Notre Dame Wins!

In the Daily Onions universe, this headline is true. Notre Dame did indeed win last night, on the basketball court. Eddie Lacy, AJ McCarron, Amari Cooper, Nick Saban, Ha Ha Clinton-Dixon (who doesn't love a Ha Ha) and AJ McCarron's girlfriend made sure that Notre Dame wasn't even close to winning on the football field last night.
Now that we've mentioned Katherine Webb, like every other blog out there, we can move on to the real reason we are here.
The Big East conference season is underway. It is time to figure out who is for real, who looked really good out of conference but has stumbled out of the conference schedule gates and who deserves some more attention from the conference.
Here are two teams that haven't had the conference starts they were really hoping for...
-Pitt Happens: The Panthers, coming off a disappointing season (College Basketball Invitational, anyone?), got off to a good start this year. With 12 wins in their first 13 games (one loss to Michigan), Pitt was ranked in the Top 25 as Big East play started. They lost at home to Cincinnati and then went to the RAC and fell to Rutgers. Things don't get any easier as tonight they'll be on the road again at Georgetown. Panthers staring at an 0-3 start in conference play. 
-Bearcats Down: The 'Nati was ranked #8 in the country just two weeks ago. Lots of chatter about how good they were and everyone was very high on Sean Kilpatrick (as they should be). They won their first 12 games, lost a tough one at home to New Mexico State by 1, and then kicked off conference play with a victory at Pitt. Last Saturday, St. John's came to town and downed the Bearcats, and then last night Notre Dame beat them on their home court. For those of your scoring at home, they've lost 3 of last 4 games, all at home. Not a good recipe for success in conference.

I Wanna Dance with Somebody...from the Big East

With Selection Sunday just 20 days away...yes, 20 days...we wanted to explore who'd be dancing from the Big East Conference. You might be saying, anyone can look at the standings and figure who the best teams in the conference are. That may be true. But can anyone predict who will make the Tournament while also comparing the teams to, and in turn honoring, the late, great Whitney Houston? Challenge accepted.

1. Syracuse - "Greatest Love of All" or "I Will Always Love You" - No brainer here. The only school that I've ever truly loved, and will love forever. Syracuse has been in control of the conference since Day 1. They look to be in the drivers seat for a #1 seed in the Big Dance as well (most likely in the East), which would mean opening round games in Pittsburgh, and Sweet 16/Elite 8 games in Baaaahston. Even at 27-1, the Orange have their flaws. If they don't fix the rebounding woes that have hurt them all season, there could be an upset before New Orleans.
Bold Prediction: The Final Four is on Bourbon Street, and Jimmy B has been there in '87 and '03. Why not just invite him and the Orange back for '12, as well.

2. Marquette - "It's Not Right, But It's Okay (Thunderpuss Remix)" - The Golden Eagles beat Syracuse during the regular season last year, and then knocked them out in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. If I had to root for another Big East school this year, it'd be Marquette (It's not right, but it's okay). I don't know about you, but Marquette scares the crap out of me. They are a tough as nails team, have a crazy coach (in a good way, not in a Frank Martin/Mike Rice way), have a couple of guys that are seniors and have been there before (Crowder and Johnson-Odom), and there have been at least three or four games this year in which they've been down by at least 15 points, and have come back to win the game.
Bold Prediction: They not only make a run to Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in the final "real" Big East Tournament, and continue the streak with a Elite 8 run in the Tourney. Don't be surprised if you see in NOLA as well.

3. Georgetown - "Run to You" - As in, run the Princeton offense. Hoyas have been solid all year long. Nice mix of young and old, as well as inside and outside. Jason Clark can go for 25 time any time he steps on the court, Hollis Thompson is an experienced swingman, while Henry Sims and Nate Lubick provide skill and experience in the paint. However, the Hoyas also depend a group of freshman who have gotten big minutes all year. Can a team with a lot of freshmen go far in the tournament? It's happened before, and G'town would like to rebound from last year's 1st round exit.
Bold Prediction: The Hoyas will be one of the last Big East teams standing in the NCAAs, along with Marquette and Cuse. Look for Georgetown to be playing for a shot to go to the Elite 8, come late March.

3a. Notre Dame - "Saving All My Love for You" - This references all the love Notre Dame is getting from around the country. "Mike Brey does it again....Coach of the Year in the Big East....they lost their best player before the season started....they're they only team to beat Syracuse..." To be honest, most of it is all warranted. Notre Dame has come out of nowhere, running their "burn" offense when they want to control the tempo of games, like they did against Syracuse. Since losing to UConn and Rutgers in mid-January, Notre Dame has won 8 in a row and are now ranked in the top 20.
Bold Prediction: The Irish might be pulling a Rick Pitino, and may be peaking too early. They got trampled out of the NCAA tournament last year during opening weekend. A great story this year, but don't expect the Irish to be around after St. Patty's Day weekend.

5. Louisville - "Heartbreak Hotel" - Unfortunately Fortunately Whitney didn't have a song titled "Italian Restaurant Bathroom," or else we'd have the perfect match for Pitino and the Cardinals. We'll go with the Heartbreak Hotel instead. Syracuse was able to beat the Cardinals at the Yum last Monday, after Louisville basically owned the Orange in their last 7 meetings. Coming off that loss, Cards needed OT to win at DePaul. Big game at Cincy on Thursday. L'ville needs to get some confidence back.
Bold Predication: Louisville is obviously in, and most likely a 3-5 seed. This sets them up perfectly for 13-4/12-5 upset, and "Pitino Doesn't Last Long" jokes lighting up Twitter.

6. West Virginia - "One Moment in Time" - The Mountaineers are taking their final breathes of Big East basketball. Whether or not they'll be spending late March in the NCAA Tournament or the NIT still remains to be seen. WVU has a Huggy-sized huge game against Notre Dame on Wednesday. A win in South Bend would go a loooong way for selection committee members. If WVU wins the games they are supposed to (ND not included) down the stretch, and can get a pair of Ws in NYC in their final Big East Tournament, they should be dancing.
Bold Predication: Their final moment in time in the Big East includes a trip to the NCAA Tournament, but a loss in the Round of 32. Kevin Jones can't do it all.

7. South Florida - "How Will I Know" - The Bulls are a tough team to predict. They are 10-4 in conference (good for a tie for 4th overall), with a trip to the Carrier Dome on Wednesday looming. After Cuse, they have Cincy at home, Louisville at the Yum, and host WVU in the season finale. If they go 2-2 over the final four regular season games, and win at least one in NYC, Bulls will be running into the NCAA Tournament.
Bold Predication: USF isn't quite ready to take the next step yet. They go 1-3 to finish the year, and get bounced early in the Big East tournament, punching a ticket to the NIT. With that said, can you keep an 11-7 team in the Big East out of the Big Dance? Redact prediction, Bulls are in if they win 3 more games before Selection Sunday.

8. Cincinnati - "So Emotional" - It's been quite the rollercoaster of emotions for Cincy this year. The Bearcats have a couple of black eyes on their resume that won't do them any favors on Selection Sunday (Presbyterian and Marshall). Throw in the black eyes they gave to Xavier players, it's been an up and down season for the 'Nati. The Bearcats sit basically in the same position as USF. I'd say they are in right now, but losing to the Bulls or Villanova in the final weeks of the season could be the knockout punch for Cincy.
Bold Predication: If the Bearcats can defend their home court and beat Louisville on Thursday night, they are in. If they lose, they still have a chance, but that's a resume building win and they need it at this point in the season.

9. Seton Hall - "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" - Did you know that Seton Hall lost 6 games in a row during the month of January and early February. Even with that stretch of games, most "experts" have said the Pirates are in, despite being 7-8 in the league right now. The Hall hosts Georgetown and Rutgers before closing out the year at DePaul. To say the Pirates still have some work to do, would be putting it lightly.

Bold Predication: The Hall loses 2 of their final 3, and answer the question, Where Do Broken Hearts Go....the NIT.

10. UConn - "I Have Nothing" - If you looked at UConn's Tournament resume, changed the name at the top to Storrs College, there is no way they'd be a tournament team. But they are UConn, the defending National Champs, so they get the benefit of a perennial tournament team. Similar to Villanova last year, who had no business making the tournament (and lost in their first game), UConn could get some benefit of the doubt votes. Throw in the fact UConn won't be in the tournament next year (NCAA violations), could this year be Calhoun's last opportunity to coach in a NCAA tourney game?
Bold Predication: It's been a rough year for the defending champs. Suspensions due to NCAA violations for a player as well as Calhoun. They've basically quit in a number of games, where it really showed that they had nothing. Shabazz Napier kept hopes alive with his ONIONS on Monday night at Villanova. Don't think that will be enough though. No NCAA Tournament for the Huskies, and loyal reader Ramy has to console his little brother, Jeremy Lamb (that's if he didn't trade in this Jeremy for Jeremy Lin).

Final count: Big East definitely gets 7, possibly 8. Only get 9 if someone has a Gerry McNamara/Da'Sean Butler/Kemba-esque run in NYC. Give me 4 of those teams in the Sweet 16, 2 in the Elite 8 and 1 in the New Orleans.

Syracuse with a "Lloyd Christmas" Victory

Saying that Syracuse's win at Cincinnati last night was the equivalent to Lloyd Christmas trading in the van for the scooter straight up, after driving a sixth of the way across the country in the wrong direction, might be stretch. But there's no doubt about it, this was a huge bounce back win for the Orange, totally redeeming themselves after Saturday's loss to Notre Dame.



After dropping its first game of the season at South Bend on Saturday(with Daily Onions in the building), Syracuse was on the verge of losing two straight conference road games, all in the midst of the academic Melo-drama. In front of a sold out crowd at the Fifth Third Arena, Syracuse would be facing a Cincinnati team playing good basketball recently (winners of 10 of 11 before the WVU game on Saturday), even though they were coming off a close loss to West Virginia in Morgantown. After being outplayed in the paint by Notre Dame's Luke Harangody Jack Cooley, Orange fans had to be a bit nervous going up against the Bearcats physical interior players, like Yancy "One Punch" Gates.

Put your hands up, in the air...Boeheim wins #877 (AP Photo)

Despite a deja vu all over again start from 'Nati, knocking down deep three, after deep three, Syracuse settled in and stayed in the game early (something that was lacking against Notre Dame). The Orange eventually took a 3 point lead into halftime, but a 9-2 run Bearcat run opened up the 2nd half and the Cuse was down by 4. Timeout Jimmy B. Time for the Orange to wake up, and they did. Over the next ten minutes, Syracuse outscored Cincinnati 14-3. That included a pair of threes from Scoop and Triche, and Kris Joseph became "the guy" that ESPN analysts were looking for at halftime. Joseph finished with a team high 17 points on 8-11 shooting. Scoop finished with 13, including a nail in the coffin 3 pointer in the final three minutes to put the game away for good. Sticking with the Christmas theme, Rakeem recorded a season high 27 minutes, and grabbed 9 rebounds. If Fab Melo is going to be out much longer, this is the production Syracuse will need to see from their freshman big man.

The Orange play host to West Virginia on Saturday afternoon. Huggies Boys are relatively young, but also have eighth year senior Kevin Jones, who is playing like an all-conference first teamer, as well as Truck Bryant (a poor man's Scoop). We think the Orange win this one at home (with or without Fab) by 7 points. Nothing comes easy this time of year.

Trip to South Bend: We were in person to see Syracuse fall to 20-1. A few comments on the Joyce Center and Notre Dame fans. Pretty cool place to see a game because the place is pretty small. Really not a bad seat in the place, even the highest seats would be the front of the 2nd level at a normal arena. I believe this is the first game back for the student section following winter break. They deserved to storm the court, but the overrated chant is still the worst chant in the history of sports. Really, a 20-0 team ranked number 1 is overrated. Also, I'm all for antics from student sections, but the U-S-A chants towards Syracuse's Baye Keita (Senegal) and Kris Joseph (Montreal), questionable. Also really enjoyed the 60-year (ballpark) Irish fan chanting "20-1" as the clock winded down. Thank you sir, I'll take those 20 wins in 21 games. Stay classy, Irish.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Weekend in College Basketball

The Good: I feel like this section should be entitled "The Great" or "The Unbelievable", because that's exactly what the Indiana-Kentucky game was. We predicted on Friday that IU would keep it close, but eventually UK would pull it out for a victory. Well IU did more than keep it close, and when they were down 2 (thanks to Doron Lamb only making 1 of 2 free throws) with 5 seconds to play, IU placed itself back in the national basketball picture.



A few things to note in this video:

• Check out Tom Crean's reaction at the 23 second mark. Hey Tom, you just had your biggest win at IU. We know you are a super hyper passionate guy. I get trying to act like you've been there before, but a smile would have been nice.
• Great court storming by the IU student section at Assembly Hall. Nice work on a very worthy storm.
• Nice job by ESPN's Dan Shulman staying quiet and letting the moment breathe. I'm guessing they had to unplug Dick Vitale's mic to keep him quiet at this time.
• Is there any camera shot cooler than the wide angle where you get to the see the entire stadium, arena, etc explode at the same time?
• A few thoughts on the game - best way to beat Kentucky is to get Anthony Davis in foul trouble, make some outside shots, and hope Terrance Jones is allergic to the basketball for the majority of the game.
• Its obvious Kentucky had a foul to give, and you know Calipari told his team to get one early. His young team didn't execute, and his first reaction to the made 3, was wondering why his team didn't foul (at about the 1:58 mark).

Other goodness from Saturday - Syracuse remains unbeaten by taking care of business with George Washington. Bottom line, GW isn't very good, and the Orange jumped on them right away and never looked back. That's what good teams are supposed to do. Thanks to a couple of loses elsewhere, Syracuse should be #1 in the new polls.

The Bad: We won't necessarily saw this is bad, but rather unfortunate. It was unfortunate that Jared Sullinger wasn't able to play at Kansas on Saturday. The Jayhawks ended up winning, but OSU was right there most of the game. If Sullinger is healthy, I think OSU wins. KU's Thomas Robinson continues to impress. He was 7-9 from the field, 7-8 from the line, 7 rebounds and 21 points.

The Ugly: To say that the end of the Xavier - Cincinnati was ugly would be a huge understatement. As bad as the scene was with punches being thrown, sucker punches being landed and bodies trying to be stomped on, the post game comments from Xavier's Tu Holloway and Mark Lyons were almost just as worse.




This video doesn't show Holloway's comments, but he basically said that his own team had a bunch of "gangstas" in the locker room (he clarified by saying, not thugs, but gangstas). He then went on to say that he had no regrets for anything that happened, and that's what you want to see in the XU-Cincy rivalry. Not sure if Holloway and Lyons have a nickname yet, but it should be Dumb and Dumber.

On Saturday, everyone gave credit to Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin for his post game comments. Here's some of the best:

“We represent an institution of higher learning. It’s way more important than basketball games. I made everybody take their jersey off and they will put it on again until they have a full understanding of where they go to school and what the university stands for and how luck they are to even be there let alone have a scholarship. Because there’s a whole lot of kids that can’t pay for college and don’t get to go to school....

......they are all sitting in there (the locker room) with no jersey on. Some of them I physically took them off........

.....We talk all the time, toughness is doing the right thing in life. That is what we talk about. If that is the case, you are being provoked, this or that, true toughness, you walk away from it. You take your ass whipping and you go home and you get better."

Cronin talked the talk on Saturday, but he along with the University and the Big East did not walk the walk on Sunday when handing out punishment. The fact that Yancy Gates, who connected on a sucker punch, threw numerous other punches and could barely be restrained, was suspended a total of 6 games is absolutely ludicrous. After the game Cronin talked about not knowing who would even be on the team anymore (you have to think he was referencing Gates), to now having one of his best players only miss the next 6 games, and only one of those being on the Big East conference schedule.

In my opinion, 10 games would have been acceptable, 15 games would have probably be right on, and being kicked off the team would not be out of the question. Six games? Six lousy out of conference games doesn't send a message. Cronin said he was embarrassed after the game. Well he should be embarrassed by what he thinks is an acceptable punishment.

Holloway will get one game, while Lyons gets two games for their role in the brawl, but mostly for their post game comments. Both of these suspensions are probably a bit light at well. It's obvious Holloway and Lyons didn't "get it" after the game. Let's hope they do, sooner rather than later.

+1: Since we don't want to end on such a sour note, let's give you a bonus video from the weekend. One of the coolest traditions in college basketball comes from Taylor University and their annual "Silent Night". Spend the next 3:27 watching this video. It's worth it.

Day 1 of The Madness: Best Afternoon Ever?

As long as you weren't stuck in a hole yesterday for the first four hours of the tournament, you know it was arguably one of, if not the, best start to the tournament ever. Of the first five games, four of them were decided in the final 5 seconds, and had a score differential of two points or less.

First, it was the Butler doing it, making sure they weren't going home after Round 1, with their right place, right time put back by Matt Howard as time expired. Bulldogs 60 - ODU 58. Then it was Morehead taking down Rick Pitino (low blow? whoops, nevermind), with a 3 pointer in the final seconds to win 62-61. Best part of this game....we had our first "ONIONS" call from Raftery, and boy was it a good one.This was also the first game where people started ripping up their brackets.

In the battle for Pennsylvania bragging rights, Temple nails a step through jumper with .4 seconds left, to make sure that Penn State remains only a football school. Then, we all hoped that the Princeton Fundamentals would take down Kentucky. With the game tied and 3 seconds left, freshman Brandon Knight made his first bucket of the game, giving the Wildcats a win. Definition survive and advance. One more close game in the afternoon session saw the Spiders of Richmond taking down Vanderbilt. 12 - 5 upset anyone?

To the night games we go, Florida, UConn and BYU take care of business as expected. Jimmer goes off for 32 points, as expected. Belmont hung around with Wisconsin for half of the game, but the Badgers eventually pulled away to win by 14.

In the 6-11 games with Big East teams, it was a split. Cincy sent Mizzou home with a convincing win, and as predicted in this space, the experience of Gonzaga was too much for the upstart Johnnies. We did whiff on the Utah State-K-State game, as well as the UCLA-Michigan State game, although the Bruins did everything possible to try and blow a 23-point lead.

A couple of games we are looking forward to on Saturday: Huggins vs. Calipari and the youth/athleticism of Kentucky against the grind it out physicality of WVU. We'll have a Big East match up of UConn and Cincy, and an upset special with #13 Morehead St. and #12 Richmond. Last but not least, we have Butler taking on Pitt. Bulldogs find ways to win games in March, but will they be able to continue that streak against the physical Panthers.

Show Us Your Onions Update: Thanks to the 30+ entries that we received for the first annual competition. At first glance, we have a few folks that lost some of their onions with the Michigan State and Louisville losses. A complete breakdown of all the Onions will come later in the weekend, so you can see who you are matched up against.

Daily Onions is headed to watch some hoops live and in person today in Chicago. This will mark the first time we've been to an NCAA Tournament game since 2003, when....you know, a certain team cut down the nets in New Orleans. Onions!

'Nati Light

There are seven undefeated teams left in major D-1 basketball right now. Thus far, Daily Onions has at least mentioned six of them in this space: Duke, Ohio State, Kansas, Syracuse, San Diego State, and UCF. Time to give some love to the other remaining perfect team, the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Ranked for the first time this week, Cincy was catching some flack for their strength of schedule.  Sure they were undefeated, but who'd they beat. Talk a look at their schedule and the answer is no one. That is unless you consider Utah Valley, Savannah State, Dayton, and Toledo quality wins.

Gates was up, and good last night vs. X (AP)

Well last night, the Bearcats faced their toughest test to date - one of the more underrated rivalries in college basketball - a matchup with cross-town rival Xavier (although X hasn't been that great this season). If this game was meant to be a test to see if Cincy was legit (not sure if you can say that yet), then they passed with flying colors. Led by 6-9, 260lb forward Yancy Gates, the Bearcats dominated. Gates had 22 points, 14 boards and 2 blocks, and looked like a man amongst boys inside, on both sides of the floor.

Next up for 'Nati is the true measuring stick, a Sunday afternoon play date at Villanova. If Gates dominates, then Cincy has a chance since Nova is a little thin up front. With that said, I think guard play from the two Corey's (Fisher and Stokes, not Haim and Feldman) will be too much for the Bearcats to handle, especially at the Pavillion. After Nova, Cincy hosts USF, then goes to Syracuse, ND and St. Johns. They are 15-0 right now, and Daily Onions predicts they'll be 17-3 after that stretch.

With what they've done, I'm fine with Cincinnati being ranked in the Top 25. But as we have discussed this week, things will only get tougher for the Bearcats as they go through the gauntlet that is the Big East schedule. Am I betting heavy on Cincy being one of the top 5 teams in the Big East? Nah, I'll bet light.