (10-0) | RPI = 6: Win over No. 10 North Carolina (103-90)
Oklahoma State (9-1) | RPI = 42
Baylor (8-1) | RPI = 72
No. 1 Kansas (10-0) | RPI = 20: Win over Michigan (75-64)
Nebraska (8-2) | RPI = 163: Win over Jackson State (57-41)
Iowa State (7-3) | RPI = 155
Oklahoma (8-3) | RPI = 117: Win over Northern Colorado (80-79)
No. 16 Texas Tech (9-1) | RPI = 33: Loss at Wichita State (85-83)

*Division II Top 25

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

The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Wildcats vs. the World Edition

Truzenzuzex — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:04:47 -0000

I bumped into this Gregg Doyel article down in the FanShots, and thought it deserved a bit more commentary.

I have to admit, I used to really loathe Doyel, but over the past couple of years, he has grown on me. I can't really put my finger on it, he really hasn't been that much different -- maybe I'm just getting less sensitive to sarcasm in my old age and learning to appreciate it more. Embracing the hate, as it were.

Well, this is certainly no hate piece, at least, not directed at Kentucky, or Calipari. In fact, it's just the kind of thing I might write if I actually, you know, had a sense of humor. Here are a couple of excerpts:

The media would hate it [Kentucky going undefeated], but that makes me want it even more. Media groupthink has decided John Calipari is a bad guy, but media groupthink also decided Texas should play Alabama for the college football championship, and that the running back from Alabama is the best player in the country. Media groupthink is silly.

I have often thought the very same thing. Media groupthink is silly, sometimes even extremely harmful, and the thought of angering the media by watching a sacred cow or three get brutally slaughtered and eaten raw really warms the cockles of my heart.

As a bonus, we would also get to watch the cranial conflagrations of opposing fans or just plain UK haters who are dying to see Coach Cal fail, or find some tiny shred of moral turpitude to justify a "See! I told ya so!" Watching both the media and their cognitively dissonant acolytes spray gray mater all over their basement and/or cubicle wall is, to paraphrase the Grinch, "A sight I really must see." But as Doyel says, I'm not predicting it -- just wishing for it.

More after the jump.

Another graf I really like:

Imagine, then, this coach winning the national title this year -- and not losing a game along the way. Kentucky would replace Bob Knight's 1976 Indiana Hoosiers as the last team to go undefeated. From his perch at ESPN, Knight would be miserable. From its perch in Indianapolis, the NCAA would be miserable. Memphis would hate it. Louisville would hate it. Indiana wouldn't believe it. The media would moan.

And what sweet, sonorous music that would make! The mind fairly boggles at the prospect of the angst and anguish of Louisville fans. And Indiana fans? Oh, my. We'd have to bring the Kentucky National Guard with us next time we went to Bloomington for a game. The gnashing of teeth from Tobacco Road would be audible all the way to Pauley Pavilion.

Thanks, Gregg. Yeah, it's just a dream.

But it's a good dream.

Now, for the news:

UK commit injured
Fortunately, it should be minor. Just a concussion, although those can be a real problem.
College football notes: Dec. 17 - Sports - Kentucky.com
Central Michigan is usually a reliable place to find good coaches, much like Western Kentucky in basketball.
Basketball Prospectus | Articles | Around the Rim: Texas About to Get Tested
Junior point guard Jai Lucas will make his Texas debut Saturday as he becomes eligible after transferring from Florida. He is the son of former NBA point guard and coach John Lucas.

Texas Longhorns vs. the North Carolina Tar Heels. Must see TV, in my book.
Wildcats Thunder Blog: Kentucky vs Austin Peay......A Preview
Mashburn to return for Kentucky’s bid for 2,000 basketball victories | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
Awesome! Mashburn was the biggest recruit to come to Kentucky in my lifetime, and what a great player he was. I forgot just how great until I watched the Kentucky Wildcats vs. the Georgia Bulldogs from back in 1993 the other night. I sure would love to have him back.
Man falls into pit in Kentucky cave, dies | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
Prayers for the family.
Kentucky Sports Radio " Blog Archive " Newton Figured To Start in Nashville
Key transfers finally eligible - Beyond the Arc - msnbc.com
Three top teams get a lot stronger.
What’s going to happen with Liggins? | Vaught's Views
Calipari seems bent on not publicly discussing personnel issues. I agree that at some point, it might make more sense for Liggins to transfer if Cal is just going to treat him like a victory cigar. But I suspect otherwise.
The Big Blue Nation Report: Just a little Christmas Jingle
Heh. Not bad ...
Lawyer: Ex-Connecticut Huskies student manager at center of recruiting allegations has not spoken to NCAA - ESPN
A lawyer for the man at the center of recruiting allegations against the University of Connecticut says his client has not spoken to investigators.
NCAA Tournament: If It Ain't Broke.. | College Basketball by Collegehoops.net
The NCAA Tournament is the single greatest event in American sports. It is three weeks of complete saturation of the best college basketball has to offer, with each game an elimination game, with each game coming one step closer to a championship.

The argument against expanding the tournament. Pretty compelling. But it’s not great because there are a lot of teams playing. It’s great because there are a lot of good teams playing. 31 teams are there because they won their conference championship – they earned their way in. The others represent (in theory) the 34 best teams remaining.
Around the Top 25: Ohio State beats Presbyterian; Thad Matta doesn’t eject any fans | College Hoops Journal
Ouch. How's that phiz feelin' today, Roy?
After long hiatus, Caracter shows signs he could salvage career - NCAA Division I Mens Basketball - CBSSports.com
UTEP is 5-0 without Derrick Caracter.

And 0-2 with him.

That's what many will mention about Caracter's return to college basketball, and I suppose it's fair to mention because, well, it's true. The record doesn't lie. There's no way around it. But as someone who sat courtside and watched Caracter get 15 points and 15 rebounds in 32 minutes against Ole Miss, I can tell you with a degree of certainty that he's not the reason UTEP lost its past two games.

Wouldn't it be sooooo droll if UTEP wound up playing U of L sometime this year? Caracter vs. Pitino? Oh, I would absolutely love to see that happen.

Please, NIT committee, make that happen. :-)
Tyler Hansbrough, Jonny Flynn shaped decade in college hoops - 2000s: The Decade in Sports - SI.com
BEST COACHING RIVALRY: John Calipari vs. Bruce Pearl Calipari has been at loggerheads with lots of coaches over the years, from Lou Carnesecca to John Chaney to Jim Calhoun to his current doppelganger at Louisville, Rick Pitino. But the state of Tennessee was truly not big enough for both Pearl and Calipari, whose constant jabs at each other in the media, on the recruiting trail and on the court made for great theater. The rivalry crested on Feb. 23, 2008, when Pearl's Vols, who were ranked No. 2 in the country, edged top-ranked and undefeated Memphis 66-62.

I hope it goes from "best" to "epic."
3-Pointers: Krzyzewski backs tournament expansion - Mike DeCourcy - College Basketball - Sporting News
Most important, getting into the tournament wouldn't mean much if 96 teams were admitted. It's like being invited to your class reunion. You graduated, they found your address, so you get a letter. It doesn't mean you were popular.

That's my main concern.
Sprints Is Interested In Hiring a Florida Assistant // 12.17.09 - Team Speed Kills
Even more expansion talk - this time Pac Ten gets in on the action - Block U
Expansion talk in the PAC-10.
Could Big Ten Expansion Force the SEC to Bring In a New School? - Dawg Sports
Kyle King has thoughts on any possible SEC expansion. I would not want the Cardinals in the SEC, but Georgia Tech or Clemson would be very solid additions.
Q&A: StatSheet's Robbie Allen - Blogger So Dear
Blogger So Dear interviews StatSheet founder Robbie Allen
" BBL: Josh Selby now considering Arizona John Clay’s Sidelines
John Clay's Big Blue Links.
John Wall: The Best Freshman in College Basketball History?
Intentional Foul " RIP Chris Henry
Very sad. Prayers to the family.
Vaught's Views: UK's Ramon Harris handling challenges of being a new dad: AMNews.com
He’s not a great scorer and knows scoring is not what this team needs from him. Instead, he’s willing — and able — to play defense, rebound and pass. And he hustles. He never seems to get up on a loose ball or long rebound.

Ramon has carved out playing time on a team where very few thought he could. Impressive young man.
Intentional Foul " Royce White Says Adios
Ouch. Not good for the Gophers.

10 from the 00s: "That was the best game ever, man."

SFBE.NF — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:47:56 -0000

I blog about, and therefore infrequently attend, college basketball games. I wasn't at last year's epic Syracuse-UCONN Big East Quarterfinal game. My recollection of one of the most fascinating four hours of television will probably sound no different from everyone else who tuned in, stayed up, got confused, witnessed history, and then tried to fall asleep with adrenaline racing through their body.

For a much more interesting perspective, I leave it to ESPN.com's Dana O'Neil. She was there are March 12, 2009 (and March 13). She saw it live, and is a much better writer.

The song is a lie.

That was the first thing that crossed my mind when I walked out of Madison Square Garden sometime near 4 a.m.

The city does in fact sleep.

Or at the very least power-naps.

Aside from a stretch of cabs lined up on Seventh Avenue, there wasn't much happening in New York City in the wee hours of March 13, 2009.

Maybe Gotham was just worn out after hosting what goes down as one of the most unforgettable college basketball games in memory.

Syracuse 127, Connecticut 117.

Six overtimes, three hours, 46 minutes, beginning at 9:36 p.m. on March 12, ending at 1:22 a.m. on March 13.

I remember everything and nothing all at once. I remember seeing Eric Devendorf hop on the press table just a few feet from me at the end of regulation, celebrating and gesturing at the crowd, convinced his 28-footer at the buzzer had won the game.

I remember Kemba Walker nearly scoring from midcourt at the second OT buzzer.

I remember the usher standing sentry in front of me during game breaks, sometime around the fourth OT, muttering, "Can't we just go to a shootout?"

I remember laughing the laugh of the overtired and punchy with my colleague Mark Blaudschun from The Boston Globe after Andy Rautins hit a tying 3-pointer, erasing what had been a Connecticut six-point lead in the third overtime.

Mostly, though, I remember the crowd. No one left the arena, and more, no one sat down. The groans when shots failed to fall to end the game in the first, second and third overtimes gave way to cheers when the game wasn't decided in the fourth and fifth extra periods, the basketball masochists among us clearly hoping the game would never end -- and no doubt recognizing this would be the ultimate "I was there" game to brag about to the poor suckers who didn't score a ticket.

Afterward we crowded into the tiny Syracuse locker room and around Jonny Flynn. He had just played 67 minutes, scored 34 points and dished out 11 assists. He looked like a dishrag wrung dry, with every bit of sweat and energy poured out of him.

I halfway knew how he felt -- minus, of course, the physical exertion, cramping, sweating, exhaustion and pressure.

I spent 14 hours in the Garden that day and night, arriving for the noon tipoff between Villanova-Marquette, a buzzer-beating Wildcats win that I was so sure would be the best game on the day that I quickly dashed to the computer to write it.

A few hours later West Virginia upset Pittsburgh, another great game.

And then the game that would go down in history.

When I finally opened my eyes the next morning, my father called me in my hotel room.

"Were you there?" he asked excitedly.

"Yeah, yeah I was," I told him. "I saw it."

And, I wanted to add, I saw the city, fast asleep.

Kentucky Basketball: Rajon Rondo vs. John Wall After Ten Games

Truzenzuzex — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:50:35 -0000

More photos » by Terry Gilliam - AP

How did Rajon Rondo compare with John Wall over his first ten games as a Wildcat?

Browse more photos »

I thought it would be fun to take a look at how Rajon Rondo, now one of the great point guards in the NBA (and surely the best point guard UK had this decade until Wall came along) and John Wall compared after their first ten games as a Wildcat.

Any exercise like this is fraught with factors that simply cannot be properly accounted for, so take this for what it is -- a bit of fun. I suspect a lot of Kentucky Wildcats fans have wondered how the two point guards compared. Both had great starts as freshmen, both starting from the beginning of their time at UK. But the coaching was different, the kind of game UK played under Tubby Smith and John Calipari are very different, and the way Smith and Calipari utilize their point guards is different.

Statistics don't account for that, nor do they account for the skill of the players around them, or the quality of the competition. So we can't take this comparison as holy writ about who was better, or would be better, or who is better in the role of Wildcat lead guard. Still, it is a lot of fun to look at how they stack up against each other, and I think some people may be surprised. In fact, as I write this, I have only completed one comparison, so I will be surprised as well.

Join me after the jump as we compare these two great UK players.

First off, these are "tempo free" stats so we don't have to worry about the fact that Smith tended to play a bit more deliberate game. I will be charting assits%, turnover%, steals%, shot%, eFG%, offensive rebound% and free throw rate%. That includes all the four factors, plus three others.

First, assists:

It seems that Rondo started out hotter in assists than Wall, but at around the fourth game, Wall takes over. You can see that the trend right now favors Wall on this stat, and it's interesting that the flip coincides approximately with much better offensive play by this year's team, and a stretch where the 2005-06 team lost 2 of 4 games.

Second, turnovers:

In this chart, lower is better, of course, and I admit to being a bit surprised to see the trend this way. Keep in mind that a lot of Wall's turnovers can be contributed to a faster pace of play, and even though we are using tempo-free stats, that factor isn't really accounted for here. Despite the fact that the 2005-06 team is entering a dicey stretch of games, Rondo's turnovers certainly weren't the reason they were only .500 in that four-game stretch, as you can see by his trend.

Third, steals:

Rondo set the freshman record for steals in his first year, if I remember correctly, yet at this point, his trend had turned decidedly negative compared to Wall's. Rondo had a couple of really poor games, versus North Carolina and Indiana where he managed no steals at all.

Wall, on the other hand, had two incredible games vs. UNC-Ashville and UConn where he had a very high steals percentage. Can Wall outdo the great Rajon in this category? He sure is on a nice trend right now.

Fourth, percentage of shots:

Wall and Rondo are fairly equal in this area, somewhat to my surprise. It looks like the trend is up for Wall overall, but his last game was a big decline from his high in the UConn game, and represents his second lowest shot% so far this year. At this point, Rondo was also coming off a recent high, which interestingly, was even higher than Wall's.

Fifth, effective FG%:

This is a wild one. Wall is very consistent with his shooting, and has been all year long. Rondo was all over the place, from a high of 81.8% to a low of 11.1%.

Based on what I have seen so far, I doubt we will ever see Wall lower than 35%. I think this will wind up being fairly even over the course of the entire year. Rondo took very few low-percentage shots, and so does Wall, but Wall tends to shoot more (and better) from the perimeter than Rondo did.

Sixth, offensive rebound %:

We all remember Rondo as a fantastic rebounder for his size, and it's obvious looking at this chart that his stats show that in spades. I suspect, but can't prove, that the wild fluctuations in Rondo's stats were as much a function of his teammates has him, and I think the 2009-10 UK club is a much better offensive rebounding team overall than 2005-06. That may be why Rondo's games are so often feast or famine, and Wall appears steadier.

Seventh, free throw rate%:

The final stat we look at is FTR%, and this one also surprised me a bit. Rondo was getting to the line at a significantly higher clip at the 10-game point in 2005-06 than Wall is this year. Part of that is due to the players surrounding him, but Rondo was very aggressive at taking the ball to the glass.

This is perhaps an area that Wall could improve upon. Even in the UConn game, where Wall attacked the glass relentlessly in the second half, he only got to the line about as often as Rondo did on average. It could be that Wall's speed has something to do with that -- you could sometimes catch Rondo on a run-out, but nobody can get close enough to Wall on most run-outs to touch him, let alone foul him.

So there we go, just a few gems to think about while we wait for the Austin Peay Governors game. I like to compare players who have a lot in common, and Rondo has a lot in common with Wall in terms of athleticism, remarkable physical skills, passing ability, and the way they play the game. I think Wall is the more mature player at this point, but Rondo was (and still is) freakishly talented, and has turned into one of the best in the NBA in his position.

I'm confident Wall will be, also.

In a Perfect World (Conference Realignment)

Evan Pfaff — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:30:13 -0000

by Tony Gutierrez - AP

Could a University of Houston QB be soon hoisting the Big 12 Championship trophy? (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

View full size photo »

Today the Big Ten conference issued a statement that they are exploring the possibility of expanding.

Every few years we hear the same rumblings and every few years there are articles published about what realignment would look like. But not since Penn State was admitted into the Big Ten has anything official been released. With that, below is the definitive article on the topic.

And even though this is a basketball blog, I will focus on the BCS aspect of realignment to argue my points. I will discuss basketball, though, and all points held for football can loosely translate over to hoops as well.

Currently there are six BCS conferences and those 6 all get automatic BCS-bowl bids. Those conferences are Big East, SEC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10, ACC. Of those six, three of the conferences have enough football teams to have a conference championship game (the Big East would have enough if more of their charter schools had D1 football programs).

Part of the BCS issue is that you have some conferences without 12 schools, who don't currently have conference championship games. Adding conference championship games will ultimately help the BCS by crowing, on a field, a true conference champ. This will help with BCS bowl bids, and especially the BCS championship game. (Think of a rule where you have to at least win your division to get a BCS bid.

The other BCS issue is of the non-BCS schools and where they should lie. My realignment program take that into account.

Without further ado, after The Jump is the Big12Hoops.com Realignment plan.

MIZZOU MOVES TO THE BIG 10.

Why is this good for the Big 10? By admitting Mizzou into the Big 10, the Big 10 would secure a coveted TV market, namely St Louis. They would also get a share of the Kansas City TV market. By expanding westward, revenues from the Big 10 Network and apparel sales would grow. The Big 10 would also secure a 12^th team and legitimize a conference championship game. The divisions would be as follow:

Big 10 East: Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana, Purdue, Penn State

Big 10 West: Mizzou, Illinois, Northwestern, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa

Under this scenario all regional rivalries remain in tact

Why is this good for Mizzou? The Big 12 seems to forget about schools not named Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas (basketball). There is no television network, so Mizzou's games are generally only regionally shown. There is Big Monday for basketball, but that is mainly reserved for Texas and KU. Under this, Mizzou's football games could be carried on the Big 10 Network and basketball games will be tied into the Big 10 ESPN deal. All this leads to a major recruiting advantage in both revenue generating sports.

Mizzou also has a rival in Illinois that would heat up instantly and the heated rivalry with Kansas will replace the Illinois basketball and football games on the schedules. Instead of St Louis, though, the KU games will be played at the Sprint Center and Arrowhead in KC.

But what about... Iowa State? The Cyclones seem to also be a natural fit and could easily add fuel to the rivalry with in-state foe Iowa Hawkeyes. The problem is that the Big 10 gains little from that arrangement. They are already pretty entrenched in the Hawkeye State and the addition of ISU wouldn't help their regional or national reputation.

THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON JOINS THE BIG XII

Why is this good for the Big 12? The University of Houston is a large campus, in a region of Texas that is currently underdeveloped with college sports. Houston is the 4^th largest city in the country, and by planting a team there, the Big 12 will get even more Texas viewership.

The big question would be on alignment, since there will now be 5 Texas schools. My proposal is for

Big 12 "North": Nebraska, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State

Big 12 "South": Texas, Houston, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Baylor, Colorado

The division names will have to be rebranded, but adding Colorado to the South is acceptable because Coloradoans joke that there are more Texans in the state than natives.

Why is this good for Houston? Historically, the Cougars have had a good football team, and have won a basketball national championship. Having a Big XII logo on their court will increase their recruiting presence in the city and state and potentially turn them into powerhouse.

But what about... TCU? TCU would be a good choice, if they were bigger. Their 8000 student just wouldn't cut it if the conference wishes to remain the BIG 12. Houston's enrollment is approximately 30,000 students. Commuter school or not, Houston would help retain the "Big" in Big 12.

BYU AND UTAH GO TO THE PAC-10

Why is this good for the Pac-10? By including Utah and BYU into the Pac-10, the conference will have the 12 schools needed for an automatic conference championship games. Both programs have historically legitimate football and basketball programs, and they will bring their rivalry with them. Geographically, they are far enough West to warrant admission into the conference.

The division would be as follows

Pac-10 North: Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, BYU, Utah

Pac-10 South: Arizona, Arizona State, California, Stanford, UCLA, USC

Why is this good for BYU and Utah? Both recruit well from the West, and inclusion into the conference will aid that. And by coming over as a pair (and as rivals) they bring legitimacy to the expansion eastward.

But what about... geography? The state of Utah doesn't border any states of current Pac-10 members, and that may cause some issues, but distance isn't really something the conference has ever regarded. Consider that Tucson, AZ to Seattle, WA is 1100 miles, or 400 miles farther than Tucson to Provo, UT.

ADD MORE TEAMS TO THE MOUNTAIN WEST

Why is this good for the Mountain West? As it stands under this scenario, the Mountain West is down to 7 members (the current 9, minus BYU and Utah). To get up with the big boys, the MWC needs to add 5 schools. The 5 that should move to the MWC should be: Boise State, Nevada, New Mexico State, Rice, SMU.

There is already talk of Boise coming over to the MWC, so that is a no brainer. The others are coming over as "rivals" to existing MWC schools. Nevada will face UNLV, New Mexico State will pair with New Mexico, Rice and SMU will pit against TCU is a three-way battle for Texas.

Having 12 schools will allow the conference to host a championship game, matching the winners of each division, which would be as follows:

MWC North: UNLV, Nevada, Air Force, Wyoming, Colorado State, Boise State

MWC South: San Diego State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, TCU, Rice, SMU

Why is this good for the 5 programs? The shift from either the C-USA or WAC will legitimize the programs (see the next point). All will also enter the new MWC with a foe. Everyone wins.

But what about... the MWC still remaining relatively minute as compared to their BCS brethren? Why would these schools shift from one conference to another, just for shits and giggles? See next point.

ADMIT THE MOUNTAIN WEST INTO THE BCS

Why is this good for the BCS? Controversy will mainly be avoided. By admitting the redesigned MWC into the BCS you are accepting the current BCS gate crashers. You are bringing in the current at-large schools causing heartache and giving yourself another conference champion that the country can latch onto.

Why is this good for the MWC? Why isn't it good for the MWC?

But what about... the C-USA and WAC? These two conferences are now in shambles. What to do? See next item.

MERGE THE C-USA AND WAC

Why is this good for the two conferences? Because of the success of some of their schools, and regional ability to move, the Conference USA and WAC are currently left in shambles (under this proposal). Essentially afterthoughts as they are, now they are left with 15 schools between them. They could either split them up 8 and 7 or combine forces and form a 15 league mega conference. In terms of basketball, as we have seen with the Big East, and their 16 school hoops conference, too many schools doesn't water down the pool.

But what about... regionality? The C-USA is currently a conglomerate of throw-ins from around the country. Under this plan, that would just increase to a truly national conference. The members of it would be: Fresno St, Hawaii, Idaho, La Tech, San Jose St, Utah St, UTEP, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB, Cent Florida, ECU, Marshall, Memphis, Southern Miss

Using the scenario outlined above, 18 schools will change conferences. This sounds like a lot, but as you can see many will be moving as groups and either with or to a rival.

But what about the Big East? Well, the Big East is the one conference I am leaving alone. In their football world, they are lacking the 12 members to create a championship game. But when you include their basketball members, they are a 16-team powerhouse.

One final thought. I reserve the right to claim this entire scenario null and void if Notre Dame ever decides to join the Big 10. If that were to happen, I would still endorse some shifting, but nothing to the extent of this proposal. More on that if a Notre Dame to the Big 10 rumor starts getting some legitimate traction.

UConn and the Best of the America East Conference: Striving for Perfection

Scotter — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:00:18 -0000

The University of Connecticut's last two games were against the best of the America East conference.

Although it's a conference that usually only gets its conference tournament winner into the NCAA tournament, both Vermont and Hartford began the season by knocking off a couple of major conference teams. And both teams are hoping those early season wins will be enough to get the runner-up in the conference tournament an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament.

However, although the two teams are from the same conference, they play contrasting styles: while Vermont is built around senior guards Courtnay Pilypaitis and May Kotsopoulos, Hartford is built around senior posts Erica Beverley and Diana Delva.

Vermont was in a better position to have offensive success against UConn with their big senior guards versus Hartford's undersized post players, but Hartford did the better job of defense limiting UConn to only 6 fast break points compared to the 32 allowed by Vermont.

Pilypaits played a bit like her favorite player Diana Taurasi did in her last seasons at UConn. She was both Vermont's primary scorer and playmaker as well as the team's strongest and most physical defender. And she was the one Vermont player able to overcome the UConn defense, scoring 20 of Vermont's 42 points.

For Hartford, early foul trouble kept Delva off the floor for most of the first half, but she did score a solid 13 points in the game. Beverley became Hartford's all-time leading rebounder in the game and UConn's Maya Moore commended her physical play after the game, but she only managed 5 points against UConn.

Ultimately, the styles may have been different, but both teams found similar results on the scoreboard. Vermont lost to UConn 42-84 and Hartford lost 35-80. However all three teams played the games concerned about improving as a team, rather than leaving the game with a win or a loss.

Continuing to Build an Identity

Offensively, interior scoring combined with transition offense continued to carry UConn.

Even with Tina Charles only playing 15 minutes and scoring only 10 points against Hartford because of foul trouble in the first half and a minor injury in the 2nd half, UConn still scored 44 of their 80 points in the paint.

On the perimeter, while the team's three point shooting hasn't yet found the consistency to match the team's interior play and passing, these two games saw the team take better care of the ball. UConn committed 10 turnovers against Vermont and 13 against Hartford after committing at least 15 turnovers in 5 of their first 6 games. However, the primary ballhandling duties continue to be fluid.

Against Vermont Caroline Doty and Kelly Faris played the point with Tiffany Hayes playing the supporting off guard role almost exclusively. Against Hartford Hayes returned to being the primary ball handler, although that may have been partly the result of Doty having an implosion in the previous day’s practice, as UConn associate head coach Chris Dailey described on WTIC following the Hartford game. Dailey also indicated Faris was struggling a bit in practice during the week, but credited part of that with Faris getting out of her comfort zone in order to eventually become a better player.

Overall the backcourt still hasn't completely found its equilibrium, but it moved a bit closer during these two games. Although it may find its equilibrium just as Lorin Dixon returns from an hamstring introducing another player into the equation.

Defense Still Strong

Defense continues to be the theme as UConn moves through its schedule.

On his television show on CPTV, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said that the coaching staff hasn't placed a greater than usual emphasis on defense, "We spend a normal amount of time on (defense). We're not obsessed with it. The (players) are really buying into it. They're pretty focused." Auriemma also indicated that the team's current level of defensive play wasn't expected: "I'm surprised that defensively we are playing as well we are playing."

Maya Moore summarized the team's defensive performance this season after the Hartford game, "I think we're just aware. We've been working really hard in practice to get up in the passing lanes. We like to start out really aggressive, denying and forcing the other team to go back door. And we've been doing a great job of getting that back side help and then finishing to off by getting the rebound."

When given the opportunity to discuss what UConn needed to work on with a ten day before their next game Moore stuck to defense, "Our post play, I think we need to improve in that area. It can't be easy for other teams to score on us in the lane. I think we can become an even more dominant rebounding team. People shouldn't be confident that they come in and get a layup against us, and I feel like we gave up more layups than we wanted to today."

Striving for Perfection

How many layups was too many for Maya Moore?

Apparently Hartford's five layups on ten attempts was too much. Moore's answer not only further reinforces the level of commitment this team has to defense, but also indicates the type of standards the coaches and players set at UConn.

Vermont and Hartford were given a chance to test themselves in an environment where every mistake shows up on the scoreboard. A lazy pass results in a layup. Not getting back on defense results in a layup. A miscommunication defending a screen results in a layup. Those same actions may not always show up on the scoreboard against lesser teams.

"I told my team that I'm not disappointed that you couldn't rotate to stop Tiffany Hayes from getting a layup. I'm disappointed you couldn't do it against St. Joesph's. It's a matter of us being a better help rotation team and UConn pointing out our flaws even more," said Hartford head coach Jennifer Rizzotti.

The opportunity for flaws to be exposed concretely on the scoreboard rarely occurs for UConn outside of practice. The coaching staff sets the standards for the team outside the scoreboard, and expects the players to learn to not measure themselves against their opponents, but rather their own potential.

Hartford's Rizzotti was shaped by four years as a player at UConn where she was a national player of the year and won a national championship in 1995 as the point guard of Geno Auriemma's first undefeated team. In the post game press conference, Rizzotti shared that she told her Hartford team, "You wonder why I'm a crazy person. This is where I come from. These guys are up 35 and I'm sure (Auriemma) went in the locker room and had something to complain about. And that's where I come from. Whatever you do, we're going to want more. Yes, I want you to be perfect. Do I expect you to be perfect? No, but we're going to strive to be. What's the most perfect version of Hartford that we can be?"

"That's what I want my team to understand. I'm not asking them to be UConn or anybody else, but I'm coming from a place where striving for perfection is a regular everyday occurrence," concluded the coach who was recognized as an Academic All-American as well as a two time All-American during her playing career at UConn.

Auriemma has a book titled In Pursuit of Perfection and Moore is a star that truly represents that pursuit and is a perfectionist to a fault. Moore, like Rizzotti, has been recognized as an Academic All-American in addition to all of her basketball awards, and her first two seasons have been marked by unparalleled efficiency.

For her career, Moore has shot 61% inside the three-point line and made 41% of her three point attempts (and interestingly, given the added value of three point shots, Moore's effective shooting percentage from three point land is also 61%). That shooting efficiency combined with a very low turnover rate, impressive rebounding, and plenty of steals and blocks add up to a complete package. Auriemma has said Rizzotti had to change from hating to lose to wanting to win as a UConn player, and Auriemma's similar challenge for Moore is to get her to worry less about being perfect in order for her to eventually become a more perfect player.

"I'm trying to get Maya to take more risks, to make more chances,” said Auriemma on CPTV. “Maya (Moore) is a very calculating person. She figues things out first. Studies them and then tries to apply them. I'm trying to get her to be more instinctive.”

If that push to take more risks has shown up anywhere in games to this point, it has been in Moore coming away with more steals on defense and more aggressively putting the ball on the floor on offense. The player that used to get the ball and immediately guard to pass it to rather than risk a turnover has been pushing the ball up the court herself in transition. Her turnover rate is not as flawless as it was a season ago, but Moore has also seen some of the rewards for those risks.

Poll

Which team will win the America East Conference?

The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Moving On Up Edition

Truzenzuzex — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:03:47 -0000

Well, it seems that the Villanova Wildcats' loss is the Kentucky Wildcats' gain, as UK moves up a spot to #3 ~~between~~ behind the Kansas Jayhawks and the Texas Longhorns.

As John Wall continues to garner Freshman of the Week awards from the SEC, Kentucky has a week to ponder it's recent success versus the North Carolina Tar Heels, Indiana Hoosiers and Connecticut Huskies, as well as working to improve their game, particularly on the defensive side.

If Kentucky's game versus IU proved nothing else, it showed that the 'Cats can handle a hostile arena with aplomb, even one that's said to have done some pretty ugly things lately. John Gasaway of Basketball Prospectus ponders the remarkable sequence that Daniel Orton had in the North Carolina game where he blocked a shot and dished an assist in the same short time frame, and in a later post, notes that DeMarcus Cousins is getting 22% of UK's misses back.

The news follows the jump.

idsnews.com | Indiana Daily Student |
This wasn’t the first time this season that Assembly Hall has been a hotbed of insults. Student fans were as loud on Dec. 1 against Maryland, but their chants included racist and derogatory slurs toward Maryland senior guard Greivis Vasquez of Venezuela and sophomore forward Jin Soo Choi of South Korea. This time, the yells were mostly targeted at Calipari.

Wow. Glad we didn't see any "racist and derogatory slurs" on Saturday.
The Big Blue Nation Report: Five Quick Questions for Mr. Leach...
An interview with Tom Leach
Hot UK plays it cool in potential 10-0 start | KentuckySports.com
Awesome job by Matthew Mitchell. Could UK hoops finally become a contendah?
Grading SEC Coaches | SEC Corner - al.com
Brooks gets surprisingly high grades.
Wildcat Blue In a Sea of Orange: Rich Brooks Wildcats garner post season honors
Monday's news & notes: UK's Wall making headlines, MSG a home away from home
Kansas freshman Xavier Henry is just as impressive as John Wall - Seth Davis - SI.com
Henry is the first to recognize that Wall has earned every bit of his publicity, but he will not concede that Wall is the better player. Henry also confesses that Wall's hot start has provided him with extra incentive. "It does kind of motivate me that he plays like that and gets all this attention, so if I play just as well then I should get the same," Henry told me in a telephone interview. "Just don't sleep on me. That's all I've got to say."

Play somebody, Xavier. Then talk smack.
Basketball Prospectus | Unfiltered
The always-worthy John Gasaway.
Izzo speaks out after Roy Williams throws another shot at Delvon Roe | College Hoops Journal
Another bit of bad behavior from Roy Williams.
Is Roy Williams the biggest phony in college basketball? | College Hoops Journal
CHJ takes Roy Willams down -- hard.
Ex-Cat Shagari Alleyne Signed by Halifax Rainmen
Is Wall or Cobb the better athlete? | Vaught's Views
Who cares? Both are great.
" BBL: Could Kentucky play in New York every year? John Clay’s Sidelines
John Clay's Big Blue Links.
Kentucky and Louisville have flipped fortunes | College Hoops Journal
The Kentucky Wildcats aren’t in the clear and aren’t guaranteed a Final Four berth this season. The Louisville Cardinals aren’t mired in mediocrity and aren’t one of the eight worst teams in the Big East, all of the sudden.

But that doesn’t mean these two intrastate rivals haven’t switched positions in the past eight months. Think about where each of these programs were on Selection Sunday. It’s remarkable, when you think about it.

Indeed.
courier-journal.com | Chris Diggs - UK Fan | The Courier-Journal
When IU fans have to go back twenty years and talk about NCAA violations to put down a rival, I can't help but laugh. Seriously. Out of the last 20 meetings, the Cats have won 15 of those years. Why don't we talk about that? Why don't we talk about what is the most important thing, what happens on the floor?

Or, we can talk about something else that happened this decade -- Cell Phone Kelvin Sampson.
Thoughts on Kentucky and Kansas
Very thoughtful and interesting comments from a Kansas fan. I think Kansas is significantly better than UK right now, but at the end of the year, it could be a horse race. I would read this if I were you. He gets a few little things wrong, but mostly he does a very good job.
Wildcats Break for Exams - KENTUCKY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
Which basketball team will stay unbeaten longest? - Mike DeCourcy - College Basketball - Sporting News
Always worth a read.

Kentucky Basketball: Hoosiers in the Rear-View Mirror

Truzenzuzex — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:54:23 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

Patrick Patterson was a glass-eater versus the Hoosiers.

Browse more photos »

I think it is almost universally agreed that the Kentucky Wildcats played its best overall game of the season yesterday afternoon against the Indiana Hoosiers at Assembly Hall in Bloomington.

Working on that assumption, what we want to do now is take a look, statistically, at what went right and why it was better than what the 'Cats have been doing lately. John Calipari was obviously excited about how well the Wildcats played yesterday, for good reason.

So what are some of the things we should be looking for in a good game, statistically speaking? Here are a few of them:

High effective field-goal percentage;
Low opponent effective field-goal percentage;
Low turnovers;
Good rebounding;
High number of points from the free throw line.

Those are the things measured in statistics, but what causes these things to happen? Obviously, it's different for each factor, but here are some of the things that have the greatest impact on good basketball:

Getting into offense early in the shot clock;
Getting back quickly on defense and preventing easy baskets;
Good ball distribution in the half-court offense;
Good ball pressure in the half-court defense;
Good low-post play on offense;
Good defensive rotation on defense.

There are more, obviously, but we want to stick with the simple things. All these characteristics are fundamental to winning basketball, and the better you do them, the more likely you are to win. They may seem obvious, but how they interact with each other is less so.

Follow me after the jump for more.

First, the early offense. The reason early offense is important is because it takes advantage of the fact that the defense is usually not properly set up when early offense is initiated -- people are out of position, on the wrong man, or in the process of figuring out where their man is while trying to watch the ball. There are far less distractions on the offensive players, who's sole objective is to score. Early offense is easy offense.

Getting back quickly on defense is an obvious one in preventing your opponent from using his early offense against you. This is particularly important against teams like Indiana who like to play fast. A 2-on-2 or 3-on-3 is an advantage for the offense, particularly if the guards are the ones initiating it. That's why it's important to outnumber the offense when getting back.

Good ball distribution is all about putting players in the best possible position to execute a successful shot on goal. When the ball is moved quickly, forcing defensive reaction, the offense almost always winds up with a quality shot.

Good low-post offense forces the defense to collapse inside, which provides open shots from the perimeter and can force a rapid defensive rotation that leaves a player open in the post. Whenever you force the defense to move out of where they want to be, the offense has a big advantage.

Finally, good defensive rotation is critical. If the defense rotates properly in response to a drive or a pass, it can always be in a position to challenge the shot, especially when you keep in mind which players are most effective from which spots on the floor.

So with all that in mind, let's examine the Four Factors to Winning for the IU/UK game:

NCAA Basketball Stats

As you can see, UK won three of the four factors, and overmatched Indiana completely in the area of offensive rebounding. In fact, that is some of the most dramatic domination on the offensive glass I have seen all year, and is one of the reasons that the Wildcats have been able to overcome turnovers in most games.

Notice that Indiana doubled us up on ballhandling. But that isn't a problem, because anything less than 20% is fine, and anything less than 15% is probably too low for this offense, because as coach Cal has said, it could indicate a lack of aggression.

What this chart does not show you is shots on goal, which is where TO's affect you most. But UK's offensive rebounding was so dominant, it exceeded the turnover difference, and UK still got six more shots on goal than the Hoosiers. Combine that with a higher eFG%, and it's easy to see the UK advantage.

Surprisingly, the 'Cats did not shoot that much better than IU. The Hoosiers had an eFG% of 54.2% versus UK's 58.3%. But notice the free throw discrepancy. That's where Indiana could have made up some ground, but UK also dominated that statistic by a significant margin.

The bottom line is that this graph indicates the following:

UK shot well, and was very efficient (132.7 OE, 2nd highest of the year).
UK played relatively poor defense, allowing Indiana 107.7 efficiency and 54.2 eFG%.
UK took good care of the basketball.
UK scored from the line comparatively well, but by no means their best performance of the year.

So what made Kentucky so efficient offensively? That's easy -- John Wall. John Wall put in what was easily his best performance, competition considered, so far. He penetrated the lane, forcing rotation, and made great decisions about what to do with the basketball. That put UK in a position to move the ball quickly, or just take the open shot from the first post-penetration pass. It was beautiful offensive basketball.

But what isn't good is that UK allowed a higher OE by Indiana than Kansas, for example, has allowed all year. Now, there is no doubt that the 'Cats have played a tougher schedule than the Kansas Jayhawks so far this year by a wide margin, but it does highlight that Kentucky has a ways to go yet to reach the kind of performance that will truly justify a top five ranking.

What else can we learn? Take a look at this graph:

What this shows is a fairly strong positive correlation between between Wall's assists and and team eFG%, and a moderate negative correlation between Wall's points and eFG%. In everyday terms, it means the more assists Wall has, the more efficient we are offensively. The more points he scores, the less efficient.

As a general proposition, the better Wall passes the ball, the better UK scores, and the more Wall scores, the worse. That's why a great point guard can change the game, and exactly illustrates why the UConn game upset me, and coach Cal as well. Wall was trying to make plays, but by making most of them himself by scoring, he helped make the team less efficient.

Because Wall touches the ball so much, he has to do one thing or the other, not both. You can see that he rarely has high scoring games and high assist games, and vice versa. Look at the Indiana game. High assists, relatively low points, and our second-highest eFG% of the year.

Coach Cal totally gets this, trust me. And I think, now, so does Wall.

SB Nation - Connecticut Huskies

The Shotgun/Throwdown: Monday (12/21/09) Edition

What You May Have Missed:

News of Note (FB):

News of Note (BB):

Recruiting:

Around the League (and Beyond):

Chris Henry:

Video of Interest:

Random Link of Hilarity:

Christmas Gallery of the Day:

Miss Throwdown:

RPI WATCH: 12/20/09

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:

The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Wildcats vs. the World Edition

10 from the 00s: "That was the best game ever, man."

Kentucky Basketball: Rajon Rondo vs. John Wall After Ten Games

In a Perfect World (Conference Realignment)

UConn and the Best of the America East Conference: Striving for Perfection

Which team will win the America East Conference?

The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Moving On Up Edition

Kentucky Basketball: Hoosiers in the Rear-View Mirror